Six FSU Alumni to Be Honored as Part of Homecoming 2014

As part of Homecoming 2014 for Fairmont State University, six exceptional alumni will be honored at the annual Alumni Awards Brunch at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 25.

Sponsored by Thrasher Engineering, the event will be held in the Falcon Center third floor conference rooms. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Visit www.fairmontstate.edu/homecoming to view a complete list of events and additional information.

“Each year the Fairmont State Alumni Association receives countless nominations for their Homecoming awards. This year we are proud to present awards to six remarkable alumni,” said Emily Swain, Director of Alumni Relations.

Outstanding Alumnus—Nick Fantasia, Class of 1985

Nick L. Fantasia graduated from Fairmont State in 1985 with a degree in business administration and secondary education/social studies. While at Fairmont State, he was a member of the baseball team. He graduated in 2001 from Waynesburg College with an MBA. He has made good use of his education to become a successful businessman, community leader and public servant.

Fantasia has worked on Marion County economic development, serving on the Marion County Development Authority as president of the Marion Regional Development Corporation since 1996. He was a part of the team that created the I-79 Technology Park, and helped sell out four local business parks. He has also served both the Marion County Multi-Modal Transportation Study and the Fairmont Coke Works Community Liaison Panel. Beyond Marion County, Fantasia has served as a member on the Governors Council for Government Reorganization, Clay Center for the Arts Board and Leadership WV board.

Fantasia has been politically active as well, elected five times to serve on Fairmont’s City Council. During that time he also served as Deputy Mayor and then a decade as Mayor (1996-2006). During his time in office, the City expanded by more than 1,000 acres, built new Public Safety and Water/Sewer plants, two new parking structures and four major bridge projects.

Fantasia is General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of Fantasia Broadcasting. The four- station group was recently sold. Prior to the sale the group had exclusive rights for NASCAR and the Pittsburgh Steelers and had been named the Flagship group for WVU sports broadcasting. Fantasia also operates Vintage Holding LLC, a commercial real property management and development company.

He is past president of the South Fairmont Rotary and the Marion County Chamber of Commerce. He has served on the boards of directors of the Fairmont State Alumni Association, Fairmont State Letterman’s Association and the Fairmont General Hospital Foundation.

Fantasia was awarded the 1997 Marion County Chamber of Commerce Presidents Award, the 1997 Sam Walton Entrepreneurs Award and the 2001 Marion County Chamber of Commerce Chairman’s Award. In 2000, West Virginia Executive Magazine named Fantasia as one of its “Young Guns.” In 2001, West Virginia Main Street named him an Outstanding Public Servant; in 2003 The State Journal named him to its Who’s Who in West Virginia Business; in 2004, the Small Business Administration awarded him the West Virginia Family Business of the Year; and in 2009, he was named the Marion County Chamber of Commerce Developer of the Year.

Fantasia lives in Fairmont with his wife, Beth and their two sons, Nicholas and Dominic.

Outstanding Alumna—Donna Hopkins, Class of 1983

Donna Hopkins is a 1983 graduate of Fairmont State. She attended college on scholarships in both basketball and track, and she earned degrees in Radio & Television Communication and Regents of Arts while maintaining her scholarships. After college, she moved to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area where she currently resides.

Hopkins is a co-host and sports reporter for Pro Football Plus television show covering the Washington Redskins on Mid-Atlantic Sports Net (MASN). She is also a host and analyst on CTV NFL Sideline Report during the NFL season. Hopkins has worked as a radio producer, talk show host and DJ. Additionally, she spent time as a staff writer, writing weekly human-interest stories and sport features, produced and wrote feature stories on local sports personalities and also contributed to stories for the Afro Newspaper.

Hopkins works for National Institute of Health (NIH) within the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In 1997, and again in 1999, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In 2000, after going through breast cancer twice, she started the Hopkins Breast Cancer Inc. Foundation. The Foundation provides financial assistance to aid in the treatment and related costs for disadvantaged breast cancer patients who reside in the Washington Metropolitan area. Each year, the Foundation hosts a basketball tournament to raise money for breast cancer survivors. From 2000-2004, she served as a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society to educate, increase awareness of breast cancer prevention and early detection and survival for women. In 2001, Sears, the WNBA, the Washington Mystics and National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations selected her as the Local Breast Health Hero. In 2011, Hopkins was selected by Under Armour as one of three breast cancer survivors to represent the brand in their Power in Pink national campaign.

Hopkins is an accomplished competitive athlete. She played basketball for several years with both the Bethesda Naval and Walter Reed Military base teams and currently competes regularly on Walter Reed Navy Medical Center Wheelchair basketball team. She also competes in rowing for Medstar NRH Paralympic Sports Club. She served as a board member for the Breast Cancer Care Foundation from 2000-2005.

