Activist honored - Amy Yoxthimer of Hilton, a 1994 graduate of SUNY Oswego, received the Outstanding Graduate of the Last Decade Award from the Oswego Alumni Association. Presenting the award is Lori Golden Kiewe (left), president of the OAA board of directors, and Betsy Oberst (right), SUNY Oswego director of alumni and parent relations.

Amy Yoxthimer of Hilton, a 1994 graduate of SUNY Oswego, received the Outstanding Graduate of the Last Decade Award from the Oswego Alumni Association. The GOLD Award is presented to graduates of the last 10 years who have achieved career success and demonstrated significant volunteer service to their communities, the Oswego Alumni Association or the college.

Yoxthimer was praised as "demonstrating the highest ideals of service to humankind" in the citation for her award.

She graduated summa cum laude in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in political science and a minor in international studies. She spent a semester of her junior year at London Huron University.

As an undergraduate, she helped found a program for AIDS education through the American Red Cross of Oswego County. Pursuing that undergraduate interest after graduation, she worked for Action Front Center in Rochester as an advocate for individuals infected with HIV/AIDS and their families.

She served in the Peace Corps in Thailand and in Ecuador as a community health educator, concentrating on service on behalf of rural populations and issues concerning women.

In Ecuador, she organized courses and conducted training for rural health promoters and women's groups that taught health issues and organic gardening techniques. She also organized and facilitated a national HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases workshop for nationals and volunteers.

In Thailand, she developed household level surveys and assisted villagers in implementing HIV/AIDS interventions. She again organized and trained rural health promoters and provided follow-up education sessions about AIDS and reproductive health issues in Hill tribe villages.

Last year, she helped to organize an international conference on HIV/AIDS among indigenous people, held in Venezuela.

She is currently pursuing graduate study toward a master's degree in public health and a physician's assistant degree at George Washington University. She is married to Andrew Swiderski.