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Dr. Mark Goltz, Professor of Engineering and Environmental Management in the Graduate School of Engineering and Management at the Air Force Institute of Technology, and Capt. Ben Matthews, Course Director for Program Management at AFIT's Civil Engineer and Services School, were both awarded The Society of American Military Engineers’ Regional Vice-President’s Medal in recognition of their contributions to the Kittyhawk Post Education Committee.

The Regional Vice-President’s Medal is awarded to individuals who have made significant contributions within the region or local Post in the past year or for longer durations.

According to the award nomination, Dr. Goltz has made a significant contribution to the Kittyhawk Post over his tenure as a member, but especially in the past year. “Dr. Goltz is the Education Committee chairperson and has taken the Post’s scholarship and outreach programs to new heights this year. Due to Dr. Goltz’s personality, charisma, and personal effort, he single-handedly recruited three new corporately sponsored scholarships for high school students pursuing engineering or science degrees. His efforts doubled the amount of scholarship money the Post was able to award, from $3500 last year to $7000 this year. The Post awarded scholarships to six outstanding students this year compared to three last year. The impact of the growing scholarship program extends well beyond the scholarship students themselves. One of the scholarship recipients was recognized in the local newspaper, bringing additional recognition to both the Kittyhawk SAME Post and the scholarship sponsor firm, LJB, Inc. The scholarships have also resulted in the possible creation of a student Post, as one of the recipients is working to start one at Miami University.

“Dr. Goltz also oversees the Science Fair awards program for the Kittyhawk Post. Each year the Kittyhawk Post presents two awards at the local West District Science Day. One award is given for the best environmental science project, which is dedicated in memory of Eric Su Yong, Dr. Goltz’s son. The second award is presented for the best engineering project.

“Informally, Dr. Goltz acts as a mentor to many of the Kittyhawk Post’s young members. As a professor at AFIT, he is in constant contact with young military engineers in the classroom. He is approachable, professional, and extremely knowledgeable, which makes him a natural mentor. He is responsible for several new young members joining the Kittyhawk Post and becoming active contributors after hearing about his involvement.

“Dr. Mark Goltz’s contributions this year to the Kittyhawk Post through his personal example and outstanding work with the Education Committee are worthy of recognition.”

According to Capt. Matthews' nomination, "he has been an exceptional leader to the Kittyhawk post meriting the Post President’s nomination and the Regional Vice President’s selection for this award. Ben chaired the expanding activities of the Young Members Committee throughout the last year. Ben led his committee hosting the annual Stebbins High School Mentorship Day. His leadership was again evident as he facilitated the mentoring activity with Dayton Public Schools' celebration of Engineers Week 2006 with the Kittyhawk Post. He championed the program to highlight young members in the Post monthly newsletter. A visionary, he responded to expanding workloads by realigning the Young Members Committee into two separate committees: a Professional Young Members Committee and a K-12 Young Members Committee. This realignment enabled the post to focus specialized mentorship on the young professional engineers while expanding the outreach programs to high school and grade school students interested in science and engineering programs. In June, he was appointed to the SAME National Board of Directors as a Young Member representative."

Congratulations to Dr. Goltz and Capt. Matthews!