College of Technology honors distinguished alumni

Jeannine M. Abele, Orlando D. Ashford, James Mark Bloomer, Rupert N. Evans, John A. Hockey, Richard K. Price, Randal A. Sergesketter, John S. Sofia and Joseph Kelley Sriver will be honored for their professional and personal success across the wide spectrum of technology fields.

"The tremendous success of our alumni are the best endorsement that the College of Technology could hope for," said Dean Dennis R. Depew. "These nine men and women have all not only reached the highest levels of success in their professions, but they are also committed to staying engaged with the college and helping to develop the next generation of technology leaders."

The awards will be presented at an invitation-only ceremony at 7 p.m. Friday (April 7) in the Purdue Airport's Hangar Six.

• Jeannine M. Abel of Cincinnati, Ohio, earned a bachelor's degree from the Department of Computer and Information Technology in 1984. Currently, she serves as the chief information officer of aviation services for General Electric, where she leads global organization in support of the company's aviation services business. Prior to her role at General Electric, Abel worked for 17 years at Proctor & Gamble Co.

• Orlando D. Ashford of Atlanta, Ga., earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in organizational leadership and supervision from Purdue in 1991 and 1993, respectively. As vice president of corporate human resources and culture for Coca-Cola Co., he provides leadership for all of the corporation's human resources initiatives worldwide. Before joining Coca-Cola, Ashford worked for Motorola, where he earned the 2004 CEO Award for Outstanding Performance.

• James Mark Bloomer of Santa Barbara, Calif., earned a bachelor's degree in aviation technology from Purdue in 1974. In 1983, he founded Avtel International Inc., an impartial third-party resource that guides companies through the business aircraft acquisition and sales process. In 1988, he founded a second company, Avtel Services, which has since been renamed Bloomer deVere Group Avia Inc. Bloomer currently serves as that company's president.

• Rupert N. Evans of Urbana, Ill., earned his master's and doctoral degrees from Purdue's College of Technology in 1949 and 1950, respectively. He joined the faculty at the University of Illinois in 1950 as an assistant professor of vocational and technical education in 1950 and became dean of the College of Education in 1964. He has written 10 books and served as the chair of the Mississippi Valley Industrial Teacher Education Conference from 1972-1980, and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Purdue in 1970.

• John A. Hockey of Palm City, Fla., earned a bachelor's degree in building construction management from Purdue in 1983. In 1998, he founded JA Hockey Ventures Inc., a company that operates as a construction, consulting, development and real estate firm in both the commercial and residential markets. Prior to founding his company, Hockey worked as director of marketing and business development at Hensel Phelps Construction Co. and was the youngest project manager in the history of IBM's real estate and construction division.

• Richard K. Price of Fairview, Texas, earned an associate's and a bachelor's degree in electrical and computer engineering technology from Purdue in 1973 and 1975, respectively. He currently works as the director of business continuance and emergency management and Middle East operations for Verizon Business, where he is responsible for planning, writing, coordinating, implementing and overseeing business continuance plans for Verizon. He also oversees all operations in Iraq and the rest of the Middle East.

• Randal A. Sergesketter of Cary, N.C., earned a bachelor's degree in industrial technology from Purdue in 1980. He joined John Deere as a summer trainee while studying at Purdue and still works with the company, currently as the senior vice president of worldwide commercial and consumer equipment. In that position, he is responsible for worldwide manufacturing, engineering, supply management and information technology in the $4 billion division. Sergesketter is a member of the College of Technology Dean's Executive Council.

• John S. Sofia of Detroit earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering technology from Purdue in 1984. He currently works as the vice president of quality assurance and customer satisfaction for American Axel & Manufacturing, where he is responsible for maintaining quality at all of the company's manufacturing facilities, as well as analyzing data and trends to save money on warranty costs. He also serves on advisory boards for Purdue's College of Technology and Krannert School of Management.

• Joseph Kelley Sriver of Minneapolis, Minn., earned a bachelor's degree from Purdue in computer graphics technology in 1997. He worked as a programmer for IBM before joining Google in 2000 as their first user interface designer. While at Google, Sriver helped develop Google AdSense and co-created Google's Toolbar. He received eight patents for products including Google Print and Google Video. Sriver currently works as a freelance visual designer in Minneapolis.

Writer: Matt Holsapple, (765) 494-2073, mholsapple@purdue.edu

Source: Shelly Opperman, director of alumni relations and communication, College of Technology, (765) 494-0887, sopperman@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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