College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Honors and Awards Ceremony

Each year, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) presents awards to outstanding alumni and friends of the College. Alumni award recipients are honored at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Honor and Awards Ceremony, as well as the Iowa State University Alumni Association Honors and Awards Ceremony during Homecoming week each fall.

The LAS ceremony took place on October 31, 2024.

Celebrating the success and achievements of LAS alumni and friends

Order of events:

Welcome – Benjamin Withers
University Awards
LAS Awards
Departmental Awards
Closing Remarks – Benjamin Withers

Thomas A. Connop

’76 History
Dallas, Texas

Tom Connop is a loyal Cyclone, staying forever true to his alma mater with longstanding service and vital leadership at Iowa State.

As a retired partner of the Locke Lord, LLP law firm in Dallas, Texas, Connop supports ISU and the alumni association in numerous ways. He served on the ISU Alumni Association Board of Directors and was elected chair in 2019, helping the association navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. He currently serves on the ISU Athletics Council and has been a member of the LAS Dean’s Advisory Council since 2004.

Connop’s passion for ISU began as a student; he was a residence hall assistant, a GSB Senator and Co-chair of the campus-wide Residence Hall Week celebration. Connop was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and the Cardinal Key Honor Society.

Alongside his service to ISU, Connop serves on the Board of Dallas Academy, a K-12 school for students with learning differences, and the steering committee for the “Callier Cares” Campaignfor the Callier Center for Communications Disorders.Connop is an active volunteer for and member of Highland Park Presbyterian Church.

Connop was honored for his service and commitment to ISU with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) Distinguished Service Award in 2016. Connop continually seeks ways to uplift ISU and those who advance the university, and has supported current and former dean philanthropic priorities, including the Dean’s Emerging Faculty Leaders Award, which recognizes and rewards mid-career faculty in the LAS College.

Connop and his wife, Lisa, are Cyclone Club members, belong to the Order of the Knoll President’s Circle and Campanile Society, and are life members of the ISU Alumni Association.

Trudy Huskamp Peterson

’67 history, English, speech
Washington, D.C.

Trudy Huskamp Peterson was the first woman to serve as Acting Archivist of the United States. Peterson served as a commissioner on the U.S.-Russia Pow-MIA Commission, which sought to clarify the fates of persons missing from wars from the 1940s through the 1980s.

Following her tenure with the National Archives, Peterson was the first executive director of the Open Society Archives in Budapest, Hungary, and the archivist for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Since 2002 she has been an archival consultant, advising truth commissions in South Africa and Honduras, providing staff training for the International Tribunal for Rwanda, Special Court for Sierra Leone, and police archives in Guatemala. She ensured the preservation of the records of the Nuclear Claims Tribunal in the Marshall Islands and for a dozen years produced a monthly newsletter on archives and human rights.

Peterson and her husband, Gary, established the Trudy Huskamp and Gary Peterson Study Abroad Scholarships to help ISU Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) students gain international experience. She gives back to her community through leadership positions in varied nongovernmental organizations, including the LAS Dean’s Advisory Council.

For her humanitarian efforts, Peterson was named a Fellow of the International Council on Archives, received the Emmett Leahy Award, the Order of Arts and Letters from France, the Academy of Certified Archivists’ Distinguished Service Award, and the ISU Distinguished Alumni Award, among others.

A life member of the ISU Alumni Association, Peterson belongs to the Order of the Knoll President’s Circle and Campanile Society.

Javaune Adams-Gaston

Ph.D. ’83 psychology
Norfolk, Virginia

Javaune Adams-Gaston is a visionary leader and renowned higher education expert, currently serving as the seventh president of Norfolk State University, a distinguished historically black college and university (HBCU). With over 35 years of experience at top national research universities, Adams-Gaston excels in building collaborative relationships, driving progress, and fostering success through data-informed decision-making and a commitment to community needs. Her passion for learning outcomes, innovation, and research excellence has inspired a new era of achievement at Norfolk State.

A celebrated scholar and administrator, Adams-Gaston previously served as the senior vice president for student life at The Ohio State University, where she impacted the lives of over 66,000 students annually. She has also held administrative and faculty roles at the University of Maryland College Park, The Johns Hopkins University, and Iowa State University.

