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Distinguished Alumni 2007
The winners
Donna L. (Choice) Clopton (BSE 1961) recently retired from Gene Howe Elementary School in Canyon, Texas, where she served as principal for 22 years. In her career, she taught all levels, from preschool to collegiate.
What is your favorite student memory?
“One of my favorite memories is working on the newspaper. I loved being in the heat of all the excitement of everything going on, being able to write stories and see them in print. I loved that. And I loved to walk down to the lake and visit with friends.”
What has been the most unexpected part of your career?
“Well, this (award) is certainly unexpected! This is pretty amazing. One thing that was unexpected was that I enjoyed [teaching] all levels. I discovered all students are the same. They all want to be liked by the professor. They all want to be successful. They all want to feel capable. They all want to be appreciated.”
Is there anything you wish you would’ve done as a student?
“I can’t think of anything. I pretty much enjoyed life as it came. I was pretty active and involved.”
Dr. Karen Kelly (BS 1978), an internationally known lung cancer expert, became the deputy director of the University of Kansas Cancer Center in 2006.
What is your favorite student memory?
“Being someone interested in science, there were always challenges to that. In anatomy class we were dissecting a cat. I took the cat to the Chi Omega house to dissect it on the dining room table. That led me to taking the cat back to campus and never bringing it back [to the house]! Overall, I think the friendliness and camaraderie of the students – it was such a positive experience.”
What has been the most unexpected part of your career?
“I think the unexpected is coming home, coming back to Kansas, and being part of something great, to establish a cancer center.”
Is there anything you wish you would’ve done as a student?
“I studied too much! I studied all the time. I probably didn’t enjoy all the social activities.”
Herb Kuhn (BSB 1979) is the acting administrator for the Centers for Medicine and Medicaid Services at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C.
What is your favorite student memory?
“It was a cultural feel. It was a sense of family and the sense of belonging that you had in a place like this. Lots of good friends, a collegial atmosphere.”
What has been the most unexpected part of your career?
“I think the unexpected part of it is it wasn’t planned. I got my degree in accounting and planned to move in that direction, but I moved in an entirely different direction. I found that the education and the preparation for moving beyond this university was excellent. A degree from this university stands up very well.”
Is there anything you wish you would’ve done as a student?
“Other than just knowing what it takes to apply yourself fully to your work in the outside world… and to take advantage of service opportunities. Those things, I think, serve people well when they leave this place.”
Victor Spinski (BSE 1963) has been a professor of art at the University of Delaware since 1968, and a member of the prestigious International Academy of Ceramics.
What is your favorite student memory?
“I came from a high school that I didn’t like too much, and I had a dim view of education. When I came here it was very different. I sat in on some classes that were very interesting. I fell in love with education. This school had such nice diversity – the science was good, the arts were good, there was a balance between training and education.”
What has been the most unexpected part of your career?
“What bothered me is there were times when people weren’t very interested in learning, when you had to become an entertainer for them to learn. That was unexpected. That kind of bothered me. My dad used to say, ‘I buy the books, I send you to school, and you chew the covers off the books.’”
Is there anything you wish you would’ve done as a student?
“I went through a lot of hours here. I wish there was more time. I wish I could’ve stayed longer. I was a little leery of the real world. ESU was like the monastery of the dark world. There was all this darkness all around, and there was this place of sunshine in the middle.”
Last Updated April 17, 2008