The West Liberty University Alumni Association will add the names of three distinguished alumni to its Wall of Honor at an induction ceremony and breakfast, 9:30 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 19. The event is part of Homecoming 2013 and will be held in the Gary E. West Events Center.
“Alumni Charlie Annett, Don Bruno and JoAnne Dunn are an inspiration to current students, alumni and everyone. These alumni excel in their professional fields and give back to the University in many ways. We congratulate our 2013 honorees and thank them for joining us for Homecoming,” said Alumni Director Shane Stack ’10.
Charlie Annett ’66
Thanks to Silicon Valley, successful entrepreneurs are often associated with high tech industry. But Charlie Annett is a real life example of an entrepreneur in a relatively small niche within the logistics industry.
Since 1989, Annett has been president of FSA Network, a company that he bought in its infancy and steadily built into a solid and profitable business.
Annett grew up in Wheeling and attended WLU earning a Bachelor of Arts in History and Psychology. He spent three years in the United States Navy, with the last year in Vietnam, where he earned several service medals. Afterwards, he spent 20 years at Ryder Systems with successive promotions that led him to corporate headquarters in Miami, where he worked in their national marketing department.
In 1989, he was recruited by A&F Transportation Co. where he took advantage of an opportunity to buy the business. He focused on last-mile logistics, specifically, the delivery and installation of appliances, furniture, and electronics for major retailers like Sears and Home Depot. In 2001, he renamed the company FSA Network Inc. Today, it operates in 13 states and has more than 400 employees and contractors serving its clients.
“Most businesses don’t fully understand the scope or the complexities involved in ‘last mile’ logistics,” according to Annett. And fewer still have employed long and successful careers like him, in this unique industry niche. What’s remarkable about the FSA story is the company’s solid growth under his leadership in the face of several economic downturns through the years. And, for achieving recognition for outstanding service within the industry that is not typically noted for delivering great customer service. This success can be directly attributed to FSA Network’s pioneering of advanced customer service protocols within the ‘last mile’ logistics industry.
Annett and his wife Letty live in Weston, Florida. He enjoys tennis and golf and is never short on opinions when it comes to national politics.
Donald S. Bruno ’52
After earning a Bachelor’s of Arts degree at West Liberty in 1952, Bruno enlisted in the United States Air Force. Assigned to the Air Force Band at Langley Field, Virginia, Donald earned promotion to Director of the 564th Air Force Band and Supervisor of all TAC Bands worldwide.
In 1956, he started his teaching career as a Middle School Band Director and then moved to a High School Band Director. Appointed an Elementary School Principal in 1964, he went on to earn tenure in this new career. Then in 1974, he was appointed to serve as Superintendent of the York County (Virginia) Public Schools, ending his public school career as Superintendent of Schools in Newport News, Va., from 1984-1991.
In 1991, Bruno joined the faculty of the School of Education at The College of William and Mary, where he organized and served as the Executive Director of the Urban Superintendents Association of America. His company, Educational Management Services, served as a platform for providing staff development opportunities for prospective and current school superintendents nationwide.
While he has had many experiences and received numerous awards during his career, these are some that are the most meaningful:
- 1990 selection for “The Executive Education 100”
- 1988 Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Administrator Award
- 1989 Administrator of the Year, Newport News, Va.
- Recipient of National Exchange Club’s Book of Golden Deeds Award
- Elected President of National Association of Federally Impacted Schools
- Testified before U.S. Congress, Virginia General Assembly & Virginia Board of Education
- Authored and published autobiography, “My Journey, My Way”
In an effort to “pay it forward” he and his wife Mary Anne have established Scholarship Programs to assist elementary and music majors at West Liberty University and at the College of William and Mary. They reside in University Park, Fla.
JoAnne Monfradi Dunn ’78
Dunn is a career-long marketer with a passion for innovation and mentorship. Her record of delivering outstanding business results, an impressive resumé of volunteer activity, and support for industry educational initiatives have earned her the respect of her peers and the loyalty of a long list of employees, clients, and business partners.
She began her career with Time Life as a business analyst and rapidly gravitated toward marketing management responsibilities. After Time Life, she went on to hold senior marketing and sales management positions with The Norman Rockwell Museum, Mal Dunn Associates and TC Index.
In 2002, Dunn founded Alliant, an innovative database services company created to deliver a new breed of consumer targeting and segmentation solutions to marketers. As CEO, she leads Alliant’s business development strategy and ensures that the company’s analytic and product development functions keep pace with the rapidly evolving marketing environment.
In addition to her business success, Dunn has a long record of giving back to her industry and mentoring young careers. She is a past president of the Direct Marketing Club of New York — a non-profit dedicated to supporting professional and undergraduate marketing education — and a recipient of the DMCNY’s Silver Apple and Mal Dunn Leadership awards. Dunn also served for seven years on the board of MarketingEdge, a multi-million dollar endowment fund dedicated to support for marketing education.
In addition to her educational pursuits, she is an energetic promoter of direct marketers’ interests and is active in efforts to promote and protect data-driven marketing practices. She is a member of the Direct Marketing Association Board of Directors and was recently elected Board Chair for the 2013-2014 term. She was a member of the DMA’s Ethics Policy Committee from 2006-2011 and served as Chair from 2009 through 2011.
Born and raised in Wheeling, Dunn graduated from West Liberty in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Communications and Theatre Arts. She currently resides in Patterson, New York, with her husband Gregory. They have two grown children, Kaitlin and Alexander.