Buffalo State will present its 2011 Senior Service Awards during Reunion Weekend on Sunday, June 26. This year’s reunion celebration, June 24–26, honors the classes of 1951 and 1961 and the 50-Plus Club, the annual gathering for alumni who have celebrated their 50th reunions.

Three of the university’s most dedicated alumni were honored with Buffalo State’s Senior Service Award during Reunion Weekend last summer. William G. Houston, ’51, Mary Lou Rath, ’56, and Kathryn A. Ward, ’81, were recognized for their longstanding community and campus service.

Houston served as superintendent of the Lake Shore Central School District for 30 years. His decades of service to the village of Angola, New York, include serving as a village trustee and deputy mayor, as president and commissioner of the Angola Fire Department, and as an active member of First Congregational United Church of Christ. He serves on numerous community boards and is a volunteer for Meals on Wheels. A veteran of the Korean War, Houston is active with the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Evans Township Lions Club. He is a member of the Buffalo State College Armed Services Reunion Committee and has helped to plan five reunions and erect the Veterans Memorial in Rockwell Quad.

Rath was elected to the New York State Senate in 1993 after serving as a member of the Erie County Legislature from 1978 to 1993. She represented the state’s 61st Senate District, which comprises parts of Erie County and all of Genesee County, until her retirement in 2008. Rath was instrumental in securing funds for Buffalo State’s new science and mathematics complex. She is a member of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences (Buffalo Museum of Science), the Junior League of Buffalo, the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, and Shea’s Performing Arts Center, and she participates in Buffalo State’s Silas L. Boyd Memorial A Cappella Choir.


Ward received an honorary Senior Service Award for her extraordinary service to Buffalo State College over more than 30 years. She began her career in student life in 1979, immersing herself in campus life, and was known for her unique and creative student events. Ward was appointed director of Alumni Affairs in 1997, and she received the Buffalo State President’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service in 2005. She retired in 2010, leaving a rich tradition filled with pride—and Bengal paraphernalia! Her warm demeanor and distinctive touch made her an icon of alumni culture at Buffalo State.

Established in 2003, the Senior Service Award is bestowed annually on alumni who graduated at least 50 years ago and have distinguished themselves in the area of college or community service in support of the mission of Buffalo State.

Related:
Flickr Gallery of 2010 Senior Service Award Ceremony and Reunion Weekend