Quayne Gennaro
In 1971 Ms. Quayne Gennaro was inducted into the Beta Alpha chapter, Drexel University. There she was mentored by C. Holmes Macdonald, who was later named an Eta Kappa Nu Distinguished Service Award winner. She served as Bridge Correspondent and Pledge Master. As Pledge Master she modified the initiation process to include a public service segment.

Mr. MacDonald escorted Ms. Gennaro to her first Outstanding Young Electrical Engineer (OYEE) award ceremony in 1972, and shortly thereafter she joined the New York Alumni chapter. She served as President of the New York Alumni chapter until 1975.

She has served as a member of the Outstanding Young Electrical Engineer committee since 1972. Prior to her transfer to Virginia in 1984, she never missed a nominee dossier review meeting, where she was a champion of minority and women candidates, assuring that full attention was given to their applications. During that period, Jesse E. Russell, Sr., was the first black candidate to win the award; he went on to become a vice president at Bell Laboratories. Cecelia Jankowski became the first female OYEE winner.

Ms. Gennaro was elected and served as a Director of Eta Kappa Nu from 1975-1976.

Through her contacts at the White House, Ms. Gennaro introduced the tradition of Presidential recognition for OYEE award winners. Each year since 1984, with one exception when the winner was a non-U.S. citizen, Ms. Gennaro has obtained a letter from the President of the United States to the award winner, recognizing his or her achievement. She has also arranged for each winner to receive recognition from State Senators and their Congressman.

Ms. Gennaro felt that a special tribute was in order for the 1999 OYEE winner as the final winner of the 20th Century. She therefore arranged for a U.S. flag to be flown over the U.S. Capitol in honor of the recipient. Casimir M. DeCusatis was the first recipient of the flag, which was presented in a commemorative case.

Although now disabled and unable to attend committee meetings, Ms. Gennaro continues to be active in the OYEE committee through arranging the Presidential, Senatorial, and Congressional recognitions as well as the flag presentation. She communicates with the committee through e-mail and makes recommendations as to the ongoing operation of the award.

An accomplished piano player, Ms. Gennaro performed at many of the Eta Kappa Nu annual award ceremonies, and has never lapsed in her contagious enthusiasm for and commitment to Eta Kappa Nu and its activities in the 34 years of her participation.