Oct. 11, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - Two alumni from the College of Communications and an alumni from the College of Health and Human Development that were Penn State student-athletes were honored as Alumni Fellows during a University-wide recognition program that culminated their visits to campus, which included numerous classroom sessions with students.
The College of Communication honorees were Jimmy Cefalo ('78 Journ), the "Voice of the Dolphins" for the Miami Dolphins Football Radio Network, and Lisa Salters ('88 Journ), a sideline reporter for ESPN covering college football and the NBA, who each spent two days on campus this week. Karen Bretherick Peetz ('77 H&HD) was recognized by the College of Health and Human Development.
On Wednesday, Oct. 10, during the annual awards dinner at the Nittany Lion Inn, they were officially honored, made some brief remarks and were presented a metallic replica of the Old Main clock tower and a framed certificate signifying their status as Alumni Fellows.
The Alumni Fellow Award is the most prestigious award given by the Penn State Alumni Association. Since 1973, the Alumni Fellow Award has been given to select alumni who, as leaders in their professional fields, are nominated by an academic college and accept an invitation from the President of the University to return to campus to share their expertise with students, faculty and administrators.
Before joining the Dolphins Football Radio Network, Cefalo spent 14 years as the sports director and sports anchor for WPLG-TV in Miami. He has been a correspondent for NBC's "Today Show," co-host of NBC's coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games and co-host of two TV news magazine shows. He is also president and CEO of Cefalo's Wine Cellars.
Cefalo played seven years for the Miami Dolphins, appearing in two Super Bowls. At Penn State, Cefalo was a four-year letterman as a receiver and return specialist and was MVP of the 1976 Gator Bowl and the team's all-purpose yardage leader in 1977. As a Pittstown (Pa.) High School senior, Cefalo kept a journal of his recruitment experience that appeared in The New York Times. He also set the high school football record for rushing yards in Pennsylvania.
In 1988, Cefalo shared a national Emmy for writing for NBC's coverage of the Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. He is also a five-time winner of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association's Florida Sportscaster of the Year award.
Cefalo is a board member of the College of Communications' John Curley Center for Sports Journalism and was a featured presenter at the college's program, "Penn State, the Media, and the NFL" in 2006.
He and his wife, Janice Bruno Cefalo ('79 Edu), are the parents of Mia and twin girls, Ava and Katie.
Salters began her career as a news reporter in the major metropolitan markets of Baltimore and Los Angeles. She then moved to the "ABC Evening News," where she covered some of the country's major stories over the past decade. For ABC News, she reported on the Oklahoma City bombing trial, the crash of TWA Fight 800 and the murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming. Internationally, she has reported from Somolia, Rwanda, Kuwait and Qatar.
In 2002, she moved to ESPN, the most-watched cable network in America. She has covered Olympic Games in Japan and Greece, World Cup soccer, the Women's Final Four basketball tournament, the NBA finals and college football conference championships.
Salters is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the Association for Women in Sports Media. She is a four-time award-winner presented by the National Association of Black Journalists.
Salters is a member of the Board of Visitors for the College of Communications and a frequent guest lecturer. She supports a College of Communications scholarship designated for broadcast journalism students who add to the diversity of the College. In 2004, she served as the emcee for Penn State's celebration of 40 years of varsity sports on the University Park campus. As an undergraduate, she was letterwinner on the Lady Lion basketball team.
Bretherick Peetz is the senior executive vice president of the Bank of New York Mellon in New York City. Promoted to her current position in 2006, she serves as the division head in charge of global corporate trust services, overseeing a staff of more than 4,000 in 54 offices across the United Stats and in 18 countries. Her division serves 30,000 clients representing $10 trillion in total outstanding debt.
Bretherick Peetz began her career at JP Morgan Chase (formerly Chemical Bank), where she held several management positions in sales and business management, including an assignment in London. In 1998, she joined The Bank of York to run its domestic U.S. corporate trust division and subsequently ran its global payments services group. Five years later, Bretherick Peetz was named head of global corporate trust.
Bretherick Peetz was a three-time letterwinner for the women's lacrosse team and a two-time letterwinner for the field hockey squad. She competed on the same teams as current Penn State field hockey coach Char Morett.