Nebraska Alumni Association awards presentation is May 7

The Nebraska Alumni Association will recognize nine accomplished University of Nebraska-Lincoln alumni, four students and an exceptional family at the annual Alumni Awards Banquet, An All-University Celebration, May 7 at the Nebraska Champions Club.

Reservations for the banquet may be made by calling the Nebraska Alumni Association, (888) 353-1874 or (402) 472-8933, or e-mailing Pam Penner. The cost is $35 per person and the deadline for registrations is April 30.

Recipients of the Alumni Achievement Award are:

Mike Cassling of Omaha, CEO of Cassling, a full sales and service dealer for Siemens Healthcare. A 1986 UNL grad in general accounting and marketing, he also serves as president of the Millard Public Schools Foundation board of directors and chairman of the Salvation Army board of directors.

Marie Chevrier of Dallas, professor and associate director of public policy and political economy at the University of Texas at Dallas. She also heads the master's in public policy degree program. A 1972 UNL psychology grad, her research focuses on analysis of the threat of chemical and biological weapons.

William C. Mobley of San Diego, chair of the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. A clinician and researcher, the 1970 UNL chemistry grad is internationally known for his work on degenerative diseases of the central nervous system and the neurobiology of Down syndrome.

Bob Thacker of Chicago, senior vice president, marketing and advertising for OfficeMax and founder of the most successful viral marketing campaign of all time: "Elf Yourself." A Lincoln native, the 1970 journalism grad has also held leadership positions at BBDO Minneapolis, Sears and Target.

Recipient of the Distinguished Service Award is:

Jan Connolly, senior vice president and corporate secretary for Ameritas Life, Acacia Life, Union Central and the UNIFI companies. A 1973 UNL graduate from Hastings, she served on the Nebraska Alumni Association board of directors from 1996-2008, including a term as president, and continues to participate in Cather Circle, the Rebounder's Club and the Chancellor's Club.

Young Alumni Awards will be presented to three graduates:

Karen Jennings, a real estate agent with CBS Home Real Estate in Omaha, who was named Top Producer in 2009 and Top Sales Agent in 2008. A 1993 graduate of UNL and the all-time scoring leader in Husker women's basketball with 2,405 points, Jennings is active in the Omaha community and serves as a motivational speaker. She is originally from Persia, Iowa.

Ryan Morgan of San Francisco, a computer software engineer and co-founder of Hyperic, which was acquired by SpringSource and then by VMware in 2009. Today, the Seward native is a staff engineer at VMware, responsible for the integration of VMware and Hyperic technology. He also is a volunteer mentor at YearUp, preparing young urban adults for professional careers.

Matt Waite of Lincoln, news technologist for St. Petersburg Times/Tampabay.com and principal developer of PolitiFact, a data-driven site that checks the accuracy of claims by politicians and government officials. In 2009, the Blair native won a Pulitzer Prize in national reporting for PolitiFact. The 1997 UNL journalism graduate also has won awards for reporting on Florida's vanishing wetlands.

The 2010 Family Tree Award goes to:

The Goodding family of Lincoln, with 16 members from four generations who have graduated from UNL. Thomas Homer Goodding, the first graduate, received his bachelor's degree in agronomy in 1916 and served on the university faculty for 38 years. In 1982, the Thomas H. Goodding Learning Center was dedicated to the Department of Agronomy. A third-generation family member, Richard Dale Goodding, currently teaches agronomy at UNL.

Cather Circle Award recipients to be recognized are:

Jacqueline Learned Powell, Cather Circle Alumna of the Year. Owner of her own full-service financial planning firm in Carlisle, Pa., she is a noted speaker on financial planning and a featured columnist for the Harrisburg Patriot-News. The 1977 UNL graduate from Grand Island served Cather Circle as program committee chair.

Brett Lahm, Cather Circle Collegian of the Year. A senior advertising major at UNL, Lahm is a regent's scholar and has been active in the University Honors Program and on the Chancellor's Commission on the Status of Women. The Lexington native served as the student rep on Cather Circle's executive committee. Lahm will begin law school at UNL this fall.

Student Leadership Awards will be presented to:

Alexandra Ball of Lincoln, Howard and Judy Vann Student Leadership Award. A senior political science major from Lincoln, Ball works as a donor relations specialist for the NU Athletic Department. She also has volunteered as a Lancaster County Court Appointed Special Advocate. She will begin studies at the College of Law this fall.

Logan Waite of Hickman, Roy and Catherine Yaley Student Leadership Award. A junior education major, Waite is an intern at the Nebraska Alumni Association where he coordinates the adopted schools program and the Huskers for Higher Education and serves on the board of the Scarlet Guard.

Meghan Douglas of Scottsbluff, Shane Osborn Student Leadership Award. Douglas, a senior marketing major, is active in Cather Circle, the Students of Color Career Advisory Committee, the Mexican American Student Association and the Diversity Enhancement Team. A native of Paraguay who was raised in Scottsbluff, she also has had two study abroad experiences in Mexico.

More detailed biographies on all of the award winners can be found on the Nebraska Alumni Association website at http://huskeralum.org/events/awards.

WRITER: Andrea Cranford, Nebraska Alumni Association, (402) 472-4229