Recognized for her outstanding contributions to higher education, Adams-Gaston has received numerous awards and appointments, including President Biden’s Board of Advisors on HBCUs, the NCAA Board of Governors, and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) Board of Trustees. She earned a PhD in psychology from Iowa State University and practiced as a licensed psychologist for over 20 years. During her time in graduate school at Iowa State, she was accompanied by her husband, Mr. Dmitri Gaston, MCRP. They have three outstanding adult children.

Beth Wessel-Kroeschell

MPA ’87 political science
Ames, Iowa

Beth Wessel-Kroeschell is currently serving her 10th term in the Iowa House of Representatives. She is the ranking member of the Health and Human Resources Committee and also serves on the Public Safety and Judiciary committees, as well as the Justice Systems Appropriations Subcommittee. A former high school English teacher, Wessel-Kroeschell has extensive experience in nonprofit administration. She served on the board of ACCESS, a shelter for women and children who survive violence and abuse, for four years, and was their president. She chaired the Story County Equal Rights Amendment campaign in 1992 and was the public events coordinator for Reiman Gardens at Iowa State University.

Wessel-Kroeschell has been actively involved in her community, serving on her church council, the Planned Parenthood Community Council, and the Friendship Ark Board of Directors. She is currently on the board of directors for All About Kids. Her professional experience includes work with the Iowa Farmers Union and the Association of Boards of Certification. She is married to Tom Kroeschell, the retired program director for Cyclone TV. They have two adult children, Liza and Robbie.

In the Iowa House of Representatives, Wessel-Kroeschell has played key roles insignificant legislation. She floor-managed bills to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the Iowa Civil Rights Code and to allow same-day voter registration. She co-sponsored a bill requiring local governments to create gender-balanced boards and commissions and sponsored legislation to fully fund Iowa’s Regents institutions every year. In the 2023 special session, she led the fight against a six-week ban on abortion. A strong advocate for reproductive freedom, Wessel-Kroeschell has been fighting this battle since 2010.

Wessel-Kroeschell has received numerous awards for her work on behalf of Iowa State University, the city of Ames and the state of Iowa.

Elli Grapp

’16 political science, world languages and cultures
Superior, Wisconsin

Elli Grapp currently serves as the regional training director for the YMCA’s Northern Midwest Learning Center. In her role, she creates and facilitates leadership development opportunities for YMCA leaders across three states. Grapp has been an advocate for inclusion and social justice within the national YMCA network and is currently leading a cross-cultural team in building a community peacebuilding workshop. She is also a national YMCA trainer for classes such as dimensions of diversity; allyship in action; and mental health community care.

Before joining the YMCA, Grapp worked in the nonprofit sector to support individuals marginalized by society, including chronically unhoused persons and refugees. A constant in her career has been the goal of making communities, like the one she grew up in, places where everyone can experience a sense of belonging.

Grapp is raising a beautiful, kind, and wild five-year-old. In their free time, they enjoy knitting together and watching “Bluey.”

Collin Reichert

MS ’11 geology, MAT Science Education
Story City, Iowa

Collin Reichert has been teaching in the Ames Community School District since graduating from Iowa State in 2011. He spent five years teaching physical science at Ames Middle School, where he earned multiple awards and recognitions, including several Excellence in Science Teaching Awards from the Iowa Academy of Science and the Dan Woodin Excellence in Education Award in 2015.

In 2016, Reichert transitioned to teaching Earth and Space Science at Ames High School. His exemplary teaching efforts were again recognized with the National Association of Geoscience Teachers’ 2018 Outstanding Earth Science Teacher Award for the United States’ Central Section. Along with a colleague, Reichert co-founded The Community Academy, which provides community and nature-based extracurricular educational experiences for K-12 youth in central Iowa.

Reichert’s teaching philosophy emphasizes hands-on experiences and real-world applications of scientific concepts through community impact projects. He is dedicated to applying students’ scientific knowledge to improve the human condition and strives to engage youth with the natural world through frequent field-based instruction and activities.

