News

Thank You Thursday - New Board Members

On Thursday, November 10, 2016 the International Soap Box Derby’s Board of Directors held its annual meeting. At the meeting the Board reviewed the Derby’s previous year's achievements, elected new board members and said goodbye to members who had reached their term limit.

Four new members were elected at the meeting and will begin serving four-year terms to help the Derby continue its mission. New members include:

Carole Berry – Dover, N.H.
Carole is currently an Administrative Manager at the University of New Hampshire College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. As a senior assistant to the Dean, she acts as the extension of the Dean in all matters relating to the administration of the College. She provides direction to faculty and staff regarding relevant policies and protocols. Carole manages the promotion, tenure, and annual review process and coordinates college level activities in the development of marketing, public relations, and outreach. She also coordinates the Undergraduate Research Conference for the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Symposium. Carole’s family has been involved in the Derby since 1966. She built two cars and raced in the New Hampshire local in 1972 and 1973. She finished first in the Class A division in 1972 before losing in the finals to the Class B winner (only one champ qualified for Akron). She placed third in 1973. Her brother Dick Behan placed second at the All-American in 1969. Her nephew Marc Behan captured the 1986 Junior Division title at the All-American and her nephew Scott Behan placed third in the 1989 Junior Division. She has attended all but two years of the All-American Soap Box Derby since 1968. She’s served on the New Hampshire Soap Box Derby Board in various capacities including President and rally Director. She is currently a member of the Racing Commission and has been a member of the I-Team since its inception. She has been involved with the implementation of the Subway and Dairy Queen Challenge Races and race week heat sheets. She has dedicated countless hours assisting with race week over the years.

Scott Lazarus – Uniontown, Ohio
Scott is currently an Internet Marketing and e-Commerce Team Manager at Summit Racing Equipment. He has 20+ years’ experience in internet marketing and e-commerce, catalog/direct mail, merchandising, pricing, purchasing and circulation. He is currently leading an in-house internet marketing team developing and executing plans that drive relevant and high quality traffic to e-commerce websites. Scott has direct experience creating and managing multi-million dollar annual budgets, creating ROI benchmarks, developing annual department goals, project planning, team building, and strategic planning – reporting to CMO. His current responsibilities at Summit Racing Equipment include web strategy, online marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), paid search (PPC), content marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, video Marketing, customer retention and reactivation and Analytics.

Danyelle Sweitzer – Hartville, Ohio
Danyelle is currently the Human Resources Director for GPD Group (GPD), an architecture and engineering firm that serves the diverse markets of community facilities, education, housing, parks and recreation, power distribution, public works, retail commercial, site development, telecommunications and transportation. Founded in 1961, GPD has grown from a handful of employees to over 550 professionals in 12 offices nationwide. GPD is headquartered in Akron, with offices in Chardon, Cleveland, Columbus, Marion and Youngstown, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Louisville, Phoenix, Arizona, Seattle and Dallas. As the Human Resources Director at GPD since 2010, Danyelle is responsible for recruitment and staffing, benefits, learning and development, employee relations and career services. Since joining the firm, Danyelle oversaw the implementation of several strategic wellness initiatives (which led to recognition from the American Heart Association as a “Fit-Friendly Worksite”) as well as the company-wide leadership training program with The University of Akron. She is a certified (PHR and SHRM-CP) human resource professional with over 15 years of experience in human resource management. Prior to coming to GPD, she held the position of Human Resource Generalist for SSOE, Inc. and the Human Resource Manager for EOM, Ltd. Danyelle is also an active volunteer. She donates her time and talents to Habitat for Humanity, The United Way of Summit County, The Autism Society of Summit County, The Heart Association, Akron Public Schools, and the GPD Employees’ Foundation. Danyelle is proud to serve on the board of directors for Girls on the Run of Northeast Ohio.

Dr. Don Visco – Canton, Ohio
Dr. Donald P. Visco, Jr. is the interim Dean in the College of Engineering and a Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at The University of Akron. He was previously the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the College of Engineering at The University of Akron, a position he held for more than five years. His Ph. D. is from The University at Buffalo, SUNY and his research involves designing molecules for use in a wide variety of areas, such as cement admixtures and pharmaceuticals.  He has won national awards for both his research and his teaching accomplishments, and is a Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).  He is the author of 48 archival journal publications, 19 conference proceedings, four book chapters and has co-authored a book on chemical engineering thermodynamics for undergraduates.  He has also been a part of more than 100 conference presentations and has been awarded more than $7.5 million in competitive grant funds across 18 funded projects. Dr. Visco has provided service to his profession as elected Chair for both the Chemical Engineering Division of ASEE and the Education Division of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Prior to coming to Akron, Dr. Visco was a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Tennessee Technological University for almost 12 years.

The Derby would like to say THANK YOU to Carol Berry, Scott Lazarus, Danyelle Sweitzer and Dr. Don Visco for helping us continue our mission of building knowledge and character, and creating meaningful experiences through collaboration and fair and honest competition.

This is the eighth installment of our weekly “Thank You Thursday” feature. Each week we will offer a heartfelt “Thank You” to a corporation, civic or community leader, volunteer, foundation or an individual who has helped us continue our mission. To view previous features please click below.

     Carole Berry                      Scott Lazarus                     Danyelle Sweitzer             Dr. Don Visco

Thank You Thursday
Thursday, September 29, 2016 - FirstEnergy Corp.
Thursday, October 6, 2016 - Don Plusquellic
Thursday, October 13, 2016 - Bill Ginter
Thursday, October 20, 2016 - Marous Brothers Construction
Thursday, October 27, 2016 - Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems  
Thursday, November 3, 2016 - Myers Industries
Thursday, November 10, 2016 - Outgoing Board Members