ARCS Light Award Winners

JoAnn Patross 2024

For JoAnn Patross, becoming the treasurer for ARCS was a perfect fit for her retirement plans to stay active in non-profits and enjoy family. After earning her BS in hotel administration and MBA in accounting and finance from Cornell, JoAnn practiced her finance and accounting skills at Mellon Bank, later BNY Mellon. Mellon hired her to be part of the management training program, which allowed her to rotate around various positions including being a teller at the East Liberty Branch. JoAnn settled in credit policy, and later moved to middle market lending, corporate compliance (starting the anti-money laundering program), and private wealth management. At Mellon, she was involved in the Women’s Forum and learned the value of mentors and role models. JoAnn is married and has three grown daughters, three stepchildren, and now nine grandchildren. She was a co-leader of a Girl Scouttroop for ten years, and is an elder and trustee of Shadyside Presbyterian Church. Raising childrenwhile working taught her the need to be organized and considerate of how others view women in the business world. Since she first came to Pittsburgh after college, JoAnn has been a close friend of Linda Burke. Upon JoAnn’s retirement, Linda encouraged her to join ARCS and immediately found her a fit as assistant treasurer. JoAnn has co-sponsored a named award scholar and partnered with three other ARCS members to endow an award to foster sustainability in honor of Linda Burke and her late husband Tim Burke. After two years as the assistant, JoAnn took on the treasurer role. She has also participated on the nominating and twentieth anniversary planning committees. JoAnn is happy to be using her basic accounting and organizational skills to be able to help others understand how ARCS operates from a financial perspective—she views as an added plus working with the capable and interesting women that ARCS attracts to improve life for everyone through scientific research.

Becky McGough 2023

For Becky McGough nursing was not just a job, but a calling, a career, and a passion. After earning her BSN from the University of Virginia’s School of Nursing Becky practiced as a registered nurse in Charlottesville (Virginia), Wilmington (Delaware) and Washington (D.C.) before settling in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) with her husband Tom and soon-to-be children Emily and Walt. There, she received her Masters Degree in Nursing from the University of Pittsburgh and practiced as a Family Nurse Practitioner
for 17 years, principally at a federally funded community health center serving the underserved and the under-insured.

Shortly after joining the Pittsburgh Chapter of ARCS Becky recognized that the research-driven PhD program at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Nursing could provide an excellent platform for  ARCS scholars. She recruited Pittsburgh Chapter’s Board to successfully petition the National ARCS Foundation to establish that relationship. Becky and Tom then joined two other ARCS members in funding a named award to Pitt’s first nursing scholar. They are currently funding a portion of an endowed award.

Meanwhile Becky has served the Pittsburgh Chapter diligently as Secretary of the Board, as Chair of its Nominating Committee, and as Co-Chair of its Membership Committee. She is proud of the opportunity ARCS has given its nursing scholars to showcase their research and to pursue both the science and the art of caring for patients.

Annie Rivers 2022
Annie S. Rivers joined the ARCS Pittsburgh Chapter in 2008 and by the next year was on the Chapter Board as Membership Co-Chair with the following year becoming the Chair of Membership. She has since continued to serve in various Board positions and committees. Annie is currently serving as Secretary of the Board. Annie has enjoyed supporting and meeting the wonderful Scholars that ARCS Pittsburgh Chapter has had in the years that she has been a member. She also appreciated the opportunity to attend the ARCS National All-Member Meeting in September of 2019 when she and her husband were visiting their daughter Sharon in Portland, Oregon.

