Pete Souza to receive K-State Alumni Association’s inaugural Alumni Excellence Award
Renowned photographer and Kansas State University Alumnus Pete Souza will be awarded the K-State Alumni Association’s Alumni Excellence Award. He will receive the award at a banquet on Friday, Oct. 13, at the K-State Alumni Center.
The Alumni Excellence Award, in its inaugural year, is an annual award recognizing an alumna or alumnus of K-State whose career, service and achievements exemplify the spirit, values and excellence of the university.
Souza was the chief official White House photographer for President Barack Obama and director of the White House Photo Office. He also was the official White House photographer for President Ronald Reagan. Additionally, he has worked as an assistant professor of photojournalism at Ohio University; the national photographer for the Chicago Tribune based in their Washington bureau; and a freelancer for National Geographic.
Souza has covered stories all around the world. After the Sept. 11 attacks he was among the first journalists to cover the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan, after crossing the Hindu Kush mountains by horseback in three feet of snow. His photographs have also been published in many other publications including the covers of Life, Fortune, Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report.
He is a native of South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, and graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in public communication from Boston University and received his master’s degree in journalism and mass communication from K-State. As a student at K-State, Souza worked as a student photographer shooting photos for the Kansas State Collegian and the Royal Purple.
“We are incredibly honored to present the first Alumni Excellence Award to such an outstanding K-State graduate,” said Michelle Elkins, associate director of awards and special events for the Alumni Association. “Pete Souza’s photography has allowed so many of us to see current events from a perspective we wouldn’t otherwise get to see.”
The Alumni Excellence Award is made possible by the generosity of the Curt and Sherry Frasier family of Beloit, Kansas. Both are 1973 graduates of K-State. More details about the banquet will be made available in the coming months. Learn more about the awards programs, or call the K-State Alumni Association at 800-600-ALUM (2586).