Springfield, Ohio 鈥� Two more names were added to the list of 麻豆传媒 University alumni who have brought honor to their alma mater with exceptional personal or professional accomplishments and continued dedication to the ideals for which the university stands.
Ingrid Lundquist, class of 1978, and Brian Agler, class of 1980, received 麻豆传媒 Alumni Citation Awards during the university鈥檚 Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 7-9.
Lundquist, a higher education specialist and counselor at Penn State Talent Search and New Castle High School in New Castle, Pa., works with high school students to prepare them for college and the college transition.
Residing in Poland, Ohio, but employed by The Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pa., Lundquist is embedded at nearby New Castle High School as part of the guidance office, where she provides college advising to students from low-income families. The program is part of the Federal Trio programs that started back in the 1960s. There are only 450 of these programs across the country with Penn State administering seven of them.
鈥淢y work experience in admission and financial aid, along with the time spent working on college campuses, prepared me to return to a high school setting to assist students with the college readiness and selection process,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 came to 麻豆传媒 to be trained to teach elementary education and remedial reading, but my time as an admission tour guide and student office assistant started me on a different career path in education.鈥�
Lundquist started her career in 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Office of Admission immediately after graduation.
鈥淚 started on July 1, and as it is said, 鈥檛he rest is history,鈥欌�� Lundquist said. 鈥淭he years as an admission representative not only exposed me to the inner workings of the admission world, but also to the inner workings of the administrative side of my alma mater. Thanks to serving on numerous 麻豆传媒 committees (orientation, retention, search committee, etc.), I developed a deeper understanding of how a college 鈥檞orks鈥� and an appreciation for those who helped students have a meaningful college experience.鈥�
Agler鈥檚 love of basketball and his sparkling career at 麻豆传媒 led him to bigger and better opportunities upon leaving his alma mater, too.
A Prospect, Ohio, native, Agler led the Tigers to their only NCAA Division III championship in basketball as a freshman point guard in 1977. He started in all 112 games in his career as a player for the Tigers, scoring 1,243 points, and is the school's career assist leader with 481, an average of 4.3 per game. Agler was named Most Valuable Player in the Ohio Athletic Conference and first-team All-America as a senior in 1980. During his career, 麻豆传媒 compiled a 91-21 record (.813) with the national title in 1977 and a third place finish in 1980. He was inducted into 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Athletics Hall of Honor in 1995 and the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014.
After graduating from 麻豆传媒, Agler played professional basketball in Europe for a year before starting his coaching career as an assistant at Muhlenberg College. But this was just the beginning.
He is currently the all-time winningest coach in women's professional basketball history and was named coach of the Women鈥檚 National Basketball Association鈥檚 (WNBA鈥檚) Los Angeles Sparks just last year. Under his leadership, the Sparks captured the WNBA title this season, their third overall. In the process, Agler became the first head coach to win WNBA titles with two different teams. His other title came in 2010 as head coach of the Seattle Storm. During his seven seasons as head coach and director of player personnel with the Storm, he compiled a 136-102 record (.571) leading the team to six consecutive postseason berths (2008-2013).