Annie is thrilled to support Scholars at CMU and Pitt. She understands the life-changing opportunities that grants and awards can give a person. As a student at LSU, she was chosen for a State Department-sponsored summer study program in Yugoslavia in 1965. Then for her junior year, she received a Junior Year Program (JYP) Grant to the East-West Center in Hawaii to study Chinese. The EWC, or the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West, is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. Her special Junior Year Program culminated in a summer study in Taiwan and travel to Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan. This experience sparked an interest in getting a Masters degree in Teaching English as a Second Language (MATESL). After graduating from LSU, Annie again applied to and received a Grant to the East-West Center for her graduate studies.  As a part of their EWC Grants, Annie and her husband Dick had the opportunity to complete an Overseas Career Internship in Bangkok, Thailand, where Dick worked at the American Embassy and Annie developed ESL materials at Chulalongkorn University and Thammasat University. Annie is happy to “pay it forward” by supporting Scholars thru the ARCS organization. She is most excited to help establish a fourth Endowment Award at Pitt.

ARCS is only one of the many charitable organizations that Annie supports. She is also very active in AAUW, the Women’s Board of Pittsburgh and a charter member of Pittsburgh East- Performing Arts for Children.

Bev Elliott 2021
Beverlynn Elliott is the immediate past Co-President of the Pittsburgh Chapter of ARCS Foundation. She was a founding member of the Pittsburgh ARCS Chapter and served as the first Fund Development Chair.She has served the Chapter in numerous ways listed below. Since moving to Pittsburgh in 1987 she has focused her energy on working with nonprofits in the community. She has served most recently on the Board of Directors of Robert Morris University, the Pittsburgh Symphony, Heinz History Center, Humane Animal Rescue, the Pittsburgh Zoo and the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden. She chaired major fundraising campaigns for both the Pittsburgh Symphony and Humane Animal Rescue and served as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh Zoo and the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden. She was previously involved with Family House, Big Brothers Big Sisters, River City Brass and Pittsburgh Ballet. She grew up in Houston, Texas and attended Texas Tech University and the University of Houston (Bachelor of Business Administration degree). She worked for Arthur Andersen and Northern Trust Bank in the years prior to moving to Pittsburgh.

Linda Thier 2020
Linda is a self-employed financial consultant working with privately held companies and non-profits as a contract CFO. After graduating from Penn State, she began her career in public accounting and then consulted with companies in financial distress. She has been a member of ARCS since 2012 and currently serves as the Director of Finance. Linda currently serves on the ARCS Pittsburgh Nominating Committee, Endowment Committee, Ad Hoc Bylaws/Policies Task Force and the National Finance Committee. She is very active with other boards as well including Women’s Center and Shelter, Hosanna House, Whitaker House, Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church and The Women’s Board. She is a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh. Linda resides in Fox Chapel with her husband Jay. They have 3 adult children.

Jennifer made a positive, lasting impact on ARCS Pittsburgh as an essential member of the Finance Committee.  Her commitment to do whatever was necessary was especially valued when our bookkeeping was very much in flux.  We were changing from a system in which information was kept in QuickBooks and a variety of spreadsheets to relying on the ARCS website database. The transition required voluminous amounts of data input and understanding of finances both of which Jennifer provided. Plus, she is such fun to work that she made a pretty onerous task enjoyable.  Also, she was indispensable on our Nominating Committee, always willing to call people to discuss board roles and, apparently, she was good at it since her contacts usually accepted the positions.  Most recently she served as chair of our Program Committee, organizing, and communicating about six or more programs for our members each year.  Throughout her enthusiastic ARCS membership, she has been a sparkling support to all our board members. 

Her other non-profit service has involved numerous, varied but interesting organizations ranging from a horticultural conservatory to a nursing home to two cemeteries.  She has held leadership roles on all of these, and she is incredibly grateful to the wonderful employees and volunteers that she has worked with.  So as not to ignore the for-profit world, Missy also sits on the board of Smithfield Trust Company, a Pennsylvania chartered trust company with the purpose of providing personal trust and asset management services.

