Arts and Architecture/Performing Arts Alumni Board Member Biographies
Rosemary Gillis Buetikofer
rcbuetikofer@comcast.net
Harleysville, PA
Penn State Degree: Bachelor of science, music education, 1985
Position: Music Educator, Upper Dublin School District, Dresher, PA
Career Moves: Rose is a music educator in the Upper Dublin School District, where she works with Middle School band, and teaches Music Appreciation. Prior to her experience at Upper Dublin, she was employed by Central Bucks School District and Susquehanna Township School District. Rose was a member of the Penn State Blue Band and served as band president and secretary during the course of her college career. Rose is active with the Upper Dublin Education Association and the Pennsylvania State Education Association, as well as the American Band Association and Music Educators National Conference. In addition to her Penn State degree, she holds a master of music education degree from West Chester University.
Colleen Meade Claps
ctclaps@gmail.com
New York, NY
Penn State Degree: Bachelor of arts in graphic design, 1994
Position: Associate Creative Director, Vanity Fair Magazine
Career Moves: Colleen has worked with Conde Nast Publications since 1999, first as design director for Vanity Fair and now as associate creative director. She manages a staff of 7 designers, a copywriter and production manager. She is responsible for developing and producing all creative projects for the promotion, sales, and marketing departments for the Vanity Fair brand. Included in her work are special advertising sections, direct mail pieces, plus event collateral materials, media kits, and invitations. Her experience prior to Conde Naste includes several years with HarperÕs Bazaar magazine, and Discover Magazine (Walt Disney Publishing).
Matthew Connors
matt@blue-soho.com
New York, NY
Penn State Degree: Bachelor of arts in visual arts with concentration in Drawing and Painting, 1993
Position: Studio Chief, BlueSoho Digital Art Development
After graduation from Penn State, where he was introduced to Photoshop 2.0, a revolutionary program which forever changed the way he looks at the printed image, Matt spent several years working as a freelance graphic artist, illustrator and 3D artist. In 1997, he joined the burgeoning New York City Imaging Division of Quad/Graphics and rose to the position of color sponsor with clients such as Gruner & Jahr, Hachette Filipacchi Media, Hearst Magazines, Time Inc. and Conde Nast Publications. In that role, Matt worked on thousands of images and hundreds of covers for Fitness Magazine, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire and House and Garden. When Quad/Graphics opened a new facility in San Francisco, Matt was appointed to the founding team and quickly promoted to operations manager. He returned to New York City in 2006 to open and lead BlueSoho, a Quad/Graphics premiere digital art development venture to tap the fashion, cosmetic and editorial market.
Special Interests: Matt is a member of the National Association for Photoshop Professionals, Computer Graphics Society of Digital Artists, and still indulges his love for illustration and painting.
Steve Cromity
cromitys@bww.com, camelot290@msn.com
Lansdowne, PA
Penn State Degree: Bachelor of architecture, 1990
Postition: Architectural Project Manager, KCBA Architects
Career Moves: After leaving Penn State, Steve began his career with the Community Action Agency of Delaware County. During that time he continued his education and completed a masters degree in Human Organizational Science in 1993 at Villanova University. Currently Steve works as an architectural project manager for KCBA Architects in Philadelphia. Previously, he worked for RHM Associates and BLM Architects. He is active with the Philadelphia Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects, and served as the group’s president in 2001 and 2002.
Daniel S. DiMucci, RLA, ASLA
ddimucci@pennoni.com
West Chester, PA
Penn State Degree: Bachelor of Science in landscape architecture, 1969
Position: Senior Vice President,
Pennoni Associates Inc., a multi-discipline consulting engineering firm headquartered in
Philadelphia.
Career Moves: Upon graduation from Penn State in 1969, Dan spent two years in the U.S. Army, stationed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, followed by fifteen years with GWSM Inc., Landscape Architects, Pittsburgh. PA. After completing his master's degree in planning at the University of Pittsburgh, Dan relocated to Philadelphia to become director of land development/site design for Pennoni Associates. Dan is a past president of the PA/Delaware Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and currently serves on numerous professional and business committees throughout the Delaware Valley.
Special Interests: An avid sports fan (especially of Penn State), Dan also enjoys golf, music, and working with the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.
Charles Fox
chfox@state.pa.us
Somerset, PA
Penn State Degrees: Bachelor of arts in art history, bachelor
of arts in history, 1988
Position: Historic Site and Museum Administrator, PA Historical and Museum
Commission
Career Moves: From 1991 until 1997 Charles worked at Curtin Village, a 19th century iron plantation in Howard, PA, first as a historical interpreter, eventually as site administrator. Since 1997 he has worked for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission as the administrator of the Somerset Historical Center, a rural history museum located in Somerset, Pennsylvania. Charles additionally served as acting director of the Fort Pitt Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2000 and 2001. Most recently he has become heavily involved with the temporary memorials to the crash of United Flight 93 in Shanksville, PA on September 11, 2001, overseeing artifact collections, working with the State Museum of Pennsylvania and the Smithsonian Institution on exhibits, and helping to lay the groundwork for an eventual permanent memorial to be located in Shanksville.
Special Interests: Music, sports, motorcycles, fine arts, and (of course) history.