2016 Honorary Sigma Chi Pi Recipients

Mr. Ben Sterciuc (2006) 

Ben Sterciuc was born in Communist Romania. At age 20 he made his first attempt to escape, which landed him in prison. On his second attempt, he made it to Hungary and from there immigrated to the US. In 2006, Ben graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Music Ministry from Northwest University, having previously earned bachelor and master’s degrees in Nursing from the University of Washington. In business Ben is the founder and president of Elder Placements Incorporated in Bothell WA, has been a delegate for the Washington Business Advisory Board to the US Senate and represented the Small Business Advisory Board to the Whitehouse. In ministry, Ben is the founder and pastor of Elevation Churches International and serves as president of Vital Solutions—a non-profit working in Kenya. Ben also teaches as an adjunct faculty member in Northwest University’s Buntain School of Nursing and for the last three years has led a team of senior nursing students to Kenya in their month-long Nursing Practice as Ministry course. In his spare time, Ben is earning his Doctor of Ministry degree from the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary.

Ms. Aimee Altizer (1986)

Aimee Altizer has devoted her life to her calling and passion of working with those living in marginalization and oppression. After graduating from Northwest University in 1996, she earned a master of divinity degree from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge MA.  Now an ordained minister, Aimee serves as the chaplain, chef, and horticulture therapist for Acqua Recovery, a premier residential drug and alcohol treatment facility in Utah.  At Acqua, Aimee is able to marry her passions of feeding people both physically and spiritually by leading a team in organic gardening and gourmet meal preparation for those in recovery. She is also collaborating to launch Unshackled, a social enterprise that seeks to empower those from backgrounds of incarceration and addiction build equitable and productive relationships.