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Abraham appointed interim provost by YSU trustees
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown State University trustees unanimously approved Martin Abraham as interim provost and vice president for academic affairs and Gregg Sturrus as interim dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
The action came at a trustees meeting Tuesday.
Abraham is founding dean of the STEM College, and Sturrus is chairman of YSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy.
President Jim Tressel tapped Abraham as the interim provost after a national search, even though Abraham didn’t apply for the position. Tressel said he believed Abraham is the right person for the job.
“I appreciate the confidence you’ve put in me, and we’re going to do the best we can,” Abraham told trustees.
In other business, trustees passed a resolution naming the pedestrian bridge over Wick Avenue, linking the M-1 parking deck and Meshel Hall to main campus, the Stavich Family Bridge.
“For some years we’ve been looking for a naming opportunity” for the Stavich family, Tressel said.
Heather Chunn, senior development officer at the YSU Foundation, suggested the idea for the bridge, and the family was ecstatic at the suggestion, he said.
Many years ago, the Stavich family provided a $2.7 million scholarship endowment for deserving students from Campbell Memorial High School and children of Calex employees.
The family formed Calex Corp., long used for aluminum extrusion and other manufacturing operations, in 1952.
The last brother, Andrew, died in 2010.
“This is one of the most-extraordinary families this community has ever known,” said Trustee Harry Meshel.
“They shared their wealth with their employees when the company shut down.”
Trustees also passed a resolution naming the nursing simulation laboratory in the Dominic A. and Helen M. Bitonte College of Health and Human Services for John and Dorothy Masternick.
In 2008, the couple, who developed and operated nursing homes in three states, contributed $250,000 to YSU’s Centennial Campaign, which was used to create the simulation lab.