Each year, the Missouri State University Alumni Association honors a group of distinguished alumni and former university faculty and staff in an awards ceremony. 

The event celebrates their professional accomplishments, civic achievements, volunteer impact and more, which bring recognition to the university. Their leadership roles and impact on their communities are among the hallmarks of these alumni and friends from around the globe.  

 The 2024 Bears of Distinction Dinner and Awards Ceremony will take place at 6 p.m., April 20 in the Christopher S. Bond Learning Center, located at the William H. Darr Agricultural Center in Springfield.   

 The event is open to the public. Tickets are $40 per person or $320 for a table of eight. Attendees can RSVP online or by calling 417-836-5654.  

The 2024 Bears of Distinction award recipients

Outstanding Alumna: John Cambier, ’70 
Cambier is a distinguished professor emeritus with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, where he spent a long career leading the university’s immunology department and research. In 2020, he helped create the rapid test to diagnose COVID-19 within minutes, versus hours or days. 

Outstanding Young Alumnus: Tony Gunn Jr., ’18, ’19, ’20  
Gunn is a technical solution analyst at Oracle and an author. He performs remote application, database and server support for hospitals and has published 11 books. 

Excellence in Public Affairs: Kayla Hahn, ’07  
Hahn is chair of the Missouri Public Service Commission, which regulates investor-owned electric, natural gas, steam, water and sewer utilities, as well as manufacturers and retail dealers of manufactured homes and modular units. 

Volunteer of the Year: Amelia (Bailey) Counts, ’94
Counts is a regional vice president of sales at St. Louis-based Wise F&I.  She has more than 25 years of experience in sales and marketing of information technology and software solutions, primarily in the automotive industry. She has served the university in a variety of volunteer roles, including on the Board of Governors and the Foundation Board of Trustees.  

Award of Appreciation: Yohannan “John” Abraham  
Abraham is a professor emeritus of management at Missouri State. He served in the College of Business for 40 years and was inducted in the Missouri State Wall of Fame in 2022. 

Bear of Excellence Award: Usamah Muhammad-Rodgers, ’93 
Muhammad-Rodgers is superintendent of schools for the DeSoto Independent School District in Texas. It comprises 11 campuses and 800 employees serving more than 6,000 students. 

Bear of Excellence Award: Joseph Passanise, ’91, ’93 
Passanise is managing partner of the Wampler & Passanise law firm. He is a national officer for Phi Delta Theta and has given back to Missouri State by teaching night classes in public speaking. 

Bear of Excellence Award: Helen Prewitt, ’76 
Prewitt is a former Lady Bears basketball player. She is a retired U.S. Army colonel and also retired from the FBI as a translation linguistics supervisor. 

Bear of Excellence Award: Scott Purvis, ’88 
Purvis is the chief operating officer for IRI Consultants, the largest U.S. management consulting firm dedicated to labor and employee relations and optimizing workplace experiences. 

Bear of Excellence Award: Danielle (Yaggi) Storan ’08 
Storan is president and CEO of Integrity ISR, a woman-owned small business, providing intelligence, space and cyber expertise to the federal government, industry and foreign partners. She serves on the Space Force Association Board of Directors. 

 Nominate a recipient for 2025  

The Alumni Association invites nominations of worthy MSU graduates or former faculty and staff members to be Bears of Distinction. Submit a nomination online.