on this page: |
In Memoriam: Loraine Mellor, Artist-in-Residence,
Mellor began teaching at Albright in September 2003, and was the chair of the Fashion Department for the past three years. Prior to joining Albright she was head designer for Elite Sportswear in Reading for 12 years. During her career she designed clothing for H. Warshow & Sons, Inc. and Chaps by Ralph Lauren in New York, N.Y., and was design director/co-owner of The Knit Resource Center in New York where she worked with clients such as Dupont fibers, Pierre Cardin, Christian Dior, Bill Blass Accessories, Liz Claiborne, Macy’s and Talbot’s. A member of Berks Art Alliance, this past summer her paintings were part of a nationwide art tour, “In Response to Healing.” The show included more than 50 works from 30 artists created for healing, about healing and during healing. Doreen Burdalski, assistant professor of fashion, said she knew Loraine as “a witty, intelligent individual with very high standards and a passion for Albright College.” Burdalski added, “She held the bar high for students and helped them reach it. We will miss her.” Mellor’s students echoed the sentiment. “Loraine taught my first fashion class at Albright,‘Textile Science,’” says Sara Ashenfalder ’08. “The class opened my eyes to a whole new aspect of fashion. Loraine’s artwork especially was a huge inspiration. She believed in my design philosophy even when I doubted it myself. She was a very gifted lady.” Mellor received a bachelor’s degree in textile design, fine art and management studies from the University of Leeds in England. |
Economic Impact of Berks County Colleges and Universities Tops $1 Billion Berks County, Pennsylvania, gains more than $1 billion in economic benefit annually from its five institutions of higher education – and nearly $250 million from Albright College. A new study released by the Higher Education Council of Berks County (HECBC) shows direct and indirect impact is as much as $1.2 billion, with the most conservative estimate at $923 million. HECBC is a consortium of the five Berks County colleges and universities: Albright College, Alvernia College, Kutztown University, Penn State Berks and Reading Area Community College. Albright’s individual economic impact ranges from a conservative $188,135,487 to a high of $249,525,420. The five institutions enroll more than 21,000 students, employ more than 2,600 people fulltime, and attract more than 128,000 visitors annually. Key parameters used to calculate direct economic impact included institutional core spending, discretionary student spending, rental payments and visitors to campus. Also calculated was student volunteer time, which at Albright amounted to 17,000 hours in 2006-07. Other activities outside the scope of the study are also beneficial to the region’s economic welfare and quality of life, including cultural events, workforce readiness of graduates, internships and co-ops, external grants, entrepreneurial enterprises, library and library resources, and tax revenues from student and visitor spending. The study also did not address the local colleges’ role in serving the underserved, the unemployed and the underemployed. Additionally, as colleges and universities have grown, they have added many new white-collar and bluecollar positions with benefits to support increased enrollment.
“The impact of Albright and the other colleges and universities is tremendous,” said President Lex McMillan. “We have often talked about Albright as the anchor of our sector of the city. We not only stabilize the area and contribute to quality of life, but we also are an economic engine, making a truly significant economic difference in the local neighborhood, the entire city of Reading and Berks County.” For the five institutions, core spending approached $200 million. Student spending is estimated at $28 - 65 million. Rent and housing is $10 -16 million. Visitors spend $102-114 million. Total of direct spending by campus and students is estimated between $328 - $378 million. The multipliers used to calculate the total economic impact (1.7 percent and 2.3 percent) are conservative compared to industry standards, according to Lolita Paff, associate professor of business economics at Penn State Berks, who coordinated the study along with research staff at the five institutions. HECBC conducted a previous economic impact study in 2001, and recalculated the impact because of new capital investments and continued growth in student enrollment. The full study is online at http://www.berks. psu.edu/hecbc. The study was based on 2004 figures. |
Loraine I. Mellor, artist in residence, fashion
merchandising and design, died on November 22,
2007, following a lengthy illness.