PCS Alumni Hall of Fame
Class of 2024
Dr. Dennis R. Cooley
Dennis Cooley is Professor of Philosophy and Ethics, Director of the Northern Plains Ethics Institute (NPEI), and Chair of the School of Humanities at North Dakota State University (NDSU), where he has been since 2002. Each role offers unique challenges and rewards. The NPEI is the only ethics institute or center in the entire state of North Dakota. At the NPEI, we foster conversations with scholars, students, and community members across the state about what kind of society we want to live and how we should get there. Being a chair allows Dennis to plan on how best to make Humanities’ courses and programs work for NDSU students and the communities in which they will work and live. Finally, the best one is being a teacher of undergraduates and graduate students pursuing higher education for their future careers. There is little more interesting and satisfying in life than working with students who want to be better people and do what is right in their public, professional and private lives.
Although an awkward, introverted, and shy student while he was there, the foundations of what Dennis achieved to date were partially laid during his time at PCS. First, there were the courses that rigorously covered the humanities, math, and sciences. Those taught both critical reasoning, creative thinking, communication, and how to engage in learning about stuff that matters. Secondly, and possibly more importantly, were the teachers and staff who made personal connections with their pupils. Mr. Hardy in English, Ms. Schwan in Spanish, Mrs. Barone in Biology, and others showed how cool the stuff they taught and thought about was, as well as that teaching can be an interesting and rewarding endeavor. Newton once said that he stood on the shoulder of giants, but he should have added that we all stand on the shoulders of those who taught us what we should be and how we should get there. At PCS, Dennis continued learning the lesson begun by his family that everyone matters and every person can teach you something you need to know or can use.
Dennis went to SUNY Geneseo after graduating from PCS in 1983. There he discovered that he was not suited to be the physics major he came in as, but should study computer science because that was so much more interesting to him. He graduated from Geneseo, with a degree in the latter, with minors in philosophy and mathematics.
After graduation, Dennis decided that a career in computer science was not really where he wanted to spend his life; so, he took a number of jobs which paid the bills and the student loans that bedevil the majority of those going through higher education. (But it is worth the investment!) After three years in the private business realm, he decided to pursue his interest in philosophy. Through university fellowships and part-time work, he was able to became a graduate student at the University of Rochester in 1990. Dennis graduated with a M.A. and Ph.D. in 1995.
Since 1995, Dennis has taught at various professional levels at SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Oswego, Humboldt State University (California), East Carolina University (North Carolina), and NDSU in Fargo, ND. Each area of the country has commonalities, but it is the differences in culture and community that has made each an interesting place in which to live.
In his profession life, Dennis has published five books in ethics, with another on the way, 45 papers, and seven chapters in anthologies. He also has made over 110 professional presentations to people in philosophy and ethics, professionals needing continuing training in ethics, student groups, community groups, and anyone else foolish enough to want to know more about the ethics of genetically modified organisms, death and dying, bioengineering, technology, and AI.
Dennis serves his community and profession in a number of ways. He has been on Chamber of Commerce committees, sits on professional boards, such as those of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics and the North Dakota Humanities Council, was president and treasurer of NDSU’s chapter of the honor society Phi Kappa Phi, and was founding Secretary General of the International Academy of Medical Ethics and Public Health, which is based at the University of Paris (Rene Descartes). That last one was especially cool since our meetings were generally held in Paris, Rome, or other major cities in Europe. He is also editor of Springer’s International Library of Bioethics and the Northern Plains Ethics Journal.
John T. Gould
John T. Gould is an accomplished dairy farmer, successful businessman, and community leader that has chosen to live in Pavilion for the last 50 years. He graduated from PCS in 1973 and he and his wife Sue raised four children that are also PCS alumni.
In 1956 when John was 7 months old, John’s parents, Harold (former PCS School Board Member) and Rose Gould purchased a dairy farm on South Street Rd, Pavilion that would become HaR-Go Farms. The dairy farm is still operated by the family today - 68 years later.
During high school, John very much enjoyed sports, band and chorus. John was a member of the wrestling and cross-country teams. He played the trumpet in Pavilion’s award-winning marching and concert bands and was a four-year member of an excellent chorus. John was selected to participate in All County Chorus and participated in the PCS musical production of Showboat.
John graduated from Alfred Ag & Tech in 1975 with an associate’s degree in Animal Science. While at Alfred, he was a member of the National Champion Dairy Cattle Judging Team. Upon graduation, John returned home and formed a dairy farm business partnership with his father, Har-Go Farms.
