CLARION – Dr. Arthur Steffee, retired surgeon and Clarion County leader in community and economic development, will be the keynote speaker and will receive an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree at Clarion University’s Spring 2010 commencement ceremonies scheduled for Saturday, May 8.
A total of 1,023 students will received their degrees during two ceremonies in Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium. Three hundred and thirty-two graduate/masters degree diplomas and 692 undergraduate degree diplomas will be presented. Students from the College of Education and Human Services and the College of Business Administration will graduate during the 10 a.m. ceremony, while students from the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Nursing and Allied Health, and the Division of Student Affairs will graduate at 2 p.m.
Graduating senior Heather Puhalla is the student speaker for the 10 a.m. ceremony at which she will receive her B.S. degree in business administration. She is a management and international relations major with a minor in leadership. Puhalla is a daughter of James and Melinda Puhalla of Aliquippa and is a graduate of Center High School. There will be no student speaker in the afternoon.
Steffee will receive the honorary degree at the Clarion campus morning ceremony and will share remarks with graduates at both Clarion campus morning and afternoon sessions.
A native of Oil City, Steffee is an internationally known practicing orthopedic surgeon, specializing in spine surgery as well as hand and total joint replacement. Steffee is the former chair of orthopedic surgery at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, and director of orthopedic services at the Cleveland Spine and Arthritis Center at Luther Medical Center.Â
In 1983, Steffee, along with a Cleveland business partner, founded AcroMed Corporation, a company recognized for its pioneering development of a total lumbar artificial disc. Steffee became one of the first surgeons to utilize non-fusion technology, implanting the first lumbar and cervical total artificial disc replacements in the U.S.
Steffee is the author of more than 30 scientific articles on the spine. He designed and patented many of the orthopedic tools he used on his patients and began Steffee Orthopedics, which later become Horizon Orthopedics.
After retiring to Clarion County, Steffee and his wife Patricia purchased and restored the former 1,200 acre Fox Estate near Foxburg. The Steffees have been a driving force behind the rebirth of Foxburg as a tourist destination; their economic impact includes the Allegheny Grille restaurant, Foxburg Inn hotel, and the Foxburg Winery. The Steffees also co-founded the Allegheny RiverStone Center for the Arts, a nonprofit organization dedicated to provide enriching professional arts programs to the five county Allegheny Valley Region of Clarion, Venango, Armstrong, Mercer and Crawford counties.
