Alumni Association Honors Two Smeal MBA Grads

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (April 6, 2007) – The Penn State Alumni Association presented two graduates of the Smeal College of Business MBA Program with its Alumni Achievement Award, an honor for Penn State alumni who have achieved an extraordinary level of professional accomplishment by the age of 35.

Alan M. Majewski '02 MBA, chief financial officer for Standard Steel, and Heath Mitts '96 MBA, vice president of corporate finance at IDEX Corp., were honored by the Alumni Association at a dinner on March 30 at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel.

Recipients of the Alumni Achievement award are nominated by an academic college or campus, selected by a University-wide committee, and invited by Penn State President Graham Spanier to return to campus to share their expertise with students and the University community. The Alumni Achievement Award, begun in 2005, is one of the newest awards given by the Penn State Alumni Association.

About Alan Majewski
In 2002, at age 29, Majewski was part of a team that bought Standard Steel’s assets from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy estate. He and the management team significantly restructured and grew the business for the next four years, which resulted in the sale of Standard Steel to Trimaran Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm. Standard Steel's management team retained an ownership position in the company.

Standard Steel is currently executing a strategy of growth through capital investment in its manufacturing plant located in Central Pennsylvania and is a significant employer in the region.

Prior to Standard Steel, Majewski was the audit manager in Price Waterhouse's Pittsburgh office, where his clients included Westinghouse Electric Corp., Consolidated Natural Gas Co., and a variety of middle-market manufacturing companies.

While at Smeal, Majewski was a member of the first-place team in the 2001 Big Ten MBA Case Competition.

About Heath Mitts
As vice president of corporate finance at IDEX Corp. since 2005, Mitts is responsible for treasury and capital management, corporate financial planning, and overall business portfolio analysis.

IDEX, headquartered in Northbrook, Ill., with 4,400 employees on six continents, is a $1.1 billion applied solutions company specializing in fluid and metering technologies; health and science technologies; dispensing equipment; and fire, safety, and other diversified products.

Prior to joining IDEX, Mitts worked for PerkinElmer, Inc., most recently as chief financial officer of PerkinElmer Asia, based in Singapore. In this role, he was the lead financial executive for 16 locations in 12 countries representing more than $350 million in annual revenue. Prior to PerkinElmer, Mitts was the finance director of a $980 million aerospace avionics business for Honeywell International.