SUNY Geneseo Alumni Association honors four

The SUNY Geneseo Alumni Association presented awards to four individuals during its summer reunion July 10-11 to recognize their commitment to the association, college and higher education.

Judy Bushnell from Geneseo received a Distinguished Service Award for her dedication to Geneseo students and the Geneseo family. She received her bachelor’s degree in English from Geneseo in 1972 and completed a master’s degree in library sciences at the college in 1973. She worked as a librarian at the college and later as an archivist at the college’s Milne Library.

As librarian emerita at Geneseo, Bushnell worked on a writing team that recently produced the first comprehensive history of the college, SUNY Geneseo: From Normal School to Public Ivy, 1871-2007, an account of Geneseo’s transition from a teachers’ training school to today’s liberal arts institution.

Gerald Miller, president emeritus of Niagara County Community College, who now resides in Myrtle Beach, S.C., received the association’s Excellence in Education Award for his lifelong commitment to education. Miller is a 1959 Geneseo graduate and majored in elementary education and theater. He earned a master’s degree in English at SUNY Buffalo and has written more than 25 plays, including a PBS network production.

During his 32 years at Niagara County Community College, Miller served as vice president of academic affairs and dean of students before being  named the college’s fourth president. He received the Geneseo Alumni Association’s Professional Achievement Award in 1993 and five years later was named to the SUNY Alumni Honor Roll. Miller also received the Distinguished Service Award from the Western New York Regional Education Center for Economic Development and the State Education Department.

Roy and Beverly McTarnaghan, both 1954 Geneseo graduates who now reside in Bonita Springs, Fla., were inducted into the Society of Old Main for their service to Geneseo. Old Main was one of the earliest buildings on campus. Roy majored in communications at the college and earned his master’s degree in speech education at The Ohio State University and his doctorate at Michigan State University. He returned to Geneseo to teach speech education and was named director of admissions in 1961 and associate dean in 1967. He later served as president of the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies and Florida Gulf Coast University.
Roy received the Geneseo Alumni Association’s Professional Achievement Award in 1977 and the Geneseo Foundation’s Meritorious Service Award in 1985. In 1999, Geneseo conferred an honorary doctorate on him prior to his delivering the keynote address at commencement.

Beverly McTarnaghan, an elementary education major at Geneseo, is a retired teacher who dedicated her life to education. She later became the executive director for the Pregnancy Help Information Center in Tallahassee, Fla. She was named to the SUNY Alumni Honor Roll in 1995.

The McTarnaghans have generously supported The Fund for Geneseo for decades. In addition, they have established the McTarnaghan Family Endowed Scholarship, which honors others in the McTarnaghan family who have attended Geneseo: Belle McTarnaghan, an 1893 graduate; Ethel Gibson Templeton, a 1931 graduate; and Elizabeth Ann McTarnaghan (Sr. Marie McTarnaghan), a 1954 graduate.