Five Distinguished Alumni and three Outstanding Recent Graduates will be honored at Emporia State during Friday’s Black & Gold Gala, which kicks off the 2018 Homecoming weekend.
The five members of the 2018 Emporia State University Distinguished Alumni is an impressive class that Hornet Nation is proud to call our own.
- Cheryl M. Brown-Henderson, (MS 1976 — guidance and counseling) of Topeka, president of the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research and owner of Brown & Associates educational consulting firm;
- Brian E. Cathers, Ph.D. (BS summa cum laude 1992 — chemistry) of San Diego, California, executive director of Protein Homeostasis Thematic Center of Excellence at Celgene global pharmaceutical company;
- Rose M. Haggerty (BS 1974 — physical education of Houston, executive director of the Texas Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance in Austin;
- James K. (Jim) Johnson (BS 1963 — art) of Charleston, Illinois, retired dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at Eastern Illinois University; and
- Leo Pauls (MS 1966 — educational administration) of Emporia, former executive director of The Jones Institution for Educational Excellence at ESU.
Alumni Relations Director Jose Feliciano described some of the criteria the selection committee had considered in choosing five alumni for recognition for extraordinary contributions in their fields.
“Are they those trailblazers? Are they the ones that are the beacons out there who give Emporia State University a great name?” Feliciano said. “It’s those people who have taken the skills they learned at the university to really truly make a difference, whether it’s nationwide or locally.”
All five will be honored during the Black & Gold Gala on Oct. 19, a highlight of the annual Homecoming festivities. Joining in the honors are the three Outstanding Recent Graduates representing their ESU school or college. They are:
- Sarah Gietscheir-Hartman (MS 2010 — Health, Physical Education and Recreation, The Teachers College) of Ballwin, Missouri, physical education teacher at Wydown Middle School in Clayton, Missouri;
- Andrea Luthi, (BS 2008 — Biology and Chemistry; BA 2008 — Spanish with honors, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences) of Emporia, assistant professor in ESU’s Department of Physical Science; and
- Stephanie Pape Whitacre (BS cum laude 2006 — Accounting, MBA 2008, School of Business) of Olathe, director at BKD LLP in Kansas City, Missouri.
Biographies for the Distinguished Alumni are online at https://www.emporia.edu/alumni/awards/distinguished-alumni.html. Outstanding Recent Graduates may be found at https://www.emporia.edu/alumni/awards/outstanding-recent-graduates.html
About the Awards
The Distinguished Alumniaward is the highest honor that can be granted to an alumnus or alumna of Emporia State University by the ESU Alumni Association. Awarded each fall during Homecoming, it recognizes the outstanding professional accomplishments of ESU's finest graduates. Since the inception of the award program in 1960, more than 200 alumni have received the award.
The Outstanding Recent Graduate award recognizes an outstanding recent graduate from each of the undergraduate colleges and schools at Emporia State University. Selection for this award is based on criteria determined by each school/college and the stipulation that the recipient be no more than 10 years past graduation at Emporia State University.