The Distinguished Alumni Award
The Distinguished Alumni Award honors alumni who exhibit exemplary character, success in their chosen professions, and leadership and service to their communities, the University and society.
Past Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients
2023
John Brown '94
LTC Randy Bartel '92
Dr. Lee Ann Barrett '81
Rev. Hadley Edwards '81
Kevin Cantwell '80
Skip Vandelicht '77
2022
Janice Roberts Bradshaw '58
Bruce Addison '67
Rev. Dr. David Kerr '67
Eugene Peebles '87
J.B. Waggoner '91
2021
Deborah Dodge '89
Jana Fox '81
Clarence Smith '84
2020 (recognition celebration in 2021)
Mark Dempsey '85
Mark Harbison '76
Chris Lincoln '72 Ivy
Greg Thurmon '77
2019
Mr. Mark Calvert '88
Ms. Yolonda Frederick-Thompson '88
Mr. C. Wayne Schoolfield '65
2018
Ms. Shirley Brown '60
Mr. Patrick Brackley '71
Mr. Jeffrey Francis '80
Mrs. Kerri Jenkins '85
Ms. Susan Hart '86
2017
Dr. George Schweitzer '45
Mr. Franklin Wallis '66
Mr. William Gamble '74
Lt. Col. David Smith '87
Mr. J.W. Arnold '90
2016
Dr. Bruce Maier '65
Dr. Keith Polette '77
Mr. Timothy Jackman '81
Mr. Donn Harrison '89
2015
Mr. Dean Anthony '86
F. Jerry Benner '66
Dr. Sherry Roberts '76
Dr. Elaine Eversmeyer Henderson '83
Dr. Gerald Lee Early '69
2014
John Hutcherson '56
Earl Bates '61
Ron Knigge '65
Kylar Broadus '85
Richard Wilson '86
2013
Michael Reid '62
Rena Rickman Yocom '65
Terry Smith '66
Andrew Glover '83
2012
Michael Brett Ziegler '87
Carl O. Lester '61
2011
Steven Minning '75
2010
Larry Bennett '69
Terry Hoehne, M.D. '84
2009
Bedford F. Knipschild '50
Beverly Brase Boehmer '68
2008
Wallace Gray '48
Carter Ward '67
2007
John O. Gooch '60
Hisako Murakawa '73
2006
Maurice Graham '60
Judith (Engel) Rethwisch '65
2005
William M. Crist '65
Maurice P. Leech '34
2004
Kay Callison '63
Arthur Ray Cushman '30
John Hert '42
2003
Mark Quayle Barton '50
David Rex Holsinger '67
George Webster Kessinger x64
Henry Walter Lahmeyer '69
2002
Milton David Dealy III '76
Thomas Edward Pundmann '70
2001
Don Spencer Browning '56
Ronald Allen Johnson '69
Charles Richard Oldham x44
Manford Ben Tate x39
2000
Fred Howell Thornton '59
Lawrence Donald Ashby x42
1999
Robert Joel Harris '57
William Alexander Jenner '38
Ann Romines '64
1998
Omer Dean Ehlers '51
William L. "Barry" Orscheln '72
1997
John Keith Danner '78
John Capers Glenn, Jr. '40
Jack Bloom Kubisch x42
1996
David Wendell Butler '51
Mary Morrison Stitt x46
Laurence Robert Tucker '69
1995
Roland Eugene Banaka '50
Keith Edward House '49
John Wesley Nelson '40
1994
Don Vernon Allemann '60
Richard Lee Parker '74
Nancy Corcoran Schmidt '54
Donald Guy Sheets '44
1993
Florence Moser Downing
Cushman '32
William Sherwood Holman '47
James Franklin Slutz '59
1992
Robert Morris Heyssel x50
William Richard Nelson, Jr. '67
Doyne Ernest Michie '42
Harold Cooke Sunoo '67
1991
Robert Louis Hahne '60
Billie Eugene "Gene" Michie x45
James Howard Steele '64
Richard Gregory Wyatt '64
1990
Anne Raine Joyce '62
John Robert Smart, Jr. '40
Huston Cummings Smith '40
Roger Byron Wilson '71
1989
Kenneth Worley Doak '38
Wendell Lee Evans, Jr. '53
Richard Alan Lemen '67
William Roy Morrow, Sr. x43
Donald Guy Spalding, Jr. '56
1988
Ralph Henry Anderson, Jr. '58
Anna Mae Besgrove Hodge '44
Keith Hugh Knost '62
Paul Wilbur Schlapbach '53
1987
Maurice Leon McGill x58
John Anthony Stephens '69
Harold Ross "Red" Weir '50
Scott Olin Wright x44
1986
Logan Johnson Bennett, Jr. '61
Gladden V. Elliott '43
Elizabeth Durley Meals '38
William Edward Schoening '64
1985
Virginia Wood Bergsten ''59
