Saint Vincent College honored nine graduates with the presentation of Alumni of Distinction Awards at a reception and dinner during the annual Alumni Homecoming and Fall Family Weekend on campus. The awards were made by the Saint Vincent Alumni Association in recognition of meritorious service and commitment to Saint Vincent. Among those honored was Father Wilfred M. Dumm, O.S.B., P’37, C’42, S’45, of Saint Vincent Archabbey.

Father Wilfred is a native of Ebensburg. He made solemn profession of vows on July 11, 1943 and was ordained a priest in Saint Vincent Basilica by the late Bishop Hugh C. Boyle on November 4, 1945. He pursued post graduate studies in physics and mathematics at Fordham University, University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers, University of Maryland, Temple and Penn State.

Following graduate studies he served as a physics instructor at the college and math and physics instructor at Saint Vincent Prep. In 1967 he was assigned to the faculty of Benedictine Military School, Savannah, Georgia where he taught physics, math and electronics (1967-1996). After his retirement in 1996, he was assigned to serve as Director of Alumni for the school. He is now retired at Saint Vincent Archabbey.

He has been a member of The United States Power Squadrons since 1968. It is an organization of sail and motor boaters dedicated to safe boating and to maritime education from seamanship to celestial navigation in a series of thirteen courses. Father Wilfred has successfully completed all these courses and holds the grade of Navigator. In 1986 he was asked to serve as National Chaplain and served in that capacity until January 2002. He also served as District Chaplain and Tybee Light Squadron Chaplain.