Before becoming a full-time volunteer, Missy worked in several different fields including finance, education, software development and computer consulting.  She has taught mathematics and computer science to every age group from kindergarten through college.  She was a systems analyst at Citibank in the mid 1960's, working with punched card input on an IBM 360 machine.  At Mellon Bank and Rockwell Corporation she worked in corporate lending and other financial areas.  She left the world of major corporations in 1981 to start her own computer consulting business and managed this until her retirement several years ago.

She became a member of the Pittsburgh Chapter of ARCS Foundation in 2004, and has been serving as a Board Member since 2007.  ARCS has become one of her most passionate causes because she believes in the importance and impact the ARCS mission has on the future prospects of sciences in the United States.  In addition to participating as an active member on many ARCS Committees, she has held several committee leadership roles, including having co-chaired Membership, co-chaired Nominating, and for the past two years has been the Director of Student Relations, coordinating the Chapter’s interaction with ARCS Scholars from the University of  Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University and Pennsylvania State University.  As the Co-Chair of the ARCS Membership Committee, Kathy and her co-chair designed, organized and collaborated on a innovative approach to attracting new members to ARCS, which resulted in a record number of new members during that two-year membership campaign.

Kathy’s other current Board positions include the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, the National Aviary, the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden, and the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI).  Past boards on which she has served include the Window Box Garden Club and the Garden Club of Allegheny County (GCAC). 

Kathy appreciates the fact that the foundation for being an effective Board member comes from having first spent many hours as a volunteer, and understands that the roles of an effective Board member demands equal parts of contributing her observations, ideas and talents to enhance the success of an organization, along with passionate and tireless volunteer participation in those activities critical to help the organization execute its fundraising responsibilities and mission.

While raising two children, Gretchen and Jonathan, Millie’s community initiatives and leadership roles included co-founding a parenting center and a performing arts society in the New Orleans area and serving as President of the League of Women Voters and President of the Junior League in Louisiana. Most recently, she has served for six years on her college alumni board and as President of the Pittsburgh Symphony Association.

Millie’s undergraduate degree is in psychology from Elmira College, and her graduate degree is in university counseling and administration from The George Washington University. She began her career as an administrator in the Office of Student Affairs at The American University in Washington, DC. Currently, Millie is on staff as a museum educator at The Frick Art and Historical Center.

Her recognitions include The American University Distinguished Staff Award and the Junior League of Pittsburgh Distinguished Service Award.

Currently, Cecile is President of Springer Associates, an innovative organization that provides comprehensive, cost-effective consulting services to corporate and philanthropic programs in institutional development.  Previously she was director of Contributions and Community Affairs at Westinghouse Electric Corporation where she also served as president of the Westinghouse Foundation. Early in hr career, she was a research chemist for Bristol Myers Laboratory and for Schering Pharmaceuticals where her research focused on product development and the invention of new pharmaceuticals.

Over her career, Cecile has devoted many hours to civic and community involvement, some of which include: Chair, Women and Girls Foundation of SW Pennsylvania; Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History; Board of Directors of Equimark Corporation and Equibank; City Theatre Company; the Pittsburgh Dance Council; the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania; Rivers Club; and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.  Recently, she was Co-Chair of the Race and Reconciliation Dialogue Group, St. Paul Cathedral, that is the sponsor of the Studying the Quran Course.

Cecile has been recognized and received many awards: Public Citizen of the Year by the SW PA Division of the National Association of Social Workers; Distinguished Daughter of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; Professional Excellence award from the Hispanic Society of Engineers and Scientists; YWCA Tribute to Women in Business and Industry Honoree; Carlow University Woman of Spirit; University of Pittsburgh Legacy Laureate; and, New Pittsburgh Courier Woman of Excellence.

Cecile earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Manhattanville College, a master’s in chemistry from Wellesley College, and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Pittsburgh. 

In her spare time, she is an avid golfer, drives a jazzy, antique Mercedes convertible, and spends part of her time enjoying sunny weather at their home away from home in South Carolina.