John and his wife, Sue, continued to grow and develop their dairy farming enterprise. The 65 cow, 200 acres conventional dairy where John joined as a partner, now supports 250 milking cows and 650 acres of cropland and has been USDA Certified Organic since 2008. John and Sue are also very involved in Upstate Niagara Dairy Cooperative where John has served on the Cooperative’s Board of Directors for the past 20 years. He currently serves as Chairman and President of the board. Upstate Niagara Dairy Cooperative is owned by 250 dairy farm families. The cooperative operates 8 plants and directly employs 1,700 people largely in western New York and the Northeast. Annually, it handles 2.8 billion pounds of milk and generates $1.4 billion in sales.
In 1983, John and Sue married. They have four children. Kathleen graduated from the University of Buffalo with a master’s degree in occupational therapy. Michael graduated from Cornell with a degree in Food Science, Stephen graduated from Cornell with a degree in Animal Science and Matthew graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Economics. John and Sue have been blessed with six grandchildren.
In 2014, John’s son Stephen joined the farm and in 2015 they constructed a state-of-the-art robotic dairy facility. They are in the process of transitioning the farm to its 3rd generation with Stephen and his wife, Jill, who continue to expand the enterprise through the Butter Meat Company in Perry that is supplied with organic beef from the dairy herd.
Since his childhood, John has been active in the local agricultural community. Over the years, John has served as Chair of the 4-H Advisory Committee, Cornell Cooperative Extension Ag Committee, and Genesee Monroe DHIC Committee. He has coached 4-H dairy judging teams and served as Vice Chairman of the Genesee County Farm Bureau. He was also a member of the Dairy Advisory committee that constructed the 4-H milking parlor at the Genesee County Fair.
John has also volunteered in the Pavilion community through numerous activities over the years. John is a former member of the Pavilion Fire Department and former chairman of the Town of Pavilion Planning Board, which made use of an incentive zoning proposal for the installation of a TV tower to facilitate bringing of public water to the hamlet and Pavilion school. He has been an active member of Mary Immaculate Parish in Pavilion, having served on the Church Council, sung in the church choir, chaired the Catholic Charities appeal, and chaired the cemetery committee.
John is a proud lifelong resident of Pavilion and has built lifelong relationships, businesses and friendships here. He is grateful that this Pavilion Central School community values his hard work, leadership, entrepreneurship, family focus, and service to his community.
Justin Hoyt
Justin Hoyt grew up in East Bethany and graduated from Pavilion Central School in 2003. He starred on the soccer and basketball teams throughout high school garnering exceptional senior and league all-star accolades in both sports. In his senior year, Hoyt was named to the Section V All-Tournament team as a goalie and earned the MVP and Gatorade Player of the Year awards in basketball.
Hoyt graduated from Clemson University in 2007 and then earned his master’s degree from Canisius University. Working in athletics throughout his career, Hoyt has held positions with the Buffalo Bills (NFL), Clemson University (NCAA D1), Batavia Muckdogs (MiLB), the Sports Consulting Group (sports agency), and D’Youville College (NCAA D3). He currently works at Hudson Valley Community College (Troy, NY) where he is Director of Athletics, overseeing 20 NJCAA intercollegiate programs and more than 350 student-athletes. His responsibilities include administering the athletic program’s annual budget and supervising all facets of the athletic department, including all coaches and staff.
Throughout his tenure as director of athletics, a record number of Viking student-athletes have received national and regional academic awards, and teams have won 17 Mountain Valley Conference championships, 13 Region III championships, and multiple individuals have earned regional and national championships. In 2022-23 and 2019-20, Hoyt earned the NJCAA Region 3 Athletic Director of the Year award. During the 2019-20 academic year, Hoyt implemented the Student Senate and Athletic Retention Program (SSARP) and oversaw a departmental rebrand.
The department has also received the college’s first NJCAA Lea Plarski Major Award winner, NJCAA Academic Team of the Year Award, finished a program-best 8th place in the 2018-19 NATTYCA Cup final standings, and has earned six consecutive Region III Community Service Awards. Hoyt was also responsible for overseeing the addition of Esports, men’s and women’s track and field, and men’s golf.
