Questions?
Michelle Elkins '87
Associate director of awards and special events
785-532-5077
Medallion
The Medallion award recognizes an alumnus whose humanitarian service has added measurably to the quality of life.
2004
Wayne Freeman '38, Agriculture
Freeman spent a lifetime developing the capabilities of poor nations to feed their
people. He spent 15 years developing his work in India and then developed an integrated
cereals program in Nepal. Freeman created an innovative evaluation and seed distribution
suitable for developing countries.
Dr. Dan Upson '52, '62, '69, Veterinary Medicine
Upson was the first veterinarian to serve on the Kansas Pharmacy Board. He developed
regulations to standardize the procedures for proper drug use in food animal medicine
and safety. Upson pioneered technology based education in the College of Veterinary
Medicine.
2003
Richard Dodderidge '47, Arts and Sciences
Dodderidge was president and CEO of Brewer Advertising Agency in Kansas City. The
agency was eventually bought out by Young and Rubicam of NY. Brewer was ranked third
in the nation amoung ad agencies with major agricultural clients. After leaving advertising,
Dodderidge managed corporate marketing for AMC theaters. His professional experience
in marketing was a natural complement to his philanthropic and humanitarian efforts.
His 38-year Rotary career included service projects in South Africa, Russia and India.
He assisted in the formation of a Rotary Club in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was on
the Kansas Board of Regents and championed the Margin of Excellence, a legislative
funding package to aid public higher education in Kansas.
Karen Milner Graves '57, Education
Graves is known for her commitment, dedication and unwavering support for many worthwhile
community projects. She founded the Trails West! Festival in St. Joseph, Missouri, and
the Smoky Hill River Festival in Salina, Kansas. Graves served as president of the
Neighborhood Partnership, a revitalization effort in Patee Town, an older neighborhood
in St. Joseph in which eight museums are located. She was Salina's first woman mayor
and was an integral player in the merger of Kansas College of Technology with K-State.
2001
Don Downing '50, Arts and Sciences
Downing retired from New York Life Insurance, Co. and used his business experience
to establish the Haitian Episcopal Learning Partnerships (HELP). The organization
provides medical and educational support to one of the poorest Third World nations.
Downing helped build a parish school and he raised funds and sought medical volunteers
to form health care teams.
Robert Hagans '50, Business
Hagans was CEO and chairman of the board of Unitog, a custom-designer and manufacturer
of buisness uniforms and work apparel. He was a believer in teaching youth entrepreneurship
and was involved in Junior Achievement for more than 20 years. During his 27 year
membership in the Rotary club he chaired the Rotary's camp enterprise committee which
led a camp to demonstrate the role of business, labor and government in the free enterprise
system to high school seniors. Hagans created numerous endowed scholarships in the
K-State Colleges of Agriculture, Arts and Sciences and Business Administration. He
also established two endowed professorships in the College of Business Administration
and was the largest benefactor to the Colbert Hills Golf Course and one of the lead
donors for the K-State Alumni Center.
Rick Harman '50, Arts and Sciences
Harman was recognized as a major player in the racial integration of restaurants during
the Civil Rights era. Not only was Harman concerned by the inability of minority populations
to eat in public food service operations but also by the discrimination of hiring
practices. He operated the family business, Myron Green Cafeterias and opened his
dining rooms to minorities. Harmon convinced the Kansas City Restaurant Association
board of directors to pass a resolution favoring equal treatment for all people. Harman
served four years on the Kansas Board of Regents and chaired the academic affairs
committee which raised student enrollment standards. As chair of the facilities committee,
he was instrumental in obtaining facilities renovation at the state universities.
2000
Stephen Holloway '65, Architecture, Planning and Design
Holloway rallied support for health, education and housing for Jamaica's neediest
youth and other residents in the rural, mountainous region of the island. He formed
Jamaica Partners, Inc., a non-profit service organization and volunteers from 12 states
have journeyed to Jamaica to build a health clinic, library and science education
center.
Ivan Strickler '47, Agriculture
Strickler influenced the socio-economic well-being of the nation's dairy farmers,
and the global dairy industry. He became known as an innovator for the industry as
he applied the latest dairy research procedures. Strickler's international influence
stemmed from his longtime leadership in some of the nation's largest dairy organizations.
He worked with Congress and the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture on dairy policy issues
and legislation. He also represented the nation on various international trade missions.
