Gary Borthwick ’78:
Soaring to New Heights
at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport
Gary Borthwick looks back fondly on his time in La Plume.
Earning an associate degree in business administration at then Keystone Junior College, he successfully parlayed his liberal arts background into a multi-faceted business career, most recently spanning nearly 20 years at the Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton International Airport.
The Old Forge, PA native knew Keystone was a perfect choice the moment he set foot on campus. “It was the opportunity, the people, and the right place for me,” he said, citing professors Anita Appleton ’90H (Accounting), George Holley (Economics), Thomas Cupillari ’60 (Astronomy), and Lola Bernstein (Music) as significant influencers.
“With Anita, it was the numbers and making them work for you. With George, it was his demeanor of expecting more from you. With Thomas, it was the stars and what they meant to you, and with Lola, it was her passion for music and how it spoke to you. Their love of their respective disciplines helped me expand my horizons.”
Gary holds a master’s degree from Columbia Southern University. He served as chief financial officer of Dermasciences, a regional publicly traded pharmaceutical company with several patents for wound care products. He played similar roles at Emedsecurities Inc., a New York-based investment banking firm, LifeScience Analytics Inc., an online provider of pharmaceutical industry investment information, and Burstin Industrial, a maker of aluminum products for the trucking industry.
In 2005, Gary joined the airport as director of finance and administration and was named assistant director in 2017. He is most proud of being part of a team overseeing a multi-million-dollar expansion including a new state-of-the-art passenger terminal. “In addition, working with current director Carl Beardsley for the last eight years has been a tremendous experience,” Gary added.
A professionally trained classical musician, Gary’s favorite course at Keystone was Dr. Bernstein’s Ars Musica. He was also a keyboardist in Passage, a popular rock group that toured the NEPA club circuit in the late ’70s and early ’80s.
