The K-State Alumni Association will celebrate the 2026 Alumni Awards Evening on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026.

The evening honors the exceptional achievements of the recipients of the Alumni Excellence Award, the Distinguished Young Alumni Awards and the Flinchbaugh Family Wildcat Pride Award.

The recipients of our 2026 awards will be selected this spring; please watch for further announcements and updates.

Learn more about our 2025 award recipients:

Alumni Excellence Award

Epifanio Elizondo, Ph.D. ’88
Rear Admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commission Corps (retired)
College of Education 
Educational Leadership

Distinguished Young Alumni Award

Hayes Kelman ’15
Founder and CEO of Boot Hill Distillery
President of Kelman Farms, Inc.
College of Agriculture
Agricultural Economics

Ryan Urban ’21
Marketing Manager at Naturion
College of Arts and Sciences
A.Q. Miller School of Media and Communication

Flinchbaugh Family Wildcat Pride Award

Richard Becker ’91, ’95
Director of Infrastructure Security Architecture
Kansas State University
Carl R. Ice College of Engineering 
Engineering Technology and Computer Science

Nancy Becker ’19
Enterprise IT Security Analyst
Kansas State University
College of Arts and Sciences
Social Sciences