Alumni Association celebrates successful graduates at 2026 Alumni Awards Evening
Four outstanding Kansas State University alumni will be recognized by the K-State Alumni Association through three awards presented Nov. 6 at the K-State Alumni Center for the 2026 Alumni Awards Evening.
Leanne G. Caret ’88 will receive the Alumni Excellence Award. Logan Britton ’15, ’16 and Sachin Dhanda ’24 will receive the Distinguished Young Alumni Award. Pat Bosco ’71, ’73 will receive the Flinchbaugh Family Wildcat Pride Award.
The Alumni Excellence Award is an award recognizing a graduate of K-State whose career, service and achievements exemplify the spirit, values and excellence of the university.
Caret is a transformational leader who served as president and CEO of Boeing Defense,
Space & Security. During her 34-year career, she became the first woman to lead a
major Boeing business unit, overseeing a $26 billion portfolio that delivered solutions
spanning from seabed to space.
Today, she serves as an independent board director and audit committee chair for Deere & Company and RTX, and is a senior advisor to Blackstone and MyNextSeason. Widely recognized for her global impact, Caret was named to Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list for five consecutive years and received the 2024 Women In Defense Service to the Flag Award.
She is an inductee of the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame and a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Committed to the next generation, she sits on the boards of Embry-Riddle, STEM Next, USO and the KSU Foundation, living her personal mission "to leave it better" through grit, gumption, grace and gratitude.
She earned a degree in accounting from K-State in 1988.
The Distinguished Young Alumni program recognizes two K-State graduates who are excelling in their professions and contributing to their communities.
Britton is an associate professor of agricultural economics at K-State. He has taught
more than 1,000 undergraduate students and mentored them while they pursue careers,
after graduation and while attending professional school. He has written more than
250 recommendation letters and invested hundreds of hours in individual student advising.
Britton has also advised major student organizations including the College of Agriculture
Ambassadors, Blue Key Senior Honorary, Collegiate Farm Bureau, and Women in Agricultural
and Applied Economics Association.
Beyond campus, he volunteered with the Kansas FFA Association for more than 13 years, helping develop leadership and decision-making skills among students from across the state.
Britton’s professional accomplishments are equally distinguished. He has secured more than $4 million in external research funding, published 17 peer-reviewed articles, and earned national recognition for his teaching from organizations such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA), and the Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
Britton earned three degrees from K-State: two bachelor’s degrees in ag economics and ag communications and journalism in 2015; and a master’s degree in ag economics in 2016.
Dhanda is an emerging leader in herbicide resistance management. He works at South
Dakota State University as an assistant professor of weed ecology, where his research
and extension work address some of the most pressing challenges facing agriculture
across the Great Plains. His work focuses on multiple-herbicide-resistant kochia and
palmer amaranth, integrating field research, resistance monitoring and sustainable
weed management strategies.
Dhanda has authored or co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed publications and regularly presents his research at national and international scientific conferences. He has contributed to funded research projects, serves as a reviewer for more than a dozen scientific journals, and remains deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of agricultural scientists.
Dhanda earned a doctorate in agronomy from K-State in 2024.
The K-State Alumni Association presents the Flinchbaugh Family Wildcat Pride Award to a current or emeritus K-State faculty or staff member for advocacy of alumni relations, with a special emphasis on support and participation in alumni programs that engage members of the Wildcat family.
Bosco served K-State for nearly 50 years in various roles including vice president
for student life and dean of students. He helped develop programs including K-State
First, All-University Open House, K-State Childcare Services, the Parents and Family
Association and the program that would later become the Staley School of Leadership,
among others.
He was a national leader in student life, enrollment management and student affairs. His expertise, knowledge and perspectives have been courted by state and national organizations.
Bosco, along with his team of admissions representatives, often partnered with the Association to visit K-Staters at alumni club events to help raise awareness of K-State programming, promote the university and recruit prospective students to campus.
Bosco earned a bachelor's degree in curriculum and instruction in 1971 and a master’s degree in education in 1973, both from K-State.
The recipients will be recognized during the 2026 Alumni Awards Evening, which will include a reception at 6 p.m. and a dinner at 7 p.m. The public is invited to attend this ticketed event. Tickets are now on sale for $85. They can be purchased online.