James E. Stitt, president, chief executive officer, and chairman of Cutco Corporation, will receive the John D. Hamilton Award during the JCC Foundation’s annual dinner on October 29 at Premier Banquet Center in Olean.

For information or tickets, contact the JCC Foundation office at 716.376.7513 or foundation@mail.sunyjcc.edu.

The award is the highest recognition given by the college and is presented to individuals who provide exemplary support to the college.

Stitt served on JCC’s board of trustees from 1999 to 2008. He was instrumental in garnering support for the Cattaraugus County Campus when funds were needed for a $32 million expansion, which was completed in 2003.

A longtime supporter of JCC’s cultural arts, Stitt was among the primary donors honored at the naming of JCC’s Cutco Theater. During a nursing shortage, Stitt, working with Karen Fohl, president of the Olean General Hospital Foundation, spearheaded the initial financial effort begun by Cutco to create a “Growing Our Own” scholarship program to provide JCC nursing students financial assistance in exchange for a commitment of two years’ service to Olean General Hospital.

Stitt began his career as a project engineer at WearEver Aluminum, Inc. and was involved in the management of American Powdered Metal and Alcas Cutlery Corporation, both subsidiaries of Alcoa, until being named executive vice president of manufacturing and engineering at Alcas in 1983. Stitt became president and CEO of Cutco Cutlery Corp. in 1990 and CEO of Alcas Corporation in 2004. He has held his current position since January 2008.

A graduate of the University of Dayton, Stitt completed the Owner/President/Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2002. A supporter of many local organizations, Stitt is a member of Bartlett Country Club and is a board member of the Challenger Learning Center and the Direct Selling Association. He also serves as chairman of the Direct Selling Education Foundation.

The John D. Hamilton Award was established by the JCC Foundation in 1995 to recognize individuals whose contributions exemplify those of Hamilton, a trustee emeritus of JCC. Besides Hamilton, previous award recipients include Allen Short, Robert Hagstrom, Robert Kochersberger, Erick Laine, Miles Lasser, Lillian Vitanza Ney, Charles Price, R. Theodore Smith, Stanley and Sarita Weeks, James Snyder, Betty Lenna Fairbank, Louis Magnano, Ken and Lois Strickler, and George Bataitis.

The JCC Foundation is a private, non-profit organization formed in 1983 to manage contributions made on behalf of JCC and to allocate the funds to JCC programs or events which are not included in the college's operating expense budget. JCC Foundation funds are used to support scholarships, faculty development, cultural events, acquisition of instructional resources, and special programs for students, faculty, and the community.