Ramsey Tesdell

’06 technical communications
Amman, Jordan

Ramsey G. Tesdell is the co-founder and CEO of Sowt.com, a leading digital audio media company producing high-quality, premium content for Arabic-speaking audiences. He is also a founding partner of 7iber.com, a prominent independent news magazine in Jordan. Tesdell was selected as a Ford Global Fellow in 2021 and serves as a judge for the International Documentary Association’s podcast program. Additionally, he is an advisory board member for the Google/PRX Podcast Creators Program, a judge for the Third Coast Audio Festival in Chicago, and a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.

Tesdell dedicates time to mentoring and working with new media startups, focusing on media strategy and business development. He holds a bachelor’s degree in rhetoric and communication from Iowa State and an MS in technical communication from the University of Washington in Seattle. He lives in Amman, Jordan with his wife and two children.

Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology:
Distinguished Alumni Award

Anthony Cyr, MD

‘06 biochemistry
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Tony Cyr’s research journey began with using metabolic engineering to produce complex diterpenoid molecules in a bacterial host. He then pursued a master’s degree and doctorate at the University of Iowa, working with Dr. Rick Domann and Dr. Ron Weigel. His research focused on oxidative metabolism’s role in epigenetic signaling and the involvement of AP-2 transcription factors in breast cancer.

In 2014, Cyr matched into the general surgery residency program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). During his residency, he completed a three-year research fellowship under Dr. Brian Zuckerbraun, studying the effects of aging, mitochondrial metabolism, and metabolomic flux on immunosuppression post-trauma. Notably, he worked with former Iowa State Stupka Symposium chair Lauran Chambers extensively during this time, as she was recruited to work in the lab prior to going to medical school herself in 2020.

Cyr is now an assistant professor of surgery at UPMC, with a keen interest in enhancing resident and medical student education.

Department of Chemistry: Outstanding Alumni Award

Jacqueline M. Applegate

Ph.D. ‘92 chemistry, organic chemistry
Weldon Spring, Missouri

Jacqueline (Jackie) Applegate is the chief operating officer of PBI-Gordon and a member of the executive committee. Based in Kansas City, Kansas, she oversees PBI-Gordon’s three subsidiaries: PBI-Gordon Corporation, Pegasus Laboratories, and Pet Ag, which specialize in turf and ornamental solutions, companion animal pharmaceuticals, and nutritional products for companion animals, respectively.

Applegate began her career in 1992 with Bayer as a process development chemist and has held leadership roles globally. Before retiring from Bayer in March 2024, she served as a global executive member of Bayer Crop Science and president of the crop science North America region. Her roles included president of global vegetable seeds and environmental science, and she was the global culture and change management lead for the Bayer/Monsanto integration while managing the global environmental science business. She also served as the senior Bayer representative and country division CEO for Australia and New Zealand.

Applegate holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Wright State University, an executive master’s in business from Rockhurst College, and a doctorate in organic chemistry from Iowa State. She has served on numerous boards of philanthropic, community, and business organizations and enjoys traveling and spending time with her family.

Communication Studies Program: Outstanding Achievement by a Young Alumni Award

Allyson Krull

‘08 communication Studies
Northwood, Iowa

Allyson Krull is the vice president of the Mason City Chamber of Commerce, where she leads leadership development training, oversees workforce attraction and retention programs, and coordinates global familiarization tours. A key driver of the Chamber’s recent success, Krull played a pivotal role in the River City Renaissance Project, a $38 million downtown development initiative that includes a performing arts pavilion, multi-purpose arena, and hotel/conference center in Mason City. She has also contributed to numerous community projects across North Iowa.

Krull graduated from Iowa State in 2008, earning a bachelor’s degree in communication studies with a minor in psychology. In 2018, she received the IOM graduate recognition from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Organization Management. She was selected for the U.S. Chamber’s Business Leads Fellowship Program in 2021, focusing on critical education and workforce issues, and for Leadership Iowa in 2022, the state’s premier issues-awareness and leadership program.

Krull currently serves on the Worth County Extension Council, the Worth County Fair Board, and the Governor’s North Central STEM Advisory Board.

Communication Studies Program: Outstanding Alumni Award

Shane Jacobson

’03 communication studies; MED ‘08 education
Apex, North Carolina

Shane Jacobson is the chief executive officer of the V Foundation for Cancer Research. As an accomplished foundation executive, he has led record-setting campaigns with a focus on funding groundbreaking research and top scientists to advance the fight against cancer. Under his leadership, the V Foundation aims to make significant strides in cancer research and save lives.

