September 2021 Alumni Association Award Recipients

David A. Martin, Ph.D. ’87, P ’03 retired in 2016 after 33 years at Albright and continued to teach as an Albright adjunct through 2019. Martin began his career at Albright in 1983, as “the finance guy,” moving on to serve as an associate and full professor of economics, where he derived tremendous enjoyment from working with Albright students and observing their development. During those years, Martin served as the faculty/staff chairperson of the Annual Fund Executive Committee, a member of the Task Force on Facilities and Financial Management for the Commission on the Future of Albright, a volunteer chaperone for the 2006 student-led spring break trip to help clean up New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, a panelist for the Career Development Center’s event “What Can I do With a Major In Economics?” and an alumni class representative.

Martin is the recipient of the Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award and the United
Methodist Exemplary Teaching Award; and was named emeritus professor of economics
and business upon his retirement. Martin involved alumni in his teaching and would often host networking dinners for students and alumni in his home.

As a student, Martin worked in the dining hall, was a member of the band and orchestra, built sets and arranged lighting for the Domino Players, was a DJ for WXAC Radio, and was a member and officer of the YM-YWCA student organization. Following graduation in 1967, with a bachelor’s in economics, Martin attended Bethany Theological Seminary of the Church of the Brethren for two terms. He withdrew from seminary and volunteered for the draft as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War and served two years of alternative service as the Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Church of the Brethren Volunteer Service program.

Martin earned a master’s degree in economics from Penn State University, (1971) and a
doctorate in economics from Lehigh University (1980) focusing on private finance, money and banking and international economics. Martin became a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) in 1987— grading Level 3 CFA exams for 16 years. Martin has been an active member of the CFA Institute Level III Standard Setting Advisory Committee, the CFA Institute Candidate Curriculum Working Body, the CFA Society of Philadelphia Membership Committee, the American Economics Association and the American Finance Association.

He served as a firm advisor for Meridian Investment Advisors, Inc., and was a panel member for The Berks Economy Forum at Penn State-Berks Campus.

Today, Martin is enjoying retirement in Lititz, Pa. One of his two adult children graduated from Albright in 2003.

Steven K. Groff, M.D.’ 87 founded Wyndridge Farm, a restaurant, wedding and corporate event venue, and beverage manufacturer in York County, Pa., in 2014. Since then, he has spread his wings as an entrepreneur, starting three new companies since2018: Groff North America (GNA), Groff Health and Groff NA Hemplex. GNA is a comprehensive hemp-cannabis refinery, extraction, purification and formulation facility, with a diverse team of experts leading the way in research and production of raw materials from all aspects of the cannabis plant. In May of this year, GNA was approved as one of only four new private companies that would have marijuana grow licenses, and the company will use the license to study antibacterial aspects of THC and CBD. There search will be taking place at the company’s 80,000 square foot facility in Red Lion,Pa., and is expected to be a monumental step in advancing opportunities for medical and scientific research in Central Pennsylvania and the United States.

Prior to becoming a successful entrepreneur, Groff served his community for nearly20 years as an Orthopedic Surgeon. During that time, he served as president of KDVOrthopedics and led a large multi-organization merger to form OSS, a vital healthcare entity in South Central Pennsylvania. He served three terms as president of OSS HealthSystem and was founding chairman of the ambulatory surgical center.

Groff has served his alma mater by speaking to students about entrepreneurship and about the science behind the industrial hemp business. He also offered Wyndridge Farm as the host site of the 2019 summer trustee meeting and alumni event. Groff graduated, cum laude, from Albright College in 1987, with a bachelor’s degree in biology. While a student, he played basketball and was active in the Student Government Association,Skull & Bones, Alpha Epsilon Delta (pre-med fraternity) and Sigma Phi Epsilon. FromAlbright, Groff moved on to the University of Virginia, where he earned his medical degree in 1996.

Groff and his wife, Julie, reside in Dallastown, Pa., and have three adult children.

Lindsay A. Phillips, Psy.D., ABPP ’00 is a member of the psychology faculty at Marywood University, teaching undergraduate through doctoral students. She has a particular passion for supporting student research and training clinicians, and has written and presented numerous publications on teaching psychology, training psychologists and other clinical topics. Phillips is a licensed psychologist in Pennsylvania, and is board certified in clinical psychology, maintaining a private practice in addition to her work in education.

Phillips graduated summa cum laude from Albright in 2000, majoring in psychology with a program in music. She spent most of her time in Teel Hall, working as a psychology lab assistant and conducting research. Her favorite activity during her college days was singing in the Concert Choir.

Phillips’s experience as an undergraduate at Albright led her to pursue and earn a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Temple University in 2002 and a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Chestnut Hill College in 2008. She worked her way through graduate school providing mental health services in community agencies and jails, while remaining linked to Albright by teaching in the School of Professional Studies, starting as an adjunct in 2003, and teaching full-time in the Applied Psychology program from 2006-2018. Phillips maintains her connection with the School of Professional Studies, and is grateful to have advised the capstone projects of countless students in this program.

