Alumni News

1960s

Robert George Harris (PHD 68) was inducted into the Fenton (Michigan) High School Alumni Association Hall of Fame. Harris is president emeritus of McHenry Community College in Crystal Lake, Illinois.


1970s

Sally A. Hamby (BA 75) of the law firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock, and Stone PLC received the Friend of the National Association of Women Owners award from the Greater Detroit Chapter.

Andrew Hugine (PHD 77) was selected the ninth president of South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

Flora Jenkins (BA 75/PHD 91) is currently acting director of professional preparation and certification services at the Michigan Department of Education.

Nancy M. Larner (BA 72/ma 75) was profiled in the “Faces of Faith” feature in the Saginaw (Michigan) News. She is the organist and worship chairwoman at Trinity United Methodist Church in Chesaning, Michigan.

Patricia H. McGuffey (BA 72) has been promoted to vice president of BoseTreacy LLC, a public affairs and association management firm in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Fred Strache (PHD 73) was part of a five-member team that traveled to Costa Rica to build a community center in the village of Canitas as part of a project of the nonprofit organization, Global Volunteers. Strache is a retired administrator at California State University at Northridge.


1980s

Brian Curry (PHD 82) recently accepted a position of clinical anatomist in the School of Medicine at St. George’s University in Grenada, West Indies.

Lt. Col. Glenn E. Gutting (BA 81), u.s. Army Reserve, was selected to command the 5th Battalion (Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations), 95th Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 95th Division in Lubbock, Texas.

Linda Roberts (BA 88) won the second-place prize in the Global Focus competition, an international photography competition for MSU students, faculty, staff and alumni. (See her award-winning photo. below.)

1990s

Yuk Fai Cheong (PHD 97) was awarded a Spencer Foundation postdoctoral fellowship. He is on the faculty at Emory University.

Okhee Lee (PHD 89) received the 2003 Distinguished Career Contribution Award from the American Educational Research Association (AERA).

Rossi Ray-Taylor (PHD 91) is the executive director of the Minority Student Achievement Network in Evanston, Illinois.

Dan Schab (MA 91) was one of 12 math and science teachers nationwide selected for the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program.

Caryn Wells (PHD 92), who serves on the msu College of Education Alumni Board of Directors, has published Bundle of Joy (Sourcebooks, 2003).

Akihito Kamata (PHD 98), on the faculty at Florida State University, was awarded a National Assessment of Educational Progress Secondary Analysis grant.

Alumni Couple Make Music Together

Bob and Becky Brunton are two alumni who show no signs of slowing down. The Bruntons recently recorded their 13th album of church music entitled No Street Shoes Beyond This Point.

Becky received her bachelor’s degree from MSU in 1965 and Bob in 1967. She taught in Eaton Rapids and Lansing, and later at the Michigan School for the Blind in Lansing. Bob spent 15 years at MSU as director of payroll.

In 1979, the Eaton Rapids, Michigan, couple decided to devote themselves fulltime to their music ministry and over the years have toured throughout the country and abroad. Nearly 25 years later, the two are still making music and traveling the country.

“We enjoy what we do,” Bob said. “That’s the blessing and the other is that as a husband-and-wife team we get to work together and not too many couples can say that.”

 
Jacquelyn Taylor, Dean Carole Ames, and Clarence Underwood

Taylor, Underwood Honored

Two College of Education alumni—Jacqueline Taylor (MA 82/PHD 86) and Clarence Underwood (BA 61/ma 65/PHD 82)—were presented with MSU Distinguished Alumni Awards for their distinguished careers and for attaining the highest level of professional accomplishments while demonstrating exemplary voluntary service, personal integrity, and character.
The Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest recognition given by the MSU Alumni Association. The awards were presented at a ceremony at the Kellogg Center during Homecoming weekend.

* Jacquelyn Taylor, Vice President for Diversity and Cultural Affairs at Davenport University, was honored for her leadership in education. She has served colleges in Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania, notably by creating partnerships. She and five superintendents established the first Middle College in Pennsylvania for at-risk high school students that are still operating today with success. She serves as president of the World Affairs Council of West Michigan and has received
numerous awards, including recognition as one of the 50 Most Influential Women in Western Michigan. A strong supporter of MSU, she has served as president of the National Alumni Board and on the College of Education Alumni Board of Directors.

* Clarence Underwood, former Michigan State University Athletic Director, was lauded for his sterling career in education at East Lansing High School, Northern Michigan University, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and at MSU. He joined MSU in 1972 as assistant athletic director. After serving a year as associate director of the MSU Alumni Association, he moved to the Big Ten Conference, where he became the primary administrator for men’s sports coaches. He initiated programs that addressed minority and equity issues. As athletic director from 1999–2002, MSU enjoyed major success in athletics. Among numerous honors, Underwood was selected one of seven recipients of the 1999 National Student-Athlete Day Giant Step Award, which was awarded by President Clinton at the White House.

Awards Reception
Alumni, Students Honored

Students, faculty, alumni, and their families and friends gathered at the Kellogg Center in April for the College of Education’s annual Spring Awards Reception.
The college presented nearly 90 fellowships and scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students during the festivities, which included the presentation of six scholarships by the College of Education Alumni Association.


* Lilian Yee, a junior majoring in elementary education with minors in biology and French, addressed the gathering on behalf of the scholarship and fellowship recipients. She received the College of Education Alumni Association Undergraduate Scholarship.

* The College of Education Alumni Association presented Barbara Neureither (BS 72/MA 78) and Sharif Shakrani (MS 69/PHD 73) with its Distinguished Alumni Award. Neureither was an outstanding teacher at Holt (Michigan) High School for 29 years. Shakrani serves as deputy executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board in Washington, D.C.

* In addition, the association presented Joseph Koenigsknecht (BA 72/PHD 98), with its Outstanding Alumni k–12 Administrator Award. Koenigsknecht serves as assistant superintendent for human resources and labor relations at the West Bloomfield School District.

Michael Clark (center), COE alumni association treasurer, is joined by recipient of alumni association scholarships: (from left) Delan Broadway, NIcholas Myers, Troy Hicks, and Lillian Yee.
 

| Back to Contents | Alumni News: 1, 2, 3, 4 |