Arkansas Alumni Association to Honor Distinguished Alumni

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Arkansas Alumni Association will honor 10 award recipients at the 60th Annual Alumni Awards Banquet on Friday, Oct. 22, at the Janelle Y. Hembree Alumni House on the University of Arkansas campus.

Greg Nabholz, BS'88, MBA'90 of Conway will receive this year's Andrew J. Lucas Alumni Service Award. The Conway native joined Nabholz Properties following his graduation from the University of Arkansas and became active in community affairs. His leadership has included a term as president of the Faulkner County Chapter of the Arkansas Alumni Association. Nabholz's commitment to the University of Arkansas earned him a nomination to the Alumni Board of Directors in 1994 where he served two consecutive three-year terms, serving on the Strategic Planning Committee, that helped shape the current organization, and on the Alumni House Building Committee, charged with reviewing and approving the plans to renovate the Alumni House, which was completed in 1999.

This year's Community Service Award will honor Deborah Oates Erwin, BA'76, associate professor of surgical oncology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and associate director of education at the Arkansas Cancer Research Center in Little Rock. Erwin is co-founder of the Witness Projectâ, a breast and cervical cancer education and screening program for African-American women. The Witness Project was developed in rural Arkansas and has expanded to include African-American cancer survivors and lay health advisors in programs in over a dozen states. Erwin has been honored on many occasions for her community service and is the recipient of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and National Cancer Institute Community Service Award.

Three honorees have been selected to receive the Citation of Distinguished Alumni Award, The first, Robert M. Bryant, BSBA'65, LLB'68, is president and chief executive officer of the National Insurance Crime Bureau in Arlington, Va. Following graduation from the UA Law School, Bryant joined the FBI and enjoyed a distinguished law enforcement career culminating with his appointment as deputy director. Bryant directed many high-profile investigations, including the Oklahoma City bombing and the Montana Freeman standoff. In 1999, Bryant retired from the FBI and was appointed to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, a premier fraud-fighting organization, where he continues to serve.

Mystery novelist and fifth-generation Fayetteville resident Joan Edmiston Hess, BA'71, has been selected as the second recipient of the Citation of Distinguished Alumni Award. Hess graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1971 with a degree in art, and then went on to earn a master's degree in education from Long Island University in 1974. Hess has had more than 30 novels published, one of which was the basis for a CBS television pilot. In a field long dominated by male writers, Hess sought out other women entering the realm of mystery writing. She is a founding member of the Sisters in Crime, a group that now includes more than 3,000 members. A former president of the American Crime Writers League, Hess has garnered many awards including the Agatha Award and the McCavity Award from Mystery Readers International.

Luis H. Moreno, Jr., BSA'55, of Panama City, Panama, head of the National Bank of Panama, is slated to receive the third Citation of Distinguished Alumni Award. Moreno graduated from the U of A with a degree in agriculture. Subsequent degrees from Cornell in education and rural sociology and New York University in banking and finance paved the way to a successful career. For a number of years, Moreno served as the head of Chase Manhattan Bank's operations in the Caribbean. Following the deposition of General Noriega in Panama, Moreno was asked to reorganize the Banco Nacional de Panama. He also serves as the vice president of the Latin American Federation of Banks, which is Panama's Alternate to Principal at World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Interamerican Development Bank. With more than 50 years of experience in international banking, Moreno is widely considered to be an "icon" and leading authority in the industry and has been honored numerous times by his government for outstanding leadership and professional achievement.

Three UA faculty members will be honored with the Arkansas Alumni Association's Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award:

Kevin D. Hall, BSCE'86, MSCE'98, professor of civil engineering, for outstanding research and teaching. Hall's participation was key in the creation, operation, and expansion of the Center for Training Transportation Professions sponsored by the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department, which provides training and certification for those who design and test highway construction projects. Hall incorporates much of his research into his classroom teaching.

Dr. Charles F. Robinson, professor of history, Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, for teaching. Robinson's powerful delivery of the Martin Luther King Jr. lecture in February 1999, his first opportunity to speak on campus, had a lasting influence on students and faculty. The department expressed an interest in his work and soon thereafter Robinson arrived at the University of Arkansas from Houston Community College in the fall of 1999. Robinson's colleagues and students know him as a professor who "engages students' minds and imaginations" and whose lectures are "passionate and intriguing."

Cynthia E. Nance, professor in the School of Law, for faculty service. After earning an undergraduate degree from Chicago State University in 1986, Nance attended the University of Iowa Law School, where her law school experiences shaped her interest in societal change. Joining the University of Arkansas Law School faculty in 1994, Nance teaches primarily in the areas of labor and employment law. As a member of several campus, community and professional organizations, Nance has been often recognized for her service. Nance is known for taking an active service role with students, including sponsorship of the Labor and Employment Law Society and the Black Law Student Association. She has volunteered with Community Emergency Outreach and the Northwest Arkansas Workers' Center and serves many organizations, including the American Bar Association and the Law School Admissions Council (a national group that writes the standard LSAT law school entrance examination.)

The Honorary Alumni Awardwill go to Mary Lib Whiteof Fayetteville. Since coming to the University of Arkansas in 1997, Mary Lib White, wife of Chancellor John White, has played an active role in supporting and enhancing the university community. A former high school home economics teacher, White remains devoted to students. White was instrumental in the rebirth of the University Women's organization, which includes female faculty and staff members as well as the wives of male faculty and staff. As the University of Arkansas embarked on the $900 million Campaign for the Twenty-First Century, White took an active role as a founding member of the Women in Philanthropy Committee.

The Young Alumni Awardwill be bestowed on Angela E. Harrison, BA'89. Harrison is president and chief executive officer of Welsco Inc., Maumelle. Following graduation from the U of A, Harrison joined the fourth-generation family-owned business, Welsco, which was founded by her grandfather 50 years earlier. At the age of 27, only three years after she began work at Welsco, Harrison became president and chief executive officer. Today, the company, with 100-plus employees, is the largest woman-owned industrial gas and welding equipment distributor in the United Sates, with $21 million in revenues.

Mike Macechko, executive director of the Arkansas Alumni Association, said, "We are proud to honor these distinguished alumni with these special awards. It fits perfectly with our goal to connect and serve the University of Arkansas family."