A West Virginia native, Hopkins is the eighth of 10 children born to the late Irving and Nazimova Hopkins. She is a member of the Temple of Healing Waters, COGIC, where she is a missionary, and served as the audio and sound department for several years. She is very active in her local community, where she volunteers her time to various community initiatives such as the Monumental Sports and Entertainment Foundation.

Alumnus of Achievement—Jeffrey Coe, Class of 1983

Jeffrey Coe graduated from Fairmont State with an A.B. in Education in 1983 and went on to earn a master’s degree from West Virginia University in Safety Engineering in 1987.

Coe has been the National Practice leader of the US Architects, Engineers, Contractors + Owner Practice for Marsh/FINPRO for 10 years. In this role, Coe and his team support the production and servicing of professional liability practice policies, owner controlled project specific professional liability policies and contractor professional liability programs across the United States. In addition, Coe supports FINPRO colleagues in local offices with sales strategy and production delivery of the lines of coverage while assisting in continuing collaboration efforts with the company’s construction, environmental and real estate practices. He has been a presenter at several conferences, including the Nuclear Practice client forum and the CFMA conference, presenting the topic “E&O – It is not just for A/E’s anymore.”

Prior to joining Marsh, Coe worked with regional agencies and brokers around the U.S. serving in various production, management and ownership roles. He began his insurance career in 1984 with Henry & Hardesty/McDonough Caperton Insurance Group in Fairmont and later in Morgantown as a sales consultant. In 1992, he was recruited to Atlanta, Ga., by an agency exclusively focused on professional liability lines of insurance coverage, eventually being promoted to sales leader and partner. In 2004, Coe joined Marsh, one of the world’s largest insurance brokers, to assume his current role. Since that time he has been focused on the Architect, Engineer and Contractor segment and is recognized as a top premium producer for a number of professional liability carriers such as AIG/Lexington, Catlin, Zurich, Xl Insurance and Swiss Re.

His placement of coverage experience includes several of the largest construction projects in the U.S., including the three newest nuclear plants being constructed currently in the U.S.; various college and major league baseball stadiums, most recently the Florida Marlins Stadium; Houston Metro Transportation Authority’s Rail expansion; Tri-met Rail of Portland Oregon expansion; Hampton Roads Transit in Virginia; Salt Lake City Airport expansion; Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas; Cedars Sinai Hospital in Beverly Hills, Calif.; Kaiser Healthcare; and the new Goethals Bridge replacement in New York City. Additionally, he and his team service several of the largest Manufacturer E&O placements in the U.S. and his annually renewable practice policy clients include Arctic Slope, Wood Group, Mastec, several AIA Firm of the Year Award winners and multiple ENR Top 500 member firms.

Coe is a Past National president of the Professional Liability Agents Network, a member of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society, the Marsh/FINPRO Errors and Omissions leadership team, a Certified Insurance Counselor, a Current Board member of the West Virginia University Peach State Alumni Board and a past president of the Fairmont State Alumni Association.

Coe currently resides in the Atlanta area with his wife of 30 years and fellow FSU graduate, Patzi (Salerno) Coe, Class of 82, and their pride and joy, Cooper, a 12-year-old yellow Labrador.

Alumna of Achievement—Diane Lewis, Class of 1986

Diane Lewis, a native of Clarksburg, graduated from Fairmont State in 1986 and holds two degrees, a B.S. in Accounting and an A.S. in Banking. Lewis earned her degrees while raising two children as a single parent. She is a graduate of the Kaufman Fast Trac Entrepreneur program and has completed training in Contracting Professionals as Business Managers, Introduction to Job Analysis and Developing Indirect Rates. In 2007, she completed the University of Wisconsin’s Extension’s Business Management Course. In 2011, Lewis completed the Executive Business Management Program at the Kellogg School of Business in Chicago.

Lewis is the founder, President and CEO of Action Facilities Management, Inc. (AFM), located in Morgantown. Since founding AFM in 2001 in her basement, she has successfully grown her company to be a premier government and commercial contract firm specializing in site management, security services, maintenance and janitorial, equipment operations, consulting, staffing solutions and project management.

Under Lewis’ guidance, AFM has grown from two individuals to more than 300 employees. Lewis, through her work with AFM, has garnered an impressive list of federal clients, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Protective Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Library of Congress and the U.S Department of State, the U.S. Department of Labor, Mine Safety Health Administration. Azimuth Incorporated and URS are among AFM’s teaming partners.

