This Year's Alumni Award Recipients
Distinguished Alumni Award
V. Joseph Trost (MST '93)
Joe Trost graduated from the Master of Science in Telecommunications Program at the University of Pittsburgh in 1993. Joe has a BS in Decisions Sciences from Rider University in New Jersey and an Associate Degree in Computer Science from Middlesex County College also in New Jersey. He started his career in computing as a mainframe computer operator in New York City back in 1982. During the late 1980’s, computers began to be “networked” together. Joe wanted to be a part of this new technology so he left his programmer/analyst job and enrolled in the Telecom Program at Pitt.
While attending the Telecom Program, Joe thrived in the interdisciplinary environment. There were courses on networking protocols, networking theory, telephony, switching, software, hardware and regulatory issues. One day, you would be studying SS7 and the next day you would be building a mux out of chips on a breadboard.
After graduation, Joe took a position as a Technical Support Engineer with FORE Systems. Over time, he rose to the rank of Director - ATM Switch Engineering. FORE was purchased by Marconi and then Marconi was purchased by Ericsson. Today, Joe works for Aclara Technologies and is focused on the testing of Smartgrid Products that are used by the Electrical Utility Industry.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr. Vivian Davidson Hewitt (BLS '44)
At 96 years old, Dr. Vivian Hewitt is an accomplished art lover and librarian. Dr. Hewitt was born in New Castle, PA. She holds a B.A. from Geneva College, an M.S. in Library Science from the Carnegie Institute of Technology--now Carnegie-Mellon University--and has an honorary Doctorate LHD from Geneva College.
Hewitt's career as a librarian began as the first African American Librarian senior assistant for Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh. She later took a position as a Librarian and Instructor at Atlanta University's School of Library and Information Science. She and her husband, John, had a son who is now a retired Physician. Upon her return, she worked for Crowell-Collier Publishing, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as Chief Librarian until her retirement. She has served on the Council on Foreign Relations, on the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin, and as a board secretary.
Dr. Hewitt also has a passion for art. She and her husband began buying works of Haitian and African American art. The Hewitt Collection, now considered one of the finest in the world, was purchased by Bank of America and gifted to the Harvey B. Gantt African-American Cultural Center in Charlotte, NC. Hewitt has also served on the Board of Governors of the Laymen's Club of the Episcopal Church of the Diocese, NY, and 25 years as a Tour Guide for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. She is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award of the Black Caucus of the American Library Assoc., inductee to the Hall of Fame of the Special Libraries Association, and is a member of the American Branch of the British Order of Saint John.
Professional Achievement Award
Noelle Calabro Conover (MSIS '85)
Noelle Calabro Conover has worked in the IT field for over 30 years. She began her career at Pitt and upon completion of her master's degree was hired by IBM as a Systems Engineer. For the next five years, Noelle supported the sales and implementation of large mainframe systems and databases on the Westinghouse account in Pittsburgh.
Upon leaving IBM, Noelle became a consultant specializing in the field of technical communication for the next 20 years, working in 23 separate startup and established IT departments in Pittsburgh creating technical documentation, online help systems, websites, marketing materials, training materials, newsletters, and API documentation. In 2007, Noelle was hired as the assistant webmaster at DDI, a human resources consulting firm in Bridgeville, PA. For the next five years, she worked to support a large website, implementing many new technologies and supporting the development of a .net environment. In 2012, Noelle helped to start the Technology and Online Marketing company, Enwhorl, Inc. Over the next few years, this company developed websites, online systems, apps and social media applications. Currently, Noelle works as the Project Coordinator for SurvivorConnect at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, where she uses her technical, communication, marketing, project management and information design skills to support a program designed to follow the health of pediatric cancer survivors from five years off treatment until they are successfully transitioned to adult primary care practices. A mother of 4, she resides with her husband, daughter and father in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
Noelle received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master of Science in Information Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Information Sciences.
Young Alumni Award
Jefferson Bailey (MLIS '11)
Jefferson Bailey is Director of Web Archiving at Internet Archive. Jefferson joined Internet Archive in Summer 2014 and manages Internet Archive's web archiving services, including Archive-It, used by over 450 institutions to preserve the web. He also oversees contract domain-scale web archiving services for national libraries and archives around the world, including Library of Congress, NARA, and foreign national libraries. He works closely with partner institutions on technology development, web data research services, educational partnerships, and other programs. He is PI on multiple grants focused on systems interoperability, data-driven research use of web archives, and digital preservation. Prior to Internet Archive, he worked on strategic initiatives, digital collections, and digital preservation at institutions such as Metropolitan New York Library Council, Library of Congress, Brooklyn Public Library, and Frick Art Reference Library and has worked in the archives at NARA, NASA, and Atlantic Records. He is currently Vice Chair of the International Internet Preservation Consortium. He has an MLIS in Archives from University of Pittsburgh and a BA in English from Oberlin College.
