Emporia State University to honor five Distinguished Alumni

A mayor, a teacher, a philanthropic fundraiser, a statistician, and a pharmaceutical company president will be honored as Distinguished Alumni during the Homecoming festivities at Emporia State University in October.

Ed Eilert

(BSB 1961, MS 1962)
Overland Park

After completing his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business and business education, Whitewater, Kan. native Ed Eilert taught business at Lebo and Shawnee Mission East High Schools. In 1966, he joined Bache and Company as an investment broker. Five years later, he moved to A. G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., where he continues to work today.

Eilert’s civic career began in 1977, when he was elected to the Overland Park City Council. He has served as the mayor of Overland Park, Kan., since 1981. During his tenure as mayor, the city has been applauded by numerous surveys and organizations as being a great place to live, raise a family and conduct business. The city named the ballroom of the new Overland Park Convention Center in Eilert’s honor.

Eilert is a member of numerous community and service organizations. He has served in positions of leadership in the League of Kansas Municipalities, the National League of Cities and serves as a member of the Kansas Missouri Metropolitan Culture District (Bi-State) Commission. He has also chaired or otherwise heavily assisted several political campaigns for candidates and community issues. The Overland Park South Rotary Club named Eilert a Paul Harris Fellow, one of the organization’s highest distinctions.

Barbara (Zirnstein) Fowler

(BSE 1979)
Emporia

Fowler has taught in Lyon County, Kan., since graduating from ESU with a bachelor’s degree in speech in 1979. She began her tenure at Emporia Middle School in 1987 as speech instructor.

Fowler currently teaches eighth-grade social studies and American History. In 1997, Fowler initiated the “Take Root in Your Community” program to encourage students to become involved in service learning. In 2000, Fowler earned National Board Certification. Two years later, she was named a KNEA Master Teacher and a Kansas Master Teacher.

Fowler is actively involved in several community, educational, youth, professional and political organizations. She has served in leadership roles for the Lyon County 4-H, Lyon County Democratic Party, Kansas State Democratic Party, Kansas/Lyon County Farmer’s Union, Emporia Day Care and the local, state and national levels of the National Education Association. In addition, she has served on numerous committees and task forces within her school district.

Robert Hartsook

(BS 1970, MS 1972)
Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

Holding a bachelor’s degree in the social sciences and a master’s degree in counselor education from ESU, Hartsook has served as vice president at Colby Community College, Washburn University and Wichita State University. He has also served as the president of the Wichita State University Board of Trustees. In 1987, Hartsook founded Hartsook and Associates (now Hartsook Companies, Inc.), a consulting firm specializing in philanthropic fundraising. The firm has conducted more than 1,200 campaigns ranging from $500,000 to more than one billion dollars. Hartsook currently serves as the firm’s chairman and CEO.

A well-respected consultant and lecturer, Hartsook developed the “International Fundraising Campaign National Seminar Series. He has also written numerous articles and four books about fundraising, including Closing That Gift!, How to Get Million Dollar Gifts and Have Donors Thank You!, Getting Your Ducks in a Row! and Nobody Wants to Give Money Away!
In addition to his degree from ESU, Hartsook holds a master’s degree in counseling, a law degree, and a doctorate in education.

Ramon Littell

(BSE 1964)
Gainsville, Florida

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from ESU, Rolla-native Ramon Littell completed his master’s degree in mathematics and Ph.D. in statistics at Oklahoma State University in 1966 and 1970, respectively. He joined the University of Florida as an assistant professor in 1970. He is currently a professor and associate chair in the department of statistics. He was named a University of Florida Research Foundation Professor for 2000-2002.

Littell is an elected fellow of the American Statistical Association and has received the ASA’s Distinguished Achievement Medal from the Section on Statistics and the Environment. In addition to holding several leadership positions in the ASA, he is an associate editor for the Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics and The American Statistician.

Littell has written or co-written more than 140 journal articles and four books, including SAS System for Regression, SAS System for Elementary Statistical Analysis, SAS System for Linear Models and SAS System for Mixed Models.

Richard Zahn

(BSB 1973)
Oldwick, New Jersey

Iola-native Richard Zahn transferred to ESU after graduating from Allen County Community College in 1971. Upon graduating from ESU with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Zahn joined Ortho Pharmaceuticals as a sales representative. By 1990, he was the vice president of sales and marketing at Ortho Biotech. Today he is the president of Schering Laboratories and a corporate vice president of Schering-Plough Corporation, a research-based company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical and health care products worldwide, including non-sedating antihistamines Claritin and Clarinex and several successful treatments for Hepatitis-C.

Zahn serves on the boards of several health-related organizations, including the Corporate Council of the Children’s Health Fund and The Muhlenberg Hospital Foundation. He is board president of the Northern New Jersey Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of America and a board member of the United Negro College Fund.
Honored by numerous organizations for his efforts and accomplishments, Zahn most recently received the American Association of Community College’s Outstanding Alumni Award and the American Liver Foundation’s Spirit of New York Award.

The Distinguished Alumni Luncheon will be held on Friday, October 24 in the Memorial Union Kanza Room on the ESU campus. Tickets for the 11:45 a.m. luncheon are $9.50 per person and must be reserved by October 21. For more information, contact the Sauder Alumni Center at (620) 341-5440 or sacpc@emporia.edu.

 

Last Updated July 2, 2007>