W&J Names Waltersdorf Award Recipients 

WASHINGTON, PA (May 3, 2002)--Washington & Jefferson College has named George S. Hender, vice chairman and chief operating officer of The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC), as the 2002 Waltersdorf Award recipient. The College also named Jeremy S. Stragand as the 2002 Waltersdorf Student Scholar.

Each year W&J presents the Waltersdorf Award to an alumnus and a student in recognition of innovative leadership. Hender is a 1964 graduate of W&J and Stragand is a W&J senior business and Spanish major.

As the vice chairman and chief operating officer of OCC, Hender oversees the largest clearing organization in the world for financial derivative instruments and manages the registered clearing facility for all U.S. exchange securities options. He is also president and chief operating officer of The Intermarket Clearing Corporation, an OCC subsidiary; processor and facilities manager for another foreign exchange multilateral netting service; and president of the International Options Clearing Association.

Formerly, Hender was executive vice president and director of BancAmerica Options, Inc. and Tague Securities Corporation. He has been a member of the board of governors of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, the board of directors of OCC, and the Stock Clearing Corporation of Philadelphia.

Stragand is a four-year member of the Interfraternity Council in which he began as a representative and was later elected to vice president and then president. He has organized several community activities, including the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Walk and the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Fundraiser. He also serves as a Spanish tutor to a local middle school student.

A Beta and Dean’s List Scholar, Stragand is also a member of the wrestling, cross-country, and track teams. He was the recipient of the Donald W. Ebbert Award for combined academic and athletic excellence during his junior year. A graduate of North Allegheny High School, Stragand is the son of Darlene Benson and Jeff Stragand of Wexford, Pennsylvania. He plans to pursue a law degree and a master’s in business administration to prepare for a career in international corporate law.

The Waltersdorf Award honors the late Dr. Waltersdorf who served as professor and chairman of the Economics Department at W&J for 32 years. He initiated numerous changes that shaped the Economics Department and its students, including the development of a special cooperative arrangement with the Wharton School.

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