1999
Perry Adkisson '56, Agriculture
Adkisson developed and implemented integrated pest management programs in the United
States and worldwide through the United Nations. His research prevented the release
of hundreds of tons of insecticide into the environment. Adkisson's vision helped
the world feed itself in ways that are ecologically sound, environmentally friendly,
economically beneficial and healthier. He won the World Food Prize in 1997.
Dr. Edward Gillette '56, '70, Veterinary Medicine
Gillette was a pioneer in animal cancer research and had significant impact on the
study of human cancer. He established a comparative oncology program to use naturally
occurring tumors in companion animals as models for human cancer treatment. He also
provided guidelines for normal tissue tolerance to radiation therapy. Gillette's enthusiasm
for science was contagious, and he inspired many future scientists to follow in this
field of cancer research.
Jack Vanier (fs '51), Agriculture
Vanier was an international leader in the livestock industry and a respected humanitarian
and philanthropist. He led CK Ranch, which had one of the premier registered Horned
Hereford herds in the world. Their livestock have been used in developing herds around
the world. Vanier distinguished himself as a humanitarian and philanthropist, supporting
various arts programs, underprivileged children and youth programs, health-related
institutions and many college and universities. He supported the Colleges of Agriculture
and Veterinary Medicine, the Basic Cancer Research Center, Beach Museum of Art and
K-State Athletics.
1998
Dr. Henry M. Beachell '33, Agriculture
Beachell, a rice scientist, developed rice varieties that first transformed the U.S.
rice industry and then improved varieties in Asia. "Miracle rice" formed more grain
and less straw, matured early and produced record yields that helped feed Asia's growing
population. Beachell is credited with more advances in the productivity of rice than
had occurred during the previous 10,000 years. He won the World Food Prize in 1996.
Frances Aicher Lewis '37, Human Ecology
Lewis exemplified the term "professional volunteer." In the 1940's and 1950's she
taught cooking basics to hundreds of children in 4-H. She was named the 1951 Kansas
Master Homemaker. Lewis organized all-girls youth meat judging contests and help establish
the American Junior Hereford Association.
Dr. John Leod Wilson '23, Arts and Sciences
Wilson was a dedicated university administrator known for his lifelong commitment
to student development. He served as an administrator at several Historically Black
Colleges and Universities including, Southern University, Langston University, Savannah
State College and St. Augustine College. His achievements during the turbulent World
War II years influenced thousands of military personnel and he served as a director
with the USO. During an uneasy social climate, Wilson successfully created activities
for students with an emphasis on racial understanding.
1995
Steve Grogan '75, Arts and Sciences
Grogan, a 16-year veteran quarterback for the New England Patriots, became a tireless
advocate for people challenged by physical and mental disabilities. He has introduced
countless people throughout New England to the challenges facing individuals with
mental handicaps and has provided leadership to non-disabled individuals on how to
relate to people with mental disabilities.
1993
Dean Schowengerdt '49, '51, Agriculture
D. Schowengerdt had a life-long commitment to improving the quality of life in Korea.
He directed the Union Christian Service Center in Taejon, Korea, which included work
relief for war refugees, limb making and vocational training for amputees. Schowengerdt
also promoted post war development projects that included mountain land husbandry
of sheep and farm production loan fund and rice bank cooperatives.
Marjorie Schowengerdt '48, Human Ecology
M. Schowengerdt had a life-long commitment to improving the quality of life in Korea.
She managed the ChungNam Foundling Home by the request of the Korean government. The
home cared for 321 abandoned or orphaned babies and children. As organizer and teacher
of Taejon's first community kindergarten for English-speaking children, Marjorie worked
with scholarship funding for economically deprived women students.
1991
Dr. Ghulam Rasool Chaudhry '68, '70, Agriculture
Chaudhry was a staunch advocate of accessible education for the underprivileged people
of Pakistan's rural areas. He became the secretary to the government, Agriculture
Department in Pakistan in 1989.
1990
Daphyne Smith Cauble '32, '37, Home Economics
Cauble was regional director for Project Concern and state co-chair of International
Health and Medical Concern. She was actively engaged in sending medical equipment
as well as clothing and hygiene kits, all over the world. Cauble has also looked after
the people of Wichita and Kansas. Her work has assisted many local service organizations
such as the Colvin Center, the Rescue Mission, World Impact Village and the Salvation
Army.