George Marvin Rayburn '41
Henry Albert Totzke '41
Wendell W. Weber '45
1984
John Enid Blomquist x36
Claude Lewis, Jr. '49
Lloyd Lyttleton Penn '29
Jeannette Lois Scahill '50
Burton Paul Smith, Jr. x31
1983
Robert Houston Clark x42
Kenneth Dale Corwin x61
Charles Elmer Magruder '51
1982
Sam Sebree Baskett '41
Howard Edward Carson '52
Charles Dwight Fricke '50
Robert Milton Garst x41
Sidney Johnson Kimbell, Jr. '41
Earl Thomas Layton '57
Hubert Wayne Short '35
Jane Fife White '40
1981
Ross Edward Benjamin '60
Robert Cameron Clark '52
Marion Sherman Cooley '51
William Edward Cooley '51
Glenn Andrew Cox, Jr. x51
Willoughby Spurlock Dade '31
James Donald Jackson '43
Clyde Graves Lear '66
Winan Edgar Mayfield x47
Orion Campbell Shockley '38
Jerry Lee Schwab '58
Lyman Ralph Wood '48
1980
George Rodgers Adams '59
Clifton Enyart Denny, Jr. x45
Jeffrey Atkinson Fleece '41
Sarah Frances Koontz Forbes '41
James Robert Murphy '40
Albert Frederick "Felix" Mutti III '60
Doris Jean Nichols '38
1979
Jean Smith Collins '35
James Clinton Denneny, Jr. '47
Samuel William Downing IV '56
John Wesley "J. W." Hord '43
Raymond Herman Lahmeyer x41
Claude Thomas Smith x54
1978
Elbert Carl Cole, Jr. '39
Norman Earl Drissell '51
Linda Sue Hartsock '62
Nancy Heitmann Seward '52
Raymond Kenneth Seward '51
Richard Earl Symmonds '43
Ralph Lee Woodward, Jr. '55
1977
Harvey Raymond Butcher, Jr. '41
Ivan Lee LaTurno '50
Francis Walker "Felix" Mann '25
Frank Everett Steinman x36
Catherine Stouffer Strickler x27
1976
Emma Neal Boggess '31
William Long Hairston '33
Roy Robert Hornyak '48
Clifton Francis McCormick '26
Max Allen Nickerson '60
1975
Carl Frederick Bergsten '61
Charles Edward Clowe '25
Warren Taylor Kingsbury '25
Joseph Anthony Labuta '53
James Pleasant Thogmorton '43
Willis Jay Winn '39
1974
John William Blattner '51
Humphrey Denny Davis x48
John Willard Hutcheson '39
Kenneth Keith Innes '47
Leland Duebbe Schaperkotter '37
Winfield Roy Utz, Jr. '41
1973
William Harold Bailey x29
Nancie Peacocke Fadeley '52
Andrew Jackson Higgins '43
Robert Henry Hodge x42
Raymond R. McIntyre '32
Samuel Lewis Meyer, Jr. '30
John William Sutton '44
1972
Beverly Seehorn Brandt '29
Arthur Elwell Crissey x22
Nelson Wayne Dwight '41
Helen Louise Panigot '37
Pearl Potter x24
Jack Stapleton x22
1971
Margo Youngstrom Chapman '51
William Grant Guerri '43
Glenn L. McElroy '40
Charles William Meinershagen x31
Fulton Moore '16
Louise Myers Westen '33
1970
Neil Magruder Blair '42
Clayton Fowler Callis '44
Dixie Jean Davidson '49
Paul Allen Grigsby '22
Beulah Mae Suter Woodward '55
Ralph Lee Woodward '31
1969
William Cecil Allen x42
Roy Combs Eberhard '38
John Redmond McDaniel '35
Robert Eugene McHenry '52
Edward Ewin Rich '15
Martha Alice Rowland '31
Farris Harden Woods '20
1968
William Noble Clark, Jr. '48
Oliver Baker Ferguson '37
John Franklin Kincaid '34
George Edward Schaaf '53
Richard Harry Swaim '37
1967
Billy Joe Crigler '51
Austin Hill x41
William Leonard Hungate x44
Lewis Manning Means x14
Marilyn Gaddis Rose '52
Robert Leonard Siler '47
1966
No awards presented
1965
Thomas Dudley Brower '45
Elbert Edwin Hansbrough '29
J. D. Robins, Jr. '38
Lester Crane Shell '34
Robert Earl Stepp, Jr. '40
1964
Norman Adair '36
Thomas Sebree Baskett '37
James Allan Mitchell '37
Lynda Hardy Moore '31
Rex William Ross '37
Martha Louise White '29
1963
Paul Baker Burcham '35
Louis Elwood Craig '43
James Tucker Eaton '28
E. Glenn Featherston x24
Mary Edna Glendinning '26
Lew Wallace Jacobs, Jr. '19
Lilburn Adkin Kingsbury x07
