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For Immediate Release
April 30, 2020


Leeanna Rutigliano Receives Prestigious PTK Orlowski Award

Leeanna Rutigliano has been awarded the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society Orlowski Award for International Officer candidates. The award includes a $1,500 scholarship.
Leeanna Rutigliano has been awarded the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society Orlowski Award for International Officer candidates. The award includes a $1,500 scholarship.

Suffolk County Community College’s Leeanna Rutigliano has been awarded the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society (PTK) Orlowski Award for International Officer candidates. The award includes a $1,500 scholarship.

Each year, PTK members run for one of five International Officer society positions -- the highest leadership position for students. Thirty-eight students campaigned for office this year. Winners were announced earlier in April. 

The Orlowski Award is awarded to the candidate who best embodies the spirit of PTK and exemplifies the Society’s Hallmarks of scholarship, leadership, service, and fellowship. Rutigliano, of Medford, is one of three candidates to receive the award. 

“The Orlowski Award is a special honor that is about who you are as a person and speaks to strength of character,” said Suffolk County Community College Interim President Louis Petrizzo. We are proud of Leeanna and proud of her achievement.” 

The Orlowski Award honors the memory of Steve Orlowski, a student from Wilbur Wright Community College in Illinois who served as a then-National Officer in 1986-87. Steve passed away from leukemia during his term of office. 

Phi Theta Kappa is the premier honor society recognizing the academic achievement of students at associate degree-granting colleges and helping them to grow as scholars and leaders. The Society is made up of more than 3.5 million members and nearly 1,300 chapters in 11 nations, with approximately 240,000 active members in the nation’s colleges.