The Pitt Varsity Letter Club honored six of its members as 2004 Awardees of Distinction during the club’s 44th Annual Awards Dinner Oct. 22 in Alumni Hall’s Connolly Ballroom.

The awards honor Varsity Letter Club members who have distinguished themselves in their professions and/or communities and who, by their accomplishments, have enhanced the value of Pitt’s intercollegiate athletics programs. To be eligible, a nominee must have earned a varsity letter in intercollegiate athletics at Pitt 25 or more years ago.

The following are the 2004 Awards of Distinction winners.

David E. Garnett
Football/Track and Field

Garnett earned a bachelor’s degree in history at Pitt in 1971. He was a three-year letter winner in football and a two-time letterman in track and field. He played as a running back for the Oakland Raiders during the 1972 season but was forced to retire because of a knee injury.

A resident of Clifton, Va., Garnett currently is president of iAM Solutions, LLC, a consulting firm he founded in 2001.

Garnett’s community activity includes serving as chair of Project HOPE (Help Our People Excel), the Corporate Advisory Council, and the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. He received a Distinguished African American Alumni Award from Pitt in 2000.

William (Billy) Knight
Basketball

Knight, Pitt Class of 1974, is regarded by many as the greatest all-around basketball player in Pitt history. He ranks in the career top-ten lists in numerous categories, including seventh in scoring, second in scoring average, fourth in rebounding, and first in rebounds per game.

Drafted by the Indiana Pacers in 1974, Knight spent eight seasons with the team and was its all-time leading scorer when he left. During his 11 professional seasons, he was a three-time NBA All-Star and an ABA All-Star, and the only Panther ever to earn All-Pro status in the NBA.

Knight, who lives in Atlanta, Ga., currently is the executive vice president and general manager of the Atlanta Hawks basketball team. He has participated in numerous charitable endeavors, including the United Negro College Fund.

Kenneth E. Macha
Baseball

Macha graduated from Pitt in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. A walk-on for Pitt’s baseball team, he lettered from 1970 to 1972. He spent 14 years playing professional baseball prior to becoming a coach, including three years in the mid-1970s with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Macha recently completed his second season as manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team. Prior to becoming manager, he served four seasons as the Athletics’ bench coach.

Macha, a resident of Export, Pa., has volunteered with the Oakland Red Cross Blood Center to promote organ donor awareness and has participated for the past 12 years in the Pennsylvania Baseball Coaches Clinics and for the past nine years in the Murrysville American Legion Baseball Clinics.

Bryant J. Salter
Football/Track and Field

Salter earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology at Pitt in 1971. He also received a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University in 1987.

A four-year letterman on Pitt’s track and field team, Salter served as team captain and was selected as an All-American. He also lettered three times in football and played professional football from 1971 to 1977; he is a member of the San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame.

Salter, a resident of Miami, Fla., currently is president and CEO of Business Diplomacy Consulting, LLC, and is the director of the African Trade Expansion Program for the State of Florida. He worked for the U.S. Department of State as a foreign service officer from1977 to 1998, including service as the U.S. Consul General in Argentina and the Charge d’Affaires in Antigua.

Salter serves on numerous charitable boards and also has created a first-of-its-kind American Football League for children ages 14-16, in Argentina.

Thomas R. Staab
Soccer

Staab received a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1964 and the M.B.A. degree in 1965, both from Pitt. He was a three-time letterman in soccer and was named team MVP in 1964. He also played squash in 1962.

He currently is the chief financial officer, vice president, and director for Lorillard in Greensboro, N.C.

Staab, a Reidsville, N.C.-resident serves on the board of directors for the Eden YMCA, where he is also the treasurer, and the Robinson Development Center. He has been recognized as a Pillar Donor by the United Way and has coached youth soccer and baseball teams for more than 10 years.

Kathy J. Stetler
Swimming

At Pitt, Stetler earned bachelor’s degrees in psychology and in communications in 1979 and a D.M.D in 1983. She earned an M.S.D. degree in 1985 at Case Western Reserve University.

As a member of the Pitt women’s swimming team, Stetler was a four-time All-American and a three-time team captain. She received the Panther Award in 1979 and was the 1978 national champion in the 50-meter butterfly.

Stetler, a resident of Satellite Beach, Fla., is a periodontist in private practice in Melbourne, Fla. As a member of the Brevard County Dental Society, she provides free dental care to qualified individuals, and on the staff of the Hermes Regional Hospital, she provides free, on-call emergency dental service. She also serves on numerous fund-raising committees for youth programs.