Edward Vernon Nash '13
Kenneth Eugene Pletcher '32
Lycurgus Monroe Starkey, Jr. '48
Charles W. J. Wende '34
Nancy Mitchell Wende '32
1962
Overton Thomas Ballard '23
Floyd Hugh Blaske '35
Vincil Penny Crowe '18
William Doss Hargis x15
George W. Kline '25
1961
James Merton England '36
Joseph Albert Frank '36
Opal Louise Hayes HP '12, '25
Hartland Henry Helmich '45
Helene Norwood Lammers '20
Grafton Moore Potter '30
1960
Delmar Lee Coffman '30
Lowell Conrad Doak '34
Ercel Sherman Eppright HP '20
Bertie McClintic Mitchell HP '11
A. Perry Philips '30
Paul Rowland Whitener '18
1959
George Williams Hooker '25
Joy William Kistler x20
Orpha Ochse '47
Charles William Ray x30
Abe Silverman '38
John Robert Walker x47
1958
Anna Lee Briggs '32
Richard Franklin Deming x37
Heber Ulric Hunt '21
Bertram Isaac Lawrence '14
John Wilson Randolph '32
Mary Field Arehart '39
Roland Ralph Walton '09
1957
Robert Denning Crowe '22
Joseph Burroughs Davis '17
Wilbur Burton Hughes '32
Frances Hay Park '29
Martha C. Ricketts HP x05
Nina M. Stallings HP '12
Forrest Grove Stith '23
Sanford Cresap Wise '22
1956
Lewis Grover Abernathy '12
Forrest Ferguson Bell x21
Clarence Lillard Dorris x21
Ellen M. Machin '24
Daniel Carle Rogers '15
Hugh Miller Spencer x19
Ralph William Yoder '35
1955
Frederic Arthur Culmer '16
E. Verne Dyson '05
Ralph Russell Guenther '38
Lawrence Holman x28
Benjamin G. Strehlman '25
Mary Agnes Swinney CCW '17
Addie Louise Downey Tiley '34
Francis Emmett Williams x1898
1954
Harold Elmore Bingham '33
Cecil Jurey Burger '16
Edgar Milford Crigler '24
Mary E. Carroll Lawrence Jacobs '33
Herbert Milton Penick '27
Morgan Ward Redus '30
Centennial Convocation, Nov. 13, 1954
Frank Clinton Barnhill x42
Emmett Bryan Carmichael x18
Lessie Bates Davis CCW x01
Andrew Hunter Dowdy '29
Arthur H. Elliott
Ruth Kindred Kirk HP '22
Frances Davis McMurry
Adah Elizabeth Peckenpaugh '35
George Henry Seiberling
Dale P. Summers
William Henry Utz, Jr.
Robert Vanatta '42
1953
William Denny Baskett '00
Lena Simmerman Chase HP '04
Wellborn Estes x18
Ira Earl Johnson '32
Wirt McClintic Mitchell '34
Charles Samuel Shoup '27
Pre-Centennial Convocation, Nov. 14, 1953
W. H. Ayers
Charles B. Baker
Floyd Vee Brower '26
Francis Gano Chance x27
Clarence Albertus Clingenpeel '15
Victor Brewer Corey '37
Joseph William Dyson '10
James Monroe Heying '38
Starr Blasingame Holt
Joseph Fisher Jacobs x42
T. Leslie Johnson
Stanley Sebastian Kresge
Sydney Boswell McClanahan '24
Robert Greenleaf Mayfield
Anna Pryor Puckett HP '05
William Leonard Spencer '32
1952
Edward Gordon Alexander '23
Hamako Hirose '29
William Wallace Lessley '29
Martha Smith Luck '31
Samuel Lee Stedman '35
Martin Thomas Van Studdiford '14
1951
Carolyn Wells Alexander HP 1899
Logan Johnson Bennett '30
Eugene Stephen Briggs '12
Samuel William Downing III '29
Boone Tarleton Guyton '35
Kennerly Woody '24
1950
Herbert Bascom Bruner '13
Arthur Elmore Diggs '20
Mary Louise Givens HP '01
Marvin Loyd Gosney x12
Garland G. Greever '04
Urner Liddel '26
1949
Roy Prentice Basler '27
Horace Macaulay Ivy '03
Keen Johnson x18
Ernest Byron Riegel '28
George W. Scaling '05
Chenault Todd, Jr. '03
1948
Frank E. Burcham 1895
James Auburn Chiles 1895
David Martin Key 1898
Catherine Dines Prosser HP x05
Ira Richardson 1897
L. Parker Siceloff, Jr. '00
1947
William Harvey Emmons 1897
Oliver Clarence Lester 1897
Charles Orrin Ransford, Jr. '21
Son Rone '14
1946
Augustus Davis Cloyd x1880
John Wallace Head 1896
Ivy Shelton McClure CCW '11
Duncan Daniel Monroe x1895
Benjamin G. Shackelford 1884