A 1957 graduate of Summit Hill High School has received the Distinguished Alumni Award from his alma mater, East Stroudsburg (Pa.) University.

Bruce Frassinelli was presented with the award during Homecoming Weekend activities at the college this fall.The award is presented to an ESU graduate "whose exceptional achievements or contributions in a field or profession have distinguished him or her on the national or international level bringing honor to the university and pride to its alumni."ESU President Robert Dillman characterized the award as the second most prestigious the college issues, next only to an honorary degree.Frassinelli, who lives with his wife, Marie, in Schnecksville, is observing his 51st year in the communications field and his 50th year as an educator. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1961 and master's degree in 1969, both from ESU.Frassinelli was publisher and editor of The Palladium-Times in Oswego, N.Y., between 1992-98, culminating a newspaper career spanning 32 years that included 25 years with The Express-Times in Easton, where he was editor and general manager before his promotion to the top job at the Oswego daily. At the time, both papers were owned by Thomson Newspapers Inc., now Thomson-Reuters.When he was editor of The Express-Times, the newspaper was named one of the 14 best small-city newspapers (under 50,000 circulation) in the United States by the American Society of Newspaper Editors.Frassinelli and a colleague were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting for a series of articles on land-development abuses in the Poconos (Rape of the Poconos). The 1972 series also won the top prize that year in the Pennsylvania Society of Newspaper Editors and The Associated Press Managing Editors competitions. He won the top prize in column writing in 2009 and 2010 in the Professional Journalists and Communicators of Oswego County Golden Quotes Awards competition.He is senior columnist for the Oswego County Business Magazine and 55 Plus and is a contributing columnist to Patch, the hyper-local online news sites operated by America On Line and The Huffington Post.He also served as program, news and sports director of radio station WVPO in Stroudsburg.Frassinelli was honored at a community recognition dinner in November 2008 by the Oswego Rotary Club. He also served as Rotary District Governor in 2001-02 and was the first outside chair of the Oswego County National Bank's board of directors.He served in many leadership roles for community organizations in the Oswego area and was named to Who's Who in the East and Who's Who in Communications.He teaches online courses for the State University of New York at Oswego and in-classroom courses at Lehigh Carbon Community College and Strayer University.Frassinelli is the son of the late Phillip and Frieda Frassinelli, who operated a neighborhood grocery store at 19 N. Market St., Summit Hill, for nearly 40 years.