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Alumni Association board gains two members

Two SIUC graduates will continue their ties to the University as they were announced as the newest members of the Alumni Association's board of directors.

Carbondale resident Dorothy Lingle Ittner and Terry Gannon of St. Pete Beach, Fla., will serve four-year terms as part of the board.

Both positions were effective July 1.

A lifetime member of the SIU Alumni Association, Ittner, who is also known as Dede, said her first job for the board would be as the organization's welcoming representative at the August commencement as it greets the new graduating class.

After graduating in 1961, Ittner began her professional career as a third-grade teacher in Jacksonville, a position she held from 1961 to 1963. For the next 29 years, she taught school districts in Bloomington and Richard County, focusing specifically on home and hospital-bound instruction as well as gifted and creative thinking programs.

Ittner currently works as an instructor for the John A. Logan College Adult Education program and specializes in beginning level literacy and learning style assessment and facilitation.

Ittner's parents were also alumni of the University. Leland Lingle, a member of the SIUC class of 1927, coached the Saluki track team until his death in 1964. Ittner's mother, Dorothy Furr Lingle, graduated in 1928 and became a General Studies adviser in 1964.

Ittner's grandfather, William Furr, also headed the teacher education program.

With a family history deeply rooted in SIUC, Ittner said she was very pleased to be a part of the board of directors.

"I was absolutely delighted," Ittner said. "It's an honor. I feel so pleased."

As the other new addition to the Alumni Association's board of directors, Gannon graduated from the University in 1968. Although he has since retired, he has enjoyed a career complete with various leadership roles, including mayor of St. Pete Beach.

While heading the city, Gannon and his team organized efforts to start planning and engineering a project to retrieve water back to the city. The goal of their labors was to reduce the use of potable water in St. Pete Beach, resulting in the allowance of every household and business the ability to use reclaimed water for irrigation.

Gannon's business resume includes employment in production, accounting, sales and marketing. He also served as a production supervisor at Uniroyal, an accountant at Texaco and a sales executive for the Xerox Corporation.

After retiring from the working world, Gannon applied much of his time to SIUC. In 2002, Gannon, along with his wife, Carol, became the motivating force behind creating and charting the Central Florida Salukis Alumni Chapter. Gannon, who is also a lifetime member of the SIU Alumni Association, services as the president of the organization.

Gannon was excited to learn of their association with their alma mater.

"I was very honored," he said. "Hopefully, I will be able to bring something to the table.

"The biggest thing is to make sure we realize Saluki pride."

Ittner said she has received congratulations from several people in the community and also said she would try to put a "personal touch" on her new responsibilities.

"The closer we draw together as an association, the closer we draw together as a university and community," she said.

The board of directors oversees the activities, programs and services of the Alumni Association and represents approximately 200,000 SIUC graduates in more than 120 countries across the globe.