I attended my first Bears of Distinction Alumni Dinner and Awards Ceremony on Saturday. The Missouri State University Alumni Association hosts the event, which celebrates our alumni. I was overwhelmed by the accomplishments of those being honored.

The alumni who received awards this year spanned undergraduate classes from 1972 to 2013 – 41 years of excellence! They majored in accounting, agriculture education, applied mathematics, biology, broadcast journalism, education, English, finance, German, marketing, physics, psychology and theatre. Several earned multiple degrees, including bachelor’s and master’s. And I can’t help but note, that one of our honorees graduated with three baccalaureate degrees in the same year – physics, applied mathematics and German.

List of awards

• Lifetime Achievement – Tess Harper
• Outstanding Alumna – Nancy (Appelquist) Allen
• Outstanding Young Alumna – Callie Carroll-Swafford
• Bear of Excellence – Robert Boehmler, Matt Crutcher, Amanda (McGee) Hedgpeth, Andrew Hedgpeth, Stacie Henderson Capece Minutolo, Dr. Caleb Masterson and Dr. Jacob Swett
• Award of Appreciation – Tina (Chasteen) and Mark Stillwell
• Excellence in Public Affairs – Dr. Karla (Lamar) Eslinger
• Volunteer Group of the Year – Forvis Mazars

Submit nominations

Greg Fansler, executive director of engagement and alumni relations, and his team oversee the event and make it a special evening for honorees, their families and friends and other attendees. They rely on the Bear family to identify outstanding alums.

If you know an alum who deserves to be honored, nominate the individual for next year’s event. You can also find out more about this year’s honorees and award details on the Alumni Association website.

Bears beat Tigers

In athletics news, our Bears Baseball team had a fantastic win last week when they beat the visiting Mizzou Tigers 11-0 following a two-run homer in the seventh inning for the run-rule win! It was a fun evening.

Thanks for checking in. It’s a great day to be a Bear!

Biff