The GEMS Board of Directors is comprised of 16 members (15 person plus immediate past president). In 1994, the founding GEMS Board of Directors was appointed by the dean to provide leadership and programming opportunities for the GEMS Alumni Society. Board members are nominated and elected by the general GEMS membership and the active Board of Directors. Board members serve a three-year term with a maximum of two consecutive terms, commit to attending two board meetings each year at University Park, and actively serve on at least one subcommittee. Officers are selected by the current Board of Directors for a two-year term. The Board is comprised of 16 members including the immediate past president.
GEMS Board Members
![]() |
Dave Archacki GEMS President darchacki@shrieve.com Product Manager, Oilfield Chemicals, Shrieve Chemical Products, Inc. Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering '91 Woodlands, Texas |
![]() |
Andrew Armpriester Andrew.Armpriester@Chevron.com Subsurface Manager, Chevron Corporation Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering '98 Houston, Texas |
![]() |
E. Scott Billingsley GEMS President-Elect escottbillingsley@gmail.com Geosciences '81 Warren, Pennsylvania |
![]() |
Kevin Cei kevincei@gmail.com Director, QualRisk ‘07 Meteorology New York, New York |
![]() |
Emily Constantine Mercurio Emily.mercurio@civicmapper.com President and CEO, CivicMapper, LLC Geosciences '96 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
![]() |
Greg DeVoir GEMS Communications Specialist greg.devoir@noaa.gov Senior Forecaster, NOAA/National Weather Service Meteorology '92 State College, Pennsylvania |
![]() |
Joseph Frantz, Jr. jfrantz0220@gmail.com VP Engineering Technology (retired), Range Resources Corporation Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering '81 Sewickley, Pennsylvania |
![]() |
John Lease lease.john@gmail.com Director, EHS (retired), Alcoa '76 Earth Science Export, Pennsylvania |
![]() |
Susan Lechtanski GEMS Secretary sal142@psu.edu Project Manager, Auxiliary and Business Services, Penn State Geography '97 University Park, Pennsylvania |
![]() |
Erik Pytlak GEMS Past President mon87soon@gmail.com Manager, Weather and Streamflow Forecasting, Bonneville Power Administration Meteorology '91 Portland, Oregon |
![]() |
Jennifer L. Rygel rygeljl@corning.com Senior Research Scientist , Corning Materials Science and Engineering '07 '12g Painted Post, New York |
![]() |
Laura Schell laurarschell@gmail.com Research Engineer, NSF International Materials Science and Engineering '11 Ann Arbor, Michigan |
![]() |
Emily Starin Connor esconnor@gmail.com Project Manager, Yale Carbon Containment Lab Geography '12 New York, New York |
![]() |
Jeffrey Swab jeffreyswab@aol.com Ceramic Research Engineer, U. S. Army Research Lab Ceramic Science and Engineering '83 Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland |
![]() |
Richard Wagner rwagner201@gmail.com Director, Bureau of Mine Safety, PA Department of Environmental Protection Mining Engineering '03 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
![]() |
Wendy L. Zeller Zigaitis wendy.zeller@gmail.com Senior Analyst, Department of Defense Geography '99 St Louis, Missouri |