Each year, the WSU Alumni Association recognizes outstanding Shockers for their professional achievement, distinguished service and humanitarian efforts. Please meet the exemplary people who have been named 2007 honorees and who will be presented their awards during a gala banquet and ceremony set for Jan. 31, 2008:
ACHIEVEMENT
For more than 30 years, Holt held leadership positions at Westar Energy (formerly KG&E), including serving as community affairs director and as chairman of the board and president. In 2002, he began work with Sedgwick County and is an assistant county manager who focuses on three divisions: culture, entertainment and recreation; public safety; and community development. Among his duties is serving as project leader for the new Sedgwick County arena in downtown Wichita. An active and award-winning volunteer, he believes volunteerism “is the rent we pay for living.”
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UNIVERSITY RECOGNITION
Colvin, WSU assistant vice president for campus life and university relations, is an advocate for the education, advancement, and equal educational opportunity of young people with a focus on limited-income and first generation students, persons with disabilities, and students in foster and adoptive care. She has been involved with federal TRIO programs for 42 years and is a national trainer, presenter, contributing author, and consultant in the development of TRIO and technology proposals, program management and operations, and TRIO program reviews. It is estimated that more than 43,500 students from Wichita and Southeast Kansas communities have benefited from Wichita State’s TRIO programs.
ALUMNI RECOGNITION
This president and co-owner of Wichita’s Automation-Plus Inc. has had her hand — and heart — in just about every facet of Wichita State and the wider Wichita community. Since 1978, she has volunteered her time and talents in service to well over a dozen community organizations, including the American Red Cross, the American Cancer Society, the Downtown Rotary, the Wichita Area Chamber of Commerce, the Sedgwick County Zoo and Wichita Festivals. She’s also actively involved at Wichita State, where she is a past president of the alumni association, is a SASO board member and serves on the WSU Foundation’s National Advisory Council.
Roswurm ’05/06
YOUNG ALUMNA
Countryman-Roswurm is a licensed social worker who specializes in street outreach to homeless and runaway youth through, at first, the Wichita Children’s Home and also, today, through the Wichita Child Guidance Center. A therapist and public speaker of note, she often works with at-risk teens involved in prostitution, sexual exploitation and relationship violence. Her professional mission, which dovetails precisely with that of the Wichita Child Guidance Center, is to improve the quality of life for troubled children and teens.
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LAURA CROSS DISTINGUISHED SERVICE
This service award honoree sets a powerful example of perseverance and dedication to the students he teaches and tutors. A quadriplegic since the age of 15, Bowers began his service to WSU as a graduate teaching assistant at the Learning Resource Center in 1987. In 2000, he began work for the trio program Upward Bound and in 2001 became a part-time academic advisor/study skills coordinator for Disability Support Services, where, since 2005, he’s been a full-time advisor and coordinator dedicated to helping students achieve their academic and career goals.
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AWARD OF DISTINCTION
A retired bank executive and U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve veteran, Nygaard is full-throttle when it comes to community involvement. This CEO of the Nygaard Family Humanitarian and Philanthropic Foundation is active with, among others, the United Way of Harvey County, the Rotary Club of Newton, the Newton Chamber of Commerce, the Harvey County Special Olympics and the USD 373 Board of Education.
