Moonan to receive President's Award for Staff Excellence

Kathy Moonan, manager of accounts payable, will receive the President's Award for Staff Excellence during commencement exercises April 29.

Moonan has worked at Pitt-Bradford for 40 years.

“Kathy is a very dedicated and hardworking colleague whose entire life has been focused on safeguarding the well-being of our campus and the students we serve,” said Dr. Livingston Alexander, president of Pitt-Bradford. “She lives and breathes Pitt-Bradford and is well-deserving of this award.”    

The work that Moonan does for the university goes far beyond her job title. In addition to the substantial duties of being the manager of accounts payable, she has functioned as an office manager for the Business Affairs Office for more than a decade.

When Moonan leaves the office, she does not leave campus. Outside the office, she is a sports booster who puts her time where her passion is -- working in athletic fundraising or cheering on the Panthers.

In 2017, she combined her love of Pitt-Bradford with her love of scholastic wrestling. As an advocate and later advisor for the Wrestling Club, she solicited and secured the lead donation to position Pitt-Bradford to create an NCAA Division III wrestling team beginning this fall.

“The addition of an NCAA wrestling team will benefit the surrounding region and the university for years to come,” Alexander said. “Wrestling is a very popular sport at local high schools. Kathy is well aware of the popularity of the sport, especially since her son was an avid wrestler. She is confident the new sport will attract a large number of student wrestlers from the local area.”

As advisor for the wrestling club, she arranges the team's practice space, travels with wrestlers to competitions, and even bakes cookies for the athletes and team volunteers.

Many people on campus and around town know that Moonan bakes for more than just Pitt-Bradford wrestlers. Rising early every morning to bake a double batch of her signature chocolate chip cookies before work, she distributes them - still warm - to high school students, offices, friends, or anyone in need of congratulations or consolation.

She coordinates all food concessions at the Kessel Athletic Complex for both the baseball and softball fields, donating the proceeds to the Pitt-Bradford Athletic Department. She has coordinated fundraising through the Athletic Department for the Ovarian Cancer Foundation and assisted with fundraising for staff and their family members in need.

In the community, she also has overseen the concession stand for the Big 30 All-Star Charities Classic and at the Allegany-Limestone school for indoor soccer.

Moonan and her husband, Dave, live in Bradford. Her son, Matthew, is a junior accounting and business management student at Pitt-Bradford.