She has received countless awards and commendations including the 2005 West Virginia Minority Business Development Center’s Female Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Additional honors include a Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Support of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Advanced Training Center in Harper’s Ferry in 2006, as well as a Small Business Achievement Award, both from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Additionally for her work in Harpers Ferry in 2007, she was recognized by DHS with a National Award for Outstanding Achievement. Lewis received the 2007 West Virginia Minority Small Business of the Year Award from the Small Business Administration, and then in 2008 she received recognition from the West Virginia Executive Magazine as a 2008 Young Gun Honoree. In 2009, Lewis was appointed to the West Virginia University Board of Governors by Gov. Joe Manchin, and she has since served on varying committees. In October 2011 she was appointed to the West Virginia University Hospital Board and currently holds the position of Secretary of the Corporate Board. Lewis also serves on the Visiting Committee for the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center in Morgantown. To add to her honors, she was awarded the 2010 Minority Small Business Champion for the State of West Virginia by the U.S. Small Business Administration and most recently was named the West Virginia 2013 Small Business Person of the Year by the same entity.

Demonstrating her commitment to professional growth, Lewis served as President of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA), where she has been a member since 1991, and has also served as the organization’s Vice-President, Secretary, Programs Chair and Facilities Chair. She was named Co-Director of the Teaming to Win Conference for 2005 and 2006, and she currently serves on its Board of Directors. She is licensed as a Private Investigator/Security Firm in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and Texas.

Lewis is very active within her community and currently serves as treasurer for the Berean Baptist Church of Morgantown. She is the Vice President of the Members of Diversity, Inc., a local non-profit community group that promotes education and supports minority networking and culture. In addition, she volunteers for the Monongahela Baptist Association as a member of the Finance Committee. In 2010, Lewis was nominated and reigned as “Queen” of the West Virginia Black Heritage Festival. In April 2011, she was nominated and received the Harrison County Outstanding Alumna Award.  

Lewis resides in Morgantown with her husband Kenneth Jackson. Her son, Donald Hill, manages a business in Washington, D.C., and her daughter, Stephanie Hill, is employed by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Outstanding Young Alumnus—D. Todd Anderson, Class of 2002

D. Todd Anderson graduated from Fairmont State in 2002 with a B.S. in Management and Marketing. Anderson was a member of the Fighting Falcons football team and was part of the WVIAC conference championship season in 2000. Upon graduation, Anderson attended West Virginia University, where he was a graduate assistant and served the Mountaineer Football program.

Anderson is a Regional Coordinator for the office of U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin III. Prior to his current position, Anderson worked as a football position coach, account executive and on campaign staffs. He serves as the Director of Fairmont State Friends of Football Golf tournament and sits on the Fairmont State Athletic Association Board of Directors. Anderson was inducted in 2013 to the Fairmont State Athletic Hall of Fame.

Anderson was born and raised in Rachel. He graduated North Marion High School in 1998 and led his high school team to a state championship in 1997. Anderson is married to the former Abigail Llaneza of Farmington. They have two children, Domenic, 5, and Maryan, 2. In his spare time, Anderson has a passion for sports, particularly golf and skiing. He enjoys being outside with his family, having dance parties and coaching his son’s T-ball team. 

Outstanding Young Alumna—Brigitte Sapp Kettering, Class of 2008

Brigitte Sapp Kettering graduated from Fairmont Senior High School in 2003 and enrolled at Fairmont State in the fall of 2003. As a student-athlete, Kettering was part of a UCA National Cheerleading Championship Team in 2005 under Coach Dee Johnson. In May 2007, she received an Associate Degree in Nursing from Fairmont State, and the following spring, received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing. During the summer of 2008, Kettering was certified as a school nurse in the state of West Virginia upon successful completion of practicum hours and an examination.

Kettering started her career in the summer of 2007 as a registered nurse on the Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at West Virginia University Hospital. She was accepted into the Master’s of Nursing Administration Program at Marshall University in 2009. In 2010, Kettering accepted a new position as a Product Safety Specialist at Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. In 2011, she graduated with a Master’s of Nursing Administration Degree. She transferred back to WVU Hospital’s Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center that year as a nurse clinician specializing in MOHS, a surgery technique used to treat skin cancers. Sapp was hired at the Primary Oncology Network in Fairmont in 2012 part-time as a staff nurse, and she received her Oncology Nursing Certification in the same year. She continues to work at the MBRCC and Primary Oncology Network. 

Kettering is a former team captain for the American Heart Association, has participated in the Marion County Relay for Life and has rung bells for the annual Salvation Army Christmas campaign. She is a member of St. Anthony/Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Kettering also sits on the board for The Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for children. She enjoys running in the 5K races held in Fairmont to support local agencies. 

She married Paul Kettering on June 28, 2014. The two reside in Fairmont, where Paul is an attorney. Her parents, Dr. Budd Sapp and Robin Sapp, also reside in Fairmont, and her sister, Brooklyn Sapp, is also a FSU grad. 

AlumniHomecomingNick FantasiaEmily SwainDonna HopkinsJeffrey CoeDiane LewisD. Todd AndersonBrigitte Sapp Kettering