Franklin University Celebrated its Distinguished Alumni with the Inaugural Alumni Professional Excellence Award

Contact:

Sherry Mercurio
Executive Director, Office of Community Relations
(614) 947-6581
Email: sherry.mercurio@franklin.edu

Franklin University, one of the leading educators of working adults in central Ohio, celebrated its 171st Commencement on Friday, September 9, 2022. Along with honoring the graduates, the University recognized Matthew W. McCrystal with the Alumni Professional Excellence Award.

Matthew W. McCrystal currently serves as the planning, training, and exercise branch chief at the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s Emergency Management Agency. In this role, Matthew is responsible for the development and maintenance of the state’s emergency operations plan, the administration of emergency management and homeland security trainings offered throughout the state, as well as the development and execution of state-level exercises. In this capacity, he also has a direct role in the planning efforts and exercises design process for a multitude of all-hazards scenarios, including but not limited to: coordinated terrorist attacks, active shooter incidents, bomb threats, bioterrorism, and emergency operation center activations.

Most recently, Matthew acted as the operations section chief and advanced planning unit leader in the state’s Emergency Operations Center in response to COVID-19. He was also deployed to Cleveland, where he acted as the lead planner, advisor to unified command, and joint operations center liaison during the FEMA Type 1 Community Vaccination Center, which provided over 260,000 COVID-19 vaccines to Ohio residents. 

Matthew earned his bachelor’s degree in Public Safety Management & Leadership at Franklin and is currently enrolled in the Master of Public Administration program. He is a proud resident of the Old Town East neighborhood of Columbus, a proud dog-dad to two rescue pups, and an avid outdoorsman. 

Congratulations to Matthew as he joins the inaugural class of alumni award winners, Phil Fankhauser for Alumnus of the Year and Brandon Curry for Alumni Award for Social Impact. Learn more about our inaugural class of alumni award winners at https://www.franklin.edu/alumni/alumni-awards.

About the Franklin University Alumni Awards
The Franklin University Alumni Awards were created to recognize the many achievements of Franklin University alumni, both professionally and personally. The awards, open to all alumni, distinguished accomplishments in three categories: professional excellence, social impact, and alumnus of the year. 
One of the three awards will be announced at each of the University's Commencement ceremonies on a rotating basis. The Franklin University Alumni Advisory Council considers nominations and makes its recommendations to the University’s president for approval.

About Franklin University

Accredited, nonprofit, and dedicated to educating adults since 1902, Franklin provides onsite course options at our Main Campus in downtown Columbus, Ohio, and is an innovator in providing personalized online education. The University offers applied in-demand undergraduate, masters, and doctorate programs that enable adult learners to achieve their educational and professional goals. Through agreements with partner institutions, the University also offers international academic programs, including its top-ranked MBA.

Franklin University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and holds specialized accreditations for specific academic programs through the International Accreditation Council for Business Education, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, and the Commission on Accreditation of Health Informatics and Information Management Education. The National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security have designated Franklin University as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE).