Six retire this summer with 230 years experience

Several longtime employees are retiring this summer.

Dr. Richard Frederick, professor of history, will retire Aug. 31, and Dr. Holly Spittler, associate dean of student affairs and director of career services, will retire Aug. 1. Retiring earlier this summer were Dr. Lisa Fiorentino, associate professor of nursing and director of the Center for Rural Health Practice; Dr. Carys Evans-Corrales, professor of Spanish; and Tim Ziaukas, professor of public relations.

Frederick retires as the third-longest serving member of the faculty. He began teaching at Pitt-Bradford in 1979 after earning his doctorate in history at Penn State University.

During his 39 years at Pitt-Bradford, he has taught classes in American history from the American Colonies to Vietnam and the John F. Kennedy Assassination.

He is the author of a biography of President William H. Taft and is the author or co-author of books on President Warren G. Harding and Ellis Island. He has received the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Pittsburgh and the Teaching Excellence Award from the Pitt-Bradford Alumni Association.

He is known for his witty and entertaining lectures and support of area organizations such as Bradford Little Theatre and the McKean County SPCA. He and his wife, Jan, live in Bradford.

Spittler came to Pitt-Bradford in 1981 to be the director of the then-new office of Career Planning and Placement. Since then, she has been active on campus and in the community.

Spittler is the advisor of the Nontraditional Student Association; was the co-founder of the first honor society on campus, the freshman honor society Alpha Lambda Delta; was the co-founder of the Empty Bowls and Baskets dinner to support the Friendship Table; and was instrumental in establishing activities for Women's History Month on campus.

She has received the Chancellor's Award for Staff Excellence in Service to the University and the YWCA Woman Leader Award and is or has been a board member with Futures Rehabilitation Center Inc., the YWCA Bradford, and her church. She lives in Bradford.

Fiorentino has taught nursing at Pitt-Bradford since 1985, started the radiological science program and served as director of the nursing program for many years. In 2013, she became the director of the Center for Rural Health Practice that is associated with both Pitt-Bradford and the university's Pittsburgh campus and hospital system.

“Much of what she has done, she has done without fanfare,” noted Dr. Mary Mulcahy, former chair of the Division of Biological and Health Sciences. “She is one of our best teachers and researchers and has led the nursing program through several successful accreditations - something that must be planned for years in advance.”

Mulcahy also noted Fiorentino's role as a mentor. “The role of leadership is to create new leaders, and I can see Lisa's leadership in our nursing faculty and administrative assistant.”

A globetrotter with an insatiable desire to learn about new cultures, she has been around the world on Semester at Sea with her husband, Dr. K. James Evans, who is also retiring this summer from his position as vice president and dean of student affairs.

Evans-Corrales, has been teaching Spanish at Pitt-Bradford for 25 years. She is an accomplished translator, including many poems in the little-known language Galician (one of the nine languages she speaks) into English.

At Pitt-Bradford, she became chair of the humanities in 2000 and became the first full professor in the Division of Communications and the Arts in 2007.

“Carys's cheerful smile and grateful attitude always brighten everyone's day,” said Jeff Guterman, who is the current chair of Communication and the Arts.

Finally, Tim Ziaukas, professor of public relations, arrived with a bang in Bradford 24 years ago and immediately became involved with the Bradford Creative and Performing Arts Center, for which he served as marketing director for two decades.

He quickly became well known in Bradford for his wit and storytelling. He has published in more than a dozen publications and has taught 17 different courses in his years on campus.

In 2017, he was co-recipient of the President's Award for Excellence in Teaching, Scholarship and Service and was honored by the PBAA with its Teaching Excellence Award.