Former Institute Student Honored on TV

September 17, 2013

An IAA graduate is making news on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Mike Salvio, Superintendent of the Ocean City Golf Course has been selected as September’s recipient of WMDT-TV, Channel 47’s Better Delmarva Award which recognizes individuals for who make a difference in the community.

During the televised segment, Salvio was commended for implementing innovative ideas that save water, energy, and the environment. During the interview conducted on his golf course, the Pennsylvania native stressed the importance of using such environmentally friendly products in everyday turf maintenance as canola-based hydraulic oil and organic insecticides. The 1979 IAA graduate credits today’s advanced technology with enabling him and his turf industry colleagues “to work smarter not harder than they did twenty years ago.”

As vice president of the Eastern Shore Golf Course Superintendent’s Association, Salvio said he often has the opportunity to speak as an industry advocate to a variety of civic and community groups. Even though it was over 30 years ago when he took a speech course while attending the IAA, Mike pointed out that he still uses the presentational skills he learned in the classroom. When informed that all UMD students must now take oral communication class as part of a general education requirement, he supported the academic policy. “No matter what career path a student follows, along the way he will need to be an excellent communicator in order to succeed.”

Salvio admits he wasn’t an overnight success story. After graduating from the IAA, he moved back to his home state and pursued various jobs outside golf course and turf management. Then in 1994, upon the urging of his wife, Mike contacted Dr. Kevin Mathias, his onetime advisor at the Institute. Not only did Dr. Mathias set him up with a job interview at a Virginia golf course, he insisted that Mike spend the night before the interview at his nearby home. “It was landing that job,” Salvio notes, “that renewed my passion for the field. Today, I am enjoying a career that I wouldn’t trade for anything else in the world.”

When asked what advice he would give today’s IAA student, the award winner responded, “Don’t think you know everything. Listen to your advisors and instructors there. They care about you and are the best in the business.”