Shockers everywhere, at events long ago or happenings just the other day, always have something interesting to say. Take this sampling as a Shock Talk example:
“This scholarship opens up possibilities for an education and a career I could only dream about before.”
— Wichita State freshman Oscar Clark, a physics major and recipient of the Linwood Sexton Scholarship, as quoted in the WSU Foundation’s Shock the World: The $250 Million Campaign for Wichita State University publication.
“I have great respect and admiration for Wichita State University, its leadership team, faculty, staff and students. I appreciate WSU’s mission, commitment to students and academic quality, and its unique applied learning and economic development focus. It is an honor to be selected for this position and to follow in the footsteps of the highly regarded Mary Herrin. While I am grateful for the rewarding experience and my wonderful colleagues at Emporia State, I am looking forward to becoming a Shocker.”
— Werner Golling, as quoted in the Nov. 30 news release announcing his being named vice president for finance and administration at Wichita State, effective Jan. 8, 2017. Golling, who has served as vice president for administration and finance at Emporia State University since 2014, will assume the position held by Mary Herrin ’72/76. Herrin, who was presented with the 2004 University Recognition Award by the WSU Alumni Association, is retiring after 43 years at WSU, where she has served as vice president and chief financial officer since January 2008. From 2009-2014, Golling was CFO and human resources director at Aldevron, a private company in the biotechnology field. He earned a bachelor’s degree in management from Shippensburg University and a master’s degree in business administration from Boston University.
For the 61st time, members of the WSU Alumni Association’s selection committee deliberated and chose recipients to recognize for their distinguished accomplishments and extraordinary service. Begun in 1955, the WSU Alumni Awards program has annually honored those alumni, university faculty, staff and friends who have made distinctive contributions to Wichita State, the alumni association and to our wider world. Here is the 2016 class of honorees, to be presented their respective awards at a gala banquet and ceremony set for Thursday, April 20, 2017:
Award of Distinction, Mildred “Mickey” Armstrong ’45: Armstong and her late husband Pete ’42 are major university supporters, contributing to varied projects, everything from athletics to the fine arts. Yet it is Armstrong’s special relationship with the WSU Alumni Association that is the prime reason for receiving this honor: She was the second person in the WSUAA’s history to serve as a paid, and thus “official,” alumni secretary for the volunteer organization.
Distinguished Service Award, Dean ’82 and Esther ’79 Headley: As individuals, each is deserving of this honor — taken together, few other Shockers can be credited with such long-standing, effective and broad-reaching service to WSU and the WSUAA. Dean, a WSU associate professor, is co-author of the nationally recognized Airline Quality Rating, and Esther, president and partner at Wichita’s The Research Partnership Inc., is a past WSUAA board chair.
University Recognition Award, Ron Matson: This award-winning teacher, scholar and administrator joined Wichita State’s faculty as a member of the sociology department in 1970. He currently serves as dean of the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Alumni Recognition Award, Jackie Williams ’67: A former U.S. attorney who spent 17 years as assistant U.S. attorney and six as the U.S. attorney for Kansas, Williams now serves as deputy attorney general and director of the Medicaid fraud division in the Kansas Attorney General’s Office — and still finds time to be engaged with his alma mater, including serving as a WSU Alumni Association board member.
Alumni Achievement Award, Mark Finucane ’76: A nationally recognized healthcare advisor known for his extensive leadership and “policy creativity,” Finucane is a managing director with Alvarez & Marsal Healthcare Industry Group in Los Angeles. His ties with the WSUAA go back to 1975 when he was a student writer for the association’s alumni magazine.