Phillips has received several accolades in her field, including the 2012 Judy E. Hall,Ph.D., Early Career Psychologist Award from the National Register of Health Service Psychologists and a 2018 Teaching Resource Prize from the Society for the PsychologicalStudy of Social Issues. She currently serves as the Vice President and NortheastRegional Coordinator for the American Board of Clinical Psychology, where she will begin her term as President in January 2022. Phillips also actively serves the psychology profession as chair of the Public Education Committee for the Pennsylvania PsychologicalAssociation, as well as several other service roles with professional organizations.

Phillips’s service to her community includes dedicating a portion of her private practice time to frontline and healthcare workers since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing free consultation to organizations that promote successful re-entry from prison to society, and enjoying other volunteer opportunities that emerge in the community.One of her favorite service activities is as co-leader to a Brownie troop, a role that is both a service and a great source of enjoyment.

Phillips and husband, Wil, are parents to two very energetic, cheerful children, ages five and eight. The family resides in Montgomery County, Pa., and Sussex County, Del.

Cynthia D. (Baker) Rothenberger, DNP, RN, ACNS, BC ’87 is an assistant professor of nursing at Alvernia University, concentrating on medical-surgical nursing, maternal-child nursing, diabetes education and cardiovascular health promotion/disease prevention. She previously held several nursing roles, primarily as a clinician and clinical nurse specialist in cardiac nursing, both in inpatient and outpatient settings.Rothenberger has conducted research, presented and published in areas of chronic illness, self-management and nursing education. She is a regular speaker and member of the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses, the American Association of Diabetes Educators and the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.

In 2019, Rothenberger received the Sister Donatella Service Award for outstanding contributions to the Alvernia University community. She has been recognized by thePennsylvania League of Nursing for excellence in nursing education, and in 2019 was appointed to participate in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and AppleInc. collaborative project entitled the 2019 AACN-Apple Digital Innovation Bootcamp:From Content to Action.

Rothenberger is a Certified Diabetes Educator and a Clinical Nurse Specialist, Medical-Surgical Nursing. She earned a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania, and a doctorate in nursing practice from Case Western Reserve University.

As an Albright student, Rothenberger was a member of the Albright College Organization of Nursing Students, WXAC Radio, Domino Players, Admission Committee,Curriculum Committee, Lion Diplomats and Sigma Theta Tau (nursing sorority). She graduated cum laude, with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, in 1987.

Rothenberger and husband, John, live in Fleetwood, Pa., and have two adult daughters.

Reverend Leonard S. Buxton ’85 is retired director of church relations at the MethodistHospital of Brooklyn, N.J. Prior to serving in this capacity, Buxton served as a minister at 17 churches throughout his career. Additionally, he earned a graduate degree in psychology, specializing in pastoral counseling, and taught psychology at Claflin University and Benedict College in Columbia, S.C.

Buxton was born in Ephrata, Pa., the youngest of three sons, and raised in Evangelical UnitedBrethren Church parsonages. While studying psychology at Albright College, he was involved in WXAC Radio, the Kappa Upsilon Phi and Kappa Tau Chi fraternities, and was a member of the Domino Players and Choral Ensemble. For many years, both while a student and after he graduated from Albright, Buxton has been his own recruiting committee, taking countless car and van loads full of potential students to Albright for tours and visits with the Admission staff. Buxton also served as a member of the class of 1952’s 60th Year Reunion Committee in 2012, and served on the New York City Area Alumni EventCommittee in the 1980s. Additionally, he is part of a three-generation Albright family: his mother, Ella Buxton, was a member of the class of 1918; his brother, Robert Buxton, was a member of the class of 1947, and his son, the Rev. Jon Buxton, is a member of the class of 1984.

After graduating from Albright with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, Buxton went on to the Boston University School of Theology where he earned both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Sacred Theology. Buxton released the first volume of his autobiography,“This Is My Story, This Is My Song,” and is currently working on the second volume.

Married for 64 years, Buxton and his wife, Tita, have three sons and live in Wesley Village, a United Methodist retirement community, in Pittston, Pa.

Josue O. Matos ’19 is the proud owner and operator of Berks County’s first and only self pour taproom and restaurant, Beer Wall on Penn. He discovered PourMyBeer’s self-pour technology in early 2018, and saw his dream bar come to fruition in the spring of 2019.

Originally from Newark, N.J., and raised in Reading, Pa., Matos received his Albright College School of Professional Studies (SPS) degree in business administration in 2019, graduating magna cum laude. It was at Albright, during his final capstone project where the idea for his unique bar experience was born. While still a student, Matos participated in an entrepreneurship panel and was featured in the Albright Reporter for his creativity in turning his capstone project into the business of a lifetime. An avid lover of craft beer and technology, he spends his days in West Reading sharing his story with customers and making sure their experiences at Beer Wall are memorable.

Matos served as keynote speaker for the 2019 SPS alumni reunion and was interviewed
by Professor Melissa Wells in an Alumni and Donor Engagement online feature in
October, 2020. Matos currently resides in Reading, Pa. with his wife, Valerie.