The AAWC held its annual awards ceremony on June 3 in the Brooks Science Center.
DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA AWARD:
Sharon Salazar Hickey ’78
Sharon graduated from Wilson with a bachelor’s degree, majoring in Spanish and political science with a minor in fine arts. After Wilson, she went on to get a Juris Doctor in 1982 from the California Western School of Law in San Diego, Calif.
Sharon retired from Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, in 2021 after 40 years of service. While at Los Alamos, she had many accomplishments, which included serving as policy officer manager, group leader of complaint resolution, staff attorney, and student intern (when she first started). She is a member of the New Mexico State Bar. Sharon was also the founder and first chair of the Employment and Labor Law Section of the New Mexico State Bar Association, a member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the American Bar Association, and a member of the Hispanic National Bar Association.
Sharon currently serves on the New Mexico State Game Commission and previously for the New Mexico Youth Conservation Corps Commission and the Fellows Program Board of Directors. Sharon would like to thank not only the AAWC for this award but also her husband, John, because she couldn’t have accomplished so much without his ongoing support in her leadership roles and community activities.
OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNA AWARD:
Monica Diehl ’18M
Monica has set a high bar for achievement as a nurse leader. She completed her Master of Science in Nursing Education at Wilson in 2018.
She spent 15 years caring for patients as a charge/staff nurse at Chambersburg Hospital. In addition, she spent three years as the Director of Education/COVID Response Team at Keystone Rural Health Center. Since 2022, Monica has been the Chief Nursing Officer for Keystone Health. She has received many awards, such as Keystone Health MVP, Health Care Worker of the Year 2021 for Franklin County, and the Athena Young Professional of the Year Runner-Up. Monica serves the community through service on many boards, including the Franklin County Practical Nursing Program, the Occupational Advisory Committee at Franklin County Career Tech, Shook Home, and the Wilson College Nursing Program as an Advisory Board Member. She also volunteers as a Youth Soccer Coach for the Chambersburg Recreational Center.
TIFT AWARD:
Cynthia Fink Barber ’73
Cindy graduated from Wilson with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and went on to earn a Master of Education in special education from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., and a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from West Virginia Graduate College. Before retirement, she was a special education teacher for 26 years and the principal of Back Creek Elementary School in Hedgesville, W.Va., for 12 years.
Cindy personifies the spirit of the AAWC’s Tift Award. She regularly participates in projects on campus which include the Aunt Sarah/ Uncle Wilson Program, notecards to accepted students, and transcribing letters at the Hankey Center. You may also see her around campus with a paintbrush. Her most recent campus volunteer service project gave a “facelift” to the exterior stairwell to the old post office.
FACULTY AWARD:
Kay Ackerman, Ph.D.
Professor Ackerman has a bachelor’s in history from Longwood College, a master’s in history from Vanderbilt University, and a doctorate in history from Vanderbilt University. She was an associate professor at Wilson from 1990-2022. During her time at the College, she taught a variety of history courses, including historic preservation, colonial America, modern European history, women in medieval civilization, women in early modern England, U.S. history, and many more. While at Wilson, she served the College in many ways, including as a member of the Faculty Senate, chair of the Global Studies Division, department chair for history and political science, and even a three-year period as Wilson’s archivist in the late 1990s. She has been a member of the Franklin County Historical Society Journal Publication Committee, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Pennsylvania Historical Association.
Outside of teaching history, she is a beadwork artist and has exhibited her beadwork at the Bogigian Gallery at Wilson, as well as with the Council for the Arts in Chambersburg.
LEGACY SCHOLARSHIPS:
Karlee Lisinski ’25 and Elizabeth Wickard ’24
DISTINGUISHED ADULT DEGREE PROGRAM AWARD:
Ian Irvin ’12
Ian graduated from Wilson College with a bachelor’s degree in international studies. He also minored in political science, history, and peace and conflict resolution. After Wilson, he went on to the Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law, to receive his Juris Doctor. Since 2015, he has been employed as an attorney in the Office of the General Counsel for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Ian also serves as an associate pastor of Congregational Life and Preaching at Chambersburg Church of the Brethren. Prior to his employment at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, he interned at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Legislative Reference Bureau.
