Friends of the Libraries Elect New Board Members and Officers

At the Friends of the Libraries Board of Directors annual meeting held on April 18, 2022, the Board elected the following new officers:

  • President:   Catherine Queener
  • Vice President:   Penny Profitt
Image of Catherine Queener, President Friends of the Libraries
Catherine Queener

President Catherine Queener is a Wright State University alumna who worked for WSU for 28 years in various capacities: as an academic advisor, assistant director, transfer advisor, director of learning communities, and director of first-year programs. She has served on the Friends of the Libraries Board of Directors for five years, the last two in the role of Vice President.

Catherine is a volunteer and community activist, with a special interest in dismantling white supremacy.

Image of Penny Profitt, Vice President Friends of the Libraries
Penny Profitt

Penny Profitt served on the WSU Alumni Board for nine years and the Friends of the Libraries Board of Directors for seven years before becoming the Vice President. Penny is the owner of Benefit Design Solutions – a health insurance brokerage firm. She specializes in reducing employer’s second highest expense – health care insurance. She began her insurance career at Metropolitan Life Insurance managing health care costs for large corporations.

Penny is an avid traveler. She has been to 88 countries, seven continents and all 50 states. She loves outdoor sports – water skiing, snow skiing, hiking, biking, scuba diving, zip lining, parasailing, wind surfing – she is a certified sailor and flew planes before 9/11.

She has four children and 5 ½ grandchildren. Her newest grandson will be arriving at the beginning of September 2022.

The Board also appointed two new Members-at-Large:

  • Faculty Representative:  Sharon Lynette Jones
  • Community Representative:  Bette Sydelko
Image of Sharon Lynette Jones
Sharon Lynette Jones

Sharon Lynette Jones is a Professor in the Department of English Language and Literatures at Wright State University. Dr. Jones earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree from Clemson University and her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia. She is editor of the book Conversations with Angela Davis ( University Press of Mississippi) and the book Critical Insights: Zora Neale Hurston ( Salem Press). Dr. Jones is the author of the book Critical Companion to Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Reference to Her Life and Work (Facts on File), and of the book Rereading the Harlem Renaissance: Race, Class, and Gender in the Fiction of Jessie Fauset, Zora Neale Hurston, and Dorothy West (Greenwood Press). She is co-editor (with Rochelle Smith)  of the book The Prentice Hall Anthology of African American Literature ( Prentice Hall).

Image of Bette Sydelko
Bette Sydelko

Bette Sydelko has a long history with the Wright State University Libraries, having started her career as a medical librarian here in 1991. She is now semi-retired and works part-time at the medical library at Kettering Health Dayton (formerly known as Grandview Hospital). Besides Bette’s library experience she brings to the Board her organization leadership, program planning, fundraising, and member recruitment skills she has gained from her service to several professional organizations.

Bette is currently active on the Professional Practice Committee of the Midwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association and continues to volunteer as a reviewer for Doody’s Core Titles, a collection development tool for health science libraries.

On a personal note, Bette enjoys gardening, crafting, reading and spending time with her three granddaughters. She recently planted a butterfly garden and hopes to help the environment by providing butterflies with food and a habitat.

Also, a big thank you to Natalie DeHorn for her outstanding service as our President the past two years. We look forward to her continued work with the Friends.