YSU Trustees Honor 2 Late Professors with Heritage Awards

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Youngstown State University trustees Friday recognized two late professors for their contributions and dedication to the university.

The late Robert “Bob” Beebe, professor emeritus and founding chairman of the first doctoral program at YSU, and the late Warren Melvin “Renny” Young, professor emeritus and Ward Beecher Planetarium founder, were honored posthumously as recipients of the 2024 Heritage Award. 

“The Heritage Award is the most prestigious honor at YSU,” President Bill Johnson said.

Family members of each of the late professors accepted the awards.

Ann Beebe, Robert Beebe’s widow, said the award is unexpected and appreciated by the family.

“Bob would be just so moved by this recognition and your remembrance of his work here at YSU,” she said. “He would have reflected on those other Heritage Award recipients who came before him and how humbling it would be to be in their company.”

The family moved to the area and Beebe began working at YSU in 1990. 

“I think the challenge of developing the doctoral program suited Bob because he was a firm believer in educating oneself as deeply as possible in your chosen work,” Ann Beebe said.

She said her husband reflected on what having a doctorate meant to him and his career, saying that education changes you, requires discipline and a desire to work diligently to obtain a goal.

Young’s daughter, Laura McCormick, accepted the award for her father, who started at YSU in 1962, retired in 2005 and continued to teach part time until 2019.

“My father’s been on my mind a lot lately … and if any of you have been looking up, you’ll know why,” McCormick said.

She referred to the total solar eclipse in April and the aurora borealis, which was visible in the Mahoning Valley last month.

“For the first time, instead of my mother chasing my father all around the world for every astronomical event you can imagine, the eclipse came to her on his beloved farm,” McCormick said.

She said her father was a man who lived his ideals and who was extraordinarily dedicated to YSU. 

Young always celebrated his students, McCormick said.

“He was there to teach and to mentor and at weddings,” she said. “He attended every YSU graduation he could get to, assuming he and my mom weren’t out of the country somewhere.”

Also Friday, trustees:

• Approved a 3% tuition increase for new students who begin this fall. By law, tuition will remain the same for those students for four years.

• Furthered YSU’s efforts to provide a transition for students who want to transfer from Eastern Gateway Community College, which will close in October, to YSU. YSU also plans to open a campus in Steubenville, where Eastern Gateway is based. A location hasn’t been determined.

• Named Jennifer Pintar, interim provost and vice president of academic affairs since January, to the permanent role and approved Sarah Keeler as the vice president of government affairs. She’s been the special assistant of government affairs since January.

• Accepted three parcels from the YSU Foundation on Arlington Avenue. Attorney Greg Morgione, YSU associate counsel, told trustees Thursday that the parcels are the last three needed to extend the university’s parking footprint along Arlington. The houses on the parcels will be demolished, adding 174 parking spaces. That will help replace some of the parking spots lost when YSU demolished the Lincoln Avenue parking deck.

• Reappointed Eric Spiegel as a national/global YSU trustee. Spiegel, a Poland native and former president and chief executive of Siemens USA, was the first global trustee at YSU, initially appointed in 2018. 

• Swore in Sterling Williams as the newest trustee.

• Appointed Trustees Michael Peterson, Chuck George and Anita Hackstedde as board chairman, vice chairman and secretary, respectively, for another year.

Pictured at top: Trustees presented a YSU Heritage Award posthumously to Warren Melvin “Renny” Young, professor emeritus and Ward Beecher Planetarium founder. Pictured are Young’s widow, Sandra Young; and daughter, Laura McCormick.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.