Kenneth Andwood, Class of '09

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology
Elected President of Vaughn College
Alumni Association, 2010

Kenneth Andwood did not anticipate becoming president of the Vaughn College Alumni Association. It just evolved that way.

"Early on when I was a student here I became a sort of go-to guy for the different clubs if they needed to get something done," Andwood recalls. "One of the first things I was doing was the Vaughn College fashion show. I had never run a show in my life but I started working with them and we were able to cobble together a decent show.

"Later, the alumni association asked me if I was interested in the presidency; I said yes, ran against two others and won."

Andwood, from Setauket, on Long Island, was elected in 2010 to a two-year term as president of Vaughn's alumni association. The 2009 graduate studied mechanical engineering technology with a concentration in computer-aided design (CAD) at Vaughn and plans to continue his studies on the graduate level.

"I took a CAD course in high school and loved it," Andwood says. "I started looking at colleges that offer CAD programs. As I was looking I realized that other universities didn't have the CAD features Vaughn had."

Andwood enrolled in 2005, graduated three-plus years later and two years after that was elected to head the alumni association. He says he plans to make it an even more valuable resource.

Goals include the establishment of a mentoring program with Director of Career Services Philip Meade that would link alumni with professionals in their careers of choice. Andwood also would like the association to reconnect with alumni who may have drifted away from Vaughn for professional or other reasons.

"We'd like to bring in professionals who say, ‘this is how it really is,' " Andwood says of the mentoring program. "Also, we want to bring people back to Vaughn to enjoy themselves and to talk to the students who are here. They are the next generation."

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