The Daily Bulletin Archive

By Mary A. Durlak

Buffalo State College is proud to honor four of its most distinguished and dedicated alumni during this year’s Commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 16. Distinguished Alumnus Awards will be presented to Anthony J. Baynes, ’79, CEO of the A. J. Baynes Group; Todd W. Brason, ’85, CEO of Willcare Inc; Ronald James Kelley, ’86, physicist and entrepreneur; and Karen E. Penfold, ’69, community leader.

Anthony Baynes is founder and chief executive officer of the A. J. Baynes Group, one of the leading third-party transportation and logistics providers in the country.

Baynes chaired the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority from 2006 to 2008. He is a member of the Roswell Park Alliance Community Advisory Board and a board member of the Bison Scholarship Fund, a privately funded tuition-assistance program for low-income families. He has served as treasurer of the board of Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. His many awards include the 2008 Leadership Buffalo Values Award, the 2007 Buffalo News Outstanding Citizen of the Year, the 2006 Italian American of the Year Award for outstanding contribution to the Buffalo community, and the Burt P. Flickinger Jr. Volunteer of the Year Award from Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo.

Baynes joined the Buffalo State College Foundation board in June 2007. As co-chair of the 2008 Foundation Scholarship Gala, he presided over the most successful gala in the event’s history. He is also co-chair of the foundation’s Development Committee and serves as a member of its Executive Committee. Both he and his companies are generous financial contributors to the college.

Todd Brason is chief executive officer of Willcare Inc., a home health care company employing about 1,600 employees—800 in Western New York—with annual revenues of more than $50 million. Willcare was named to the 2008 HomeCare Elite, a compilation of the most successful home health care providers in the United States. It has been ranked among Buffalo’s top private and fastest-growing companies by Business First.

Brason serves on the board of directors, as a former trustee and current chair, of the Greater Buffalo Chapter of the American Red Cross. He is a former and current board member of various other community organizations as well. He has held leadership roles in several professional and service organizations on the state and national levels, and has provided guidance on human service issues. He is a committed advocate for seniors and long-term health care.

Brason was elected to the Buffalo State College Foundation board of directors in 1998. As chair from 2004 to 2007, he presided over three successive years of increased fundraising and growth in foundation assets. Both Brason and Willcare have been generous and consistent financial contributors to Buffalo State College and the Burchfield Penney Art Center for more than a decade.

Ronald Kelley, Ph.D., is a physicist and entrepreneur with notable achievements as a scientist and innovator. As a lead engineer and program manager with Motorola, he was named a Distinguished Innovator, holding 27 patents. He has written 48 papers that have been published in refereed scientific journals, and he has been certified as a Six Sigma Black Belt by Motorola and the American Society for Quality.

In 2005, Kelley left Motorola and co-founded Gecko Energy Technologies, a portable fuel cell technology company. He has since founded Green Gap Solutions LLC, an alternative energy development company that has been working on proprietary off-grid lighting. In 2009, he became chief operating officer of Transmediair, a New Jersey biofuel company. Kelley is a member of the board of directors of India Inspire Fund, a nonprofit organization that aids children and families in India, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, the New Jersey Technology Council (NJTC), and the NJTC Energy, Environment, and Engineering Industry Network. He is also a member of the Materials Research Society, IEEE, and the American Society for Quality.

Throughout his career, Kelley has maintained close ties with Buffalo State College.

Karen Penfold is an outstanding community leader whose support of Buffalo State has been generous and inspirational.

Penfold has served as a trustee for St. Bernadette Parish and as a volunteer for many local organizations, including the American Heart Association, Vive La Casa, and the Kenmore Mercy Hospital Foundation. She has served on the boards of St. Mary’s and St. Francis high schools, Canisius College, Immaculata Academy Parents Guild, the Sisters of Mercy Development Council, Kenmore Mercy Hospital, the Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, and the Hamburg Rejuvenation Project. Her awards include the Woman of the Year Award from the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pioneer Investors Award and the Red Jacket Award from the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, the Elaine Mack Community Service Award from Hopevale Inc., and the Sister Mechtilde Memorial Award from the Kenmore Mercy Hospital Foundation.

For more than 20 years, Penfold has championed Buffalo State, serving as an alumni ambassador, a member of the Buffalo State College Foundation board of directors, and a member of the steering committee for the foundation’s successful $10 million Endowing the Future campaign. She established the Karen Kostecky Penfold All College Honors Program Scholarship and has supported numerous other projects at Buffalo State, including the Great Lakes Center and the new Burchfield Penney Art Center.