CELORON — The SUNY Jamestown Community College Alumni Association honored nine graduates during the JCC Foundation’s annual awards gala held at the Chautauqua Harbor Hotel.

Eric Arnone, Christie Brook, and Katie Russo were recipients of the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Arnone and Russo were honored by the JCC Alumni Association on the Jamestown Campus while Brook was recognized by the JCC Cattaraugus County Campus Alumni Association.

The award is the associations’ highest honor and is given to those who have typified the college’s tradition of excellence and brought credit to the college through personal accomplishment, professional achievement, or humanitarian service.

Arnone is a 2003 graduate who earned a B.S. in biology and Doctor of Medicine from the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he also completed his residency. He is a urologist at WNY Urology.

Arnone was instrumental in bringing cutting edge, lifesaving prostate cancer detection technology to the Jamestown area. He is a member of the American Urological Association, American Medical Association, American Association of Clinical Urologists, Chautauqua County Medical Society, Large Urology Group Practice Association, and the New York State Urological Society.

He also volunteers on several committees and boards, including the WCA Foundation and the Community Foundation. When he is not helping patients, he is a youth coach for Lakers Hockey. Arnone lives in Lakewood with his wife Michelle, son Ethan, and daughter Allie.

Brook is a 2006 graduate who embodies community spirit. Throughout her career, she has done extensive work for the Olean Food Pantry. She oversaw the program, was an active board member, and was instrumental in transforming the Food Pantry into a community program. Brook represented Direct Delivery Development in Cattaraugus County to bring food delivery to county Emergency Food Relief Organization (EFRO) agencies.

She served as the Cattaraugus County Representative for the Food Bank of WNY and volunteers for several committees and boards, including the Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Cattaraugus, and the JCC Alumni Association.

Brook’s volunteer work has been rewarded over the years. She was awarded the Zonta Club Yellow Rose and honored at the 2019 YMCA Salute to Olean. Brook, her husband Scott, and their son Kyle live in Olean, where she owns and operates Christie’s Boutique.

Russo is a 1992 graduate who serves, inspires, and supports the Jamestown community. She earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, a master’s degree in education, and an advanced certificate in school building leadership from SUNY Fredonia.

She began her career in 1994 as a fourth grade teacher at C.C. Ring Elementary School. In 2013, she became principal at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School in Jamestown.

Russo remains engaged with students and their families. This became increasingly important during the global pandemic when she made it her mission to ensure students’ needs were met, that they had daily interaction with the school staff, and that they were meeting their potential.

Russo is the president of the Jamestown Principals Association and is a member of the School Administrators Association of New York State. For many years, she served on the board of directors of the Jamestown Community Learning Council.

In her spare time, Russo is an active member of Holy Apostles Parish. She and her husband, Matt, live in Jamestown. Russo is proud that she, her husband, and their two children are all JCC alumni.

For the first time, the Foundation also honored alumni award recipients from each of the college’s six career communities. Each was chosen by faculty from among thousands of JCC graduates. They are Diana Butcher, ’91 (Public & Professional Services), Colin Kremer, ’05 (Math, Science, & Computer Technology), Jessica Moore, ’99 (Society & Human Expression), Krysta Rives, ’13 (Health & Physical Wellness), John Stahley, ’86 (Engineering, Manufacturing, & Applied Technology), and Meme Yanetsko, ’88 (Business & Entrepreneurship).

Butcher has a bachelor’s in psychology from SUNY Fredonia. She is program director for Salvation Army’s Anew Center, where she helps women who have suffered domestic violence.

Kremer received a bachelor’s in biology and mathematics from SUNY Geneseo and a doctorate in plant biology and ecology, evolutionary biology, and behavior from Michigan State University. He is an assistant professor in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California Los Angeles.

Moore earned a bachelor’s in social sciences from Harvard University and a doctorate in clinical psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University. Her clinical work focuses on teens and adolescents.