Hoyt is the Mountain Valley Collegiate Conference president and chairs the men’s and women’s track and field and women's tennis sports committees. At the national level, Hoyt chairs the women's basketball committee and serves on the women's tennis and golf committees. Hoyt is the NJCAA Region III assistant women’s regional director, and regional chair for football, women's tennis, and men’s and women’s track and field, and also serves on the Region III Executive Committee, Academic All-Region Committee, Standards and Ethics Committee, and Professional Development Committee.
Hoyt is the son of Ron and Karen and father to Isabella.
Lawrence (Larry) Loewen-Rudgers graduated in the Class of 1960. Loewen-Rudgers was the class salutatorian. Following his graduation from Pavilion Central School, he obtained a Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University (1964), a Master’s from Michigan State University (1967) and a PhD from Kansas State University (1969) all in Agronomy. These degrees were followed by a one-year Postdoctoral in West Germany also in Agronomy (1969-1970) and a three-year Postdoctoral (1970-1973) teaching Introductory Soil Science and researching in Soil Microbiology at the University of Guelph near Toronto. Instruction at Pavilion Central School along with the aforementioned academic studies prepared him for becoming Professor in Soil Science at the University of Manitoba 13 years after his high school graduation.
Lawrence (Larry) A. Loewen-Rudgers
At the University of Manitoba he met his late wife Erna Loewen. He is now semi-retired living in Winnipeg Manitoba. Also living in Manitoba are two daughters, a son-in-law and his youngest granddaughter (6 years). A son and daughter-in- law have lived in Kenya since 2006, where he is a pilot with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF). He also has a granddaughter (8 years) and grandson (11 years) in Kenya.
Loewen-Rudgers had a student deferment from serving in the US Armed services until he completed the PhD at age 27. They were drafting young men to serve in Vietnam up to 26 years of age. A number of young men in the Pavilion area were not so fortunate, losing their lives in Vietnam or returning alive but suffering from PTSD and other problems!
Music has always been very important to Loewen-Rudgers. He was in all possible bands as well as the Chorus at Pavilion Central and sang in the Junior and Senior Choirs in Pavilion Methodist Church. Over the years he has sung in at least 10 large English and German choirs and played organ and piano at church services in Africa.
Nine years from 1973 until 1982 he was Professor at the University of Manitoba where his main work each year involved preparing 100 students in maximizing crop and animal profits over the succeeding 3 years on their home farms.
In 1982 he moved with his wife and children (son 2 years and daughter 5 years) to Tanzania. For 6 years he worked with Tanzanians in research and extension (called development when in the so called Third World) for large scale wheat production on 100,000 acres of state-run farms as well as production of all crops for small scale farmers. Four years in Tanzania were spent helping small scale farmers using oxen for plowing how to use inter-row cultivators pulled by oxen for weeding and to transport much in ox carts. The objective of this project was to decrease the labor burden of farmers’ wives who were responsible for most of the hand weeding of crops as well as transporting many things on their heads. Farmers had as many as 12 wives to carry out all of this work.
Following the time in Tanzania the Loewen-Rudgers family (with 3 children) was for 10 years in Kenya just north of Tanzania in East Africa. For most of those 10 years he and his wife were Co-Directors of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Kenya. This work involved management of 75 Kenyans in grass roots community development, improving food and water security and in peace making as well as in giving out food relief. The latter is often necessary as much of Kenya can experience drought for 3 to 4 years in a row.
For 1.5 years up to 2006, Loewen-Rudgers was Director of a project in Zambia to increase the income of small scale farmers primarily through drip irrigation of vegetable crops to be sold in local markets.
Since 2006 to present, Loewen-Rudgers has assisted in the management of Sauti Moja (One Voice) by being on the Board of Trustees. He works with 6 other Trustees, Sauti Moja’s Director and several other professional development workers. Sauti Moja attempts to improve the quality of life of pastoralist (Maasai, etc) single mothers in the drier areas in northern Tanzania and northern Kenya by gifting the single mothers donkeys, goats or camels. Each recipient single mother must pass the first-born animals to neighboring single mothers. Cattle are not given out because nearly all cattle die during droughts of 3 to 4 years.
Loewen-Rudgers feels that teaching agricultural students in Manitoba and trying to “develop” farmers in Africa as well as agricultural extension in Western New York are all very similar. As much is learned as is taught (mutual development). International development should be participatory with ideas emanating both from those “being developed” and the development workers. And, such work must be done in a humble way (servanthood leadership).
Loewen-Rudgers has taught recent high school graduates at 4 universities in the US and Canada. No recent graduate appeared to have received a better education than he obtained at Pavilion Central School.