Posted 10/15/10
Foundation Recognizes David and Doris Ponitz as Community Founders

            David and Doris Ponitz -- he's an internationally known educator and she is a very active community volunteer -- were recognized as Community Founders at an October 14 reception at Yankee Trace.

            The Foundation’s Community Founder award was initiated to recognize outstanding service to Centerville and Washington Township.

            “David and Doris Ponitz have set a new standard for community involvement, not only in Dayton but around the world,” Judy Budi, president of the Foundation’s board of trustees, said.  “The Foundation is proud to recognize their impact in the community for they have touched just about every life in Centerville and Washington Township, the Miami Valley and hundreds of communities internationally.”

            In the community, Doris was a founder and board chair of the Centerville Education Foundation, which recognized her with a Special Service Award, and served as a founding member of the board of the Centerville-Washington Foundation.  She was also named Centerville School Citizen of the year in 1988.

            In the larger community, Doris chaired a schools project with the Dayton Philharmonic Volunteer Association (DPVA) and moved on to chair the DPVA board.  She was one of the Dayton Daily News’ Ten Top Women in 1981.  She was a founder and honorary board member of Kids Voting Ohio and was board chair of the Dunbar Institute.

            “Probably the most interesting work I’ve done, “Doris said, “has been my work with peace.  It began in 1996 after the Dayton Peace Accords were signed.  I was asked by the Friendship Force to lead a group to Sarajevo.   

            “I couldn’t imagine doing that because there were still land mines there.  I hardly knew where Sarajevo and Bosnia were on the map!  Eventually I agreed.  I’d never been around war or in a war torn country.  It was a life changing experience.”

            Dr. David Ponitz  —  he has a Ph.D. from Harvard  —  is perhaps best known in the Dayton area as President of Sinclair Community College from 1975 to retirement in 1997.  Under his leadership, Sinclair grew from a student body of 4,000 to more than 25,000 with satellite campuses in Warren and Preble counties.

            David, whose father was Assistant Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Michigan, grew up with the community college movement.  His first job after graduating from Harvard was as superintendent of schools in Freeport, Illinois.  It was a time when people were concerned that their kids couldn’t get into college and community colleges were being built at the rate of one a week across the country.  Today, he says, half the students who start college begin at a community college.

            As superintendent of the Freeport school district, he consolidated 18 school districts and started a community college.  Later he was called to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to start a community college in Washtenaw County and came to Dayton in 1975 when Sinclair had just moved into the first buildings on the campus.

            Since retiring, he has served as an international consultant on community colleges.  He has started a community college in Qatar and has been involved in informal dialogues that will lead to the construction of 400 community colleges in India in the coming years.  

            In recent years he has consulted on education programs in Malaysia, Chile, Brazil, Turkey, Germany, and China.  In addition, he has been involved in 70 community college presidential searches in this country.

            David and Doris have satisfied a strong cultural curiosity by travelling extensively.  They have visited all 50 states and more than45 foreign countries.  Their adventures have found them hiking the Great Wall of China, counting penguins in Antarctica, riding camels in Petra, visiting the temples of Vietnam, chasing polar bears in the arctic and swimming with the turtles in the Galapagos Islands.  

            David and Doris are the parents of two children, Cathy, who is Executive Director of the CareSource Foundation, Community Relations and Diversity, and David, a prolific singer/songwriter/sound track creator based in Los Angeles.

            The reception was a fundraiser sponsored by the Centerville-Washington Foundation, a community foundation that supports city-township non-profit agencies.   Proceeds from the fundraiser will go to the Foundation’s discretionary fund and be available to community organizations through the grant process.

            Previous honorees recognized by the Foundation were Marilyn McLaughlin, longtime Clerk of the Centerville City Council; the late Frederick C. Smith, former CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Huffy Corporation; and Shirley and Paul Heintz.  Shirley served three terms as Centerville Mayor and Paul retired as Vice President for Finance at the Peter Kuntz Lumber Company.  Dr. Richard B. and S. Sue Studebaker (in memoriam) were recognized as Community Founders in 2008.  Jim Reppert and Joe Beyerle, two leaders of the Americana Festival, were honored last year.

            Founded in 1998, the Centerville-Washington Foundation has been highly successful in helping people through grants and in helping donors find the best ways of contributing to worthy causes.  The Foundation’s tag line is, “Helping people help our community.”

            The Foundation’s grant programs have helped children, seniors, and at-risk populations, as well as provided support to local arts and humanities, conservation and environment, education, health and social service organizations.  For more information, please contact Bob Daley at 433-0811.