John Mahoney '55 is the recipient of the 2014 Kettering University Alumni Service Award, which will be awarded during the annual Alumni Awards Dinner and Ceremony on October 9. The Alumni Service Award recognizes outstanding volunteer service to Kettering University.

Mahoney graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, then went on to graduate with a Master of Science in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Michigan in 1961. Mahoney has been a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Michigan since 1961.

Mahoney grew up in New York City and first heard of Kettering/GMI late into his senior year in high school after his father brought him a brochure entitled, "Appointment to Opportunity,” which outlined the features and benefits of the co-operative education offered at Kettering/GMI.

John Mahoney '55

He was so struck by the concept of cooperative education that he applied and was accepted. He turned down offers and scholarships to MIT, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Stevens Institute of Technology and The Cooper Union among others, and arrived to the then-GMI campus at the age of 16. Since he was too young to work in a factory, he did his co-op in the Kettering machine shop. Later on, he completed his co-op at Chevrolet Tarrytown and transferred to Chevrolet Engineering in Detroit during his senior year.

Mahoney said that one of the things he was told while at Kettering/GMI was that, “You only get out as much as you put in.” But upon later reflection, he says that this adage did not prove true at Kettering/GMI. According to him, he was not capable of putting in as much as he got out, and that he gained a state-of-the-art education and advantage by being a graduate of Kettering/GMI. If he had an opportunity to give his 16-year-old self a bit of advice, he would say, “Be bold, stretch yourself, go with your heart and do the tough thing.”  

Today, Mahoney’s main efforts in alumni service are directed to re-connecting alumni with the University. His efforts have intensified in the last 10 years, encouraging alumni to attend Homecoming and return to reunite with their classmates during their 50th, 55th and 60th class reunions.

Mahoney has served on the Kettering alumni board for four years and has been class secretary for the class of 1955 for “as long as he can remember.” He says he gets no greater joy than to see reluctant alumni and fraternity brothers whom he encouraged to come to a reunion, meet up again, and spontaneously pick up where they left off 50 or more years ago. It seems like for them, no time has passed.