Michigan Tech will honor the achievements of two alumni and a benefactor at the Alumni Reunion Banquet Friday, Aug. 3.

The banquet begins at 5:30 p.m. Friday with a social hour in the Memorial Union Ballroom, with dinner at 6:30 p.m. The dinner features a variety of entrees, including prime rib. Tickets are $30 at the Alumni Reunion registration desk in the Memorial Union. For more information, call 487-2400.

Dr. Matthew N. Songer ’79, a spine surgeon with Orthopedic Surgery Associates in Marquette, will receive the 2007 Distinguished Alumni Award.

Songer is also chairman and CEO of Pioneer Surgical Technology, a business he founded in 1992 which is now a leading developer and manufacturer of surgical instrumentation and spinal and orthopedic implants.

Songer earned a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from Michigan Tech in 1979 and a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Illinois, Chicago, in 1983, where he also completed his orthopedic residency in 1988. In 2006 he received a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University and is now an adjunct professor at Michigan Tech and a clinical assistant professor at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine.

Pioneer Surgical is expanding globally and has over 200 employees. The firm has received numerous patents, including one it shares with Michigan Tech for a device to help reconstruct the spinal column.

Songer is a member of Michigan Tech’s College of Sciences and Arts Academy and lectures in the biomedical engineering program.