Following graduation from Hood College, Beth worked as a Community Organizer/Fund Raiser in the Community Campaign Division of the United Way of Allegheny County. She retired to be a full-time mom and an active volunteer in the community. Stepping back into the professional paid workforce, Beth became corporate treasurer and office manager in a small architectural firm. Being in the right place at the right time led to the position with LPI.                       

Upon retirement from LPI, Beth became very active with the ARCS Foundation, specifically with the Pittsburgh Chapter as a Founding Member, Program Co-Chair and President. Currently she serves as Data Manager for the Pittsburgh Chapter and VP, New Chapter Development of the ARCS National Board.

Current and past community activities include: Dollar Energy Fund Board of Directors; Three Rivers Arts Festival Advisory Board; Society for Contemporary Craft Board of Directors; Pittsburgh Dance Council Advisory Board; First Night Advisory Board; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh Board of Directors; The Allegheny Regional Asset District Advisory Board; Sustainable Pittsburgh Diversity in Leadership Project Team; Allegheny County Appointments Advisory Group; Leadership Pennsylvania Board of Directors; National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship Advisory Board; and Athena Awards Host Committee. She is a founding member of The Pittsburgh Children’s Museum and a past president of the Junior League of Pittsburgh.

In recognition of her involvement in the community, Beth received the Anne D. Johnston Award from the Junior League of Pittsburgh in 2002, and the Junior League of Pittsburgh’s 85th Anniversary Recognition Award in 2007.

Since moving back to Pittsburgh in 1994 when her husband, Lee, accepted a position there,  Mary Ann’s other activities have included serving on the boards of  the Pittsburgh Symphony Association, the University of Pittsburgh Alumnae Council, the College Club of Pittsburgh, and the Academy of Lifelong Learning at Carnegie Mellon University.  

As a city dweller, Mary Ann indulges her love of trees and gardens as the chairperson of the Grounds Committee of her condominium association.   In addition to long walks with her Cairn Terrier, Dandy, she also enjoys museums, day trips, theater, and the occasional good mystery novel.   

A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Mary Ann has been especially pleased to see the Chapter grow quickly enough to add Pitt this year as our second recipient school.

As a member of the Junior League, Carol served as secretary and vice-president, worked on numerous Show Houses, and was a founding member of the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum.  She has been a long-time active volunteer on the Women’s Committee of the Carnegie Museum of Art, where she served as Treasurer, worked on several Decorative Arts Symposia, assisted in numerous Antique Shows, and helped decorate many Christmas trees.  For Wilson College, she chaired the Annual Alumnae Fund, served for 11 years on the Board of Trustees and continues to be active in Wilson College Club of Pittsburgh. 

Carol was a founding member of the ARCS Pittsburgh Chapter and has served as chair of the Program Committee and the Membership committee, as well as participating in the Nominating and Communications Committees.  She enjoys attending the University of Pittsburgh College of General Studies, where she has taken courses in geology, chemistry, world history, art, Italian, Spanish, music history and theory, religion, and more.  She really loves the academic world, so encouraging and supporting the next generation of scientists through ARCS particularly appeals to her.  Her leisure activities include traveling, antiques, and hiking.

Jeanne currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation and the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden.  She is a member of the Women’s Committee of the Carnegie Museum of Art. She has served on the Boards of numerous local and national organizations, including the FISA Foundation, the YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh, the National Association of Partners in Education, the Junior League of Pittsburgh, and the Association of Junior Leagues International. She was a member of the founding committee of the Pittsburgh Children's Museum (recognized 25 years later as one of the nation’s best facilities of its kind) and subsequently served on its Board of Directors.  She is a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh Year I and a past member of that organization’s alumni Board of Directors.

In her professional life, Jeanne spent her career building regional collaboration between business and education and establishing extensive working relationships in both the urban and rural settings of Southwestern Pennsylvania, most recently as the Vice President of Workforce Education and Development for the Pittsburgh Technology Council and Catalyst Connection.