1989
Matt Betton '38, Arts and Sciences
Betton was the founder of the National Association of Jazz Educators. The organization
was in existence until 2008 under the name International Association of Jazz Educators
and had over 7,000 members. He was invited to play at the White House by President
Ronald Reagan. Nearly 150 students worked their way through K-State between 1933 and
1963 playing with the Betton orchestras.
1988
S. Grace Dickman King '18, Home Economics
King was a retired principal and teacher who expended much of her considerable energy
in service to her community and to K-State. Her talents and ambition were ahead of
her time, and she said that because of her gender, "I limited my acitivities to the
more sedate. I couldn't be a county agent, but I did plan and initiate a township
high school in my hometown of Fostoria."
A. G. (Glenn) Pickett '35, Agriculture
Pickett was the former executive vice president of the Kansas Livestock Association,
whose practicality and foresight continued to influence Kansas agriculture. He based
his agricultural principles on the thesis of "make it simple, workable and acceptable,
and if possible, profitable." He set up a school to issue diplomas to inmates at the
Hutchinson State Reformatory. He served as State Livestock Sanitary Commissioner
from 1949 - 1970. During his tenure he eradicated turberculosis in cattle in Kansas
and made strides in eliminating brucellosis. The Kansas Animal Health Department functions
under excellent statutes initiated by Pickett. His recommendations laid the groundwork
for the development of the national beef promotion federation of 38 state beef councils
and the Beef Industry Council of the Meat Board.
1987
Dr. Helen Beck Stafford '20, Home Economics
Stafford was born at the turn of the century to a father who was a former slave and
a college-educated, school teacher mother. "Blacks weren't accepted, we were just
here, period. In classes or labs where we worked in pairs, if there was no other black
girl, you worked alone. You were in complete isolation, always alone." Stafford ignored
the prejudice and compiled a long list of accomplishments in civil rights and community
service. She became a founding member of the Tacoma, WA NAACP chapter, was the first
black member of the area League of Women Voters, served on the first board of the
Tacoma Urban League, and was on the YWCA board when black girls were not admitted
as members. She helped organize and served as president of the Tacoma chapter of Alpha
Kappa Alpha sorority, the first black service sorority and in 1948 became the first
black to be employed by the State Department of Human and Health Services as a caseworker.
Fred C. Bramlage '35, Business
Bramlage served on the National Battle Monuments Commission under three Presidents
and was Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army - an appointment equal to that
of a three-star general. He was instrumental in attracting the 1st Division to Fort
Riley. He helped plan the Tuttle Creek and Milford Reservoir Dams, as well as the
I-70 route through Kansas. "Few people have even an inkling of the range and depth
of influential and benevolent activities in which he quietly or silently engaged,"
Randy Pohlman,former dean of the College of Business Administration, K-State, said
of Bramlage.
1986
Clark C. Collins, DVM '41, Veterinary Medicine
Collins was a veterinarian who made significant contributions to both animal and human
medicine. He became a pioneer in using movies to film diseases of all kinds and surgical
procedures. Those films were shown at veterinary conventions and later became used
in teaching at K-State and other universities. Due to family tragedies, he was instrumental
in obtaining the first artificial kidney machine in Nebraska and formed the hospital
foundation in West Point, Nebraska, where he served as president for more than 20
years.
Mary McDonald Hewson '48, Education
Hewson dedicated much of her life to support K-State and education from the pre-school
to the post-graduate level. Hewson was a treasured advisor to University, Alumni Association,
and Foundation administrators. She helped establish "HEAL" (Help Eliminate Abuse Locally),
a group to combat drug use by teenagers. Hewson counseled hundreds of high school
students, keeping in contact with them as they arrived at K-State and other universities.
She worked tirelessly to teach high schoolers about the importance of higher education,
worked to get them into a university and worked to keep them there.
Carl P. Miller Sr. '20, Arts and Sciences
Miller and his family owned nine California newspapers, was the assistant financial
editor of the LA Times and the secretary/manager of the Los Angeles Stock Exchange.
In 1929 Miller was chosen to begin The Wall Street Journal's Pacific Coast edition
- one week before the stock market crashed. The paper survived and became a model
for several other Wall Street Journal editions. Miller's second career, as a Rotarian,
began as a young man. He became the organization's international president in 1963
and introduced the "Matched District and Club Program" designed to cultivate international
goodwill, increased tremendously Rotary's World Community Service projects and youth
exchange by pairing Rotary districts around the world for cooperative work.