Jacobson’s career includes leading efforts that have invested over $3 billion in mission-critical opportunities. Before joining the V Foundation, he was president and chief executive officer of the University of Vermont Foundation, where his team achieved a record in fundraising and business partnerships. Notably, Jacobson was involved in securing a $66 million gift that named UVM’s College of Medicine, marking the largest single contribution ever to a public university in New England.

His experience also includes roles at the Iowa State University Foundation, the ISU Alumni Association, and Grinnell College. Jacobson serves on the board of directors for the Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities, the CEO Advisory Board for the National Veterans Golf Association, and is a member of the Cancer CEO Roundtable, the Cary, North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, and the Raleigh, North Carolina Executive Group of 50.

Department of Computer Science: Distinguished Alumni Award

Srini Namineni

‘91 computer science
Los Altos, California

Srini Namineni is the senior vice president of strategic growth operations at Cisco, where he and his team focus on acquisition integration, strategic initiatives, change management, and business operations. With over 25 years in the global enterprise technology industry, he has a proven track record in delivering growth strategies and operational efficiencies, positioning him well to drive Cisco’s growth priorities with simplicity and speed.

Previously, Namineni led global business operations, strategy, and the partner ecosystem for Cisco Customer Experience, contributing to the company’s transition to a recurring revenue model. Before joining Cisco, he was vice president of finance and strategy at Salesforce, where he supported the co-chief executive officer, and held leadership roles at IBM. He also co-founded a web startup.

As a visionary leader and engineer at heart, Namineni is dedicated to fostering a culture of curiosity, innovation, and empowerment, while also focusing on developing future leaders. He holds a master’s degree in computer science from Iowa State, an MBA from The Wharton School, and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University.

Department of the Earth, Atmosphere, and Climate: Distinguished Alumni Award – Geology

Mike Buresh

‘87 earth science
Jacksonville, Florida

Mike Buresh graduated from Iowa State in 1987, having begun his college studies at Oklahoma University, where he became an experienced “storm chaser” and worked at the National Weather Service. He holds the American Meteorological Society’s “Seal of Approval” and the Certification for Broadcast Meteorologist (CBM).

Buresh’s television meteorology career includes roles at WHO-TV in Des Moines, Iowa, and WKRC-TV in Cincinnati, Ohio, before moving to Northeast Florida over 20 years ago. He has effectively warned, tracked, and informed viewers about various severe weather events, including tornadoes, waterspouts, floods, and numerous tropical cyclones such as hurricanes Ian, Nicole, Michael, and Irma, among others.

He has been recognized multiple times as the Folio “Best of Jax Meteorologist,” an award based on local votes in Jacksonville. Buresh is also an active member of the local Salvation Army. His extensive travels include destinations such as Australia, Asia, Central and South America, the Galapagos Islands, and Africa. He is an avid writer with a strong blog presence, including “Buresh Blog” and “Talking the Tropics with Mike,” which covers hurricane season from June 1st to November 30th.

Department of the Earth, Atmosphere, and Climate: Distinguished Alumni Award – Meteorology

Kenneth L. Rancourt

‘72 meteorology
Center Conway, New Hampshire

Ken Rancourt’s fascination with how things work led him to meteorology after taking a course in meteorological instrumentation. His career began with the Weather Radar Research Group before he moved to McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where he earned a master’s degree studying precipitation patterns over an early mesonet, a network of automated weather stations owned and operated together.

In 1979, Rancourt joined the Mount Washington Observatory as a field technician/observer, focusing on an Air Force wind energy evaluation project. At this natural laboratory, he managed anemometer evaluation programs for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS), National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and various manufacturers from the US and Europe. He was selected as a non-governmental organization representative to World Meteorological Organization Technical Conferences in Trappe, France, and Casablanca, Morocco, where he provided technical advice on wind measurements in extreme environments. A wind measuring instrument developed at the Observatory is now on Mount Everest’s Balcony at 28,904 feet.

Rancourt has also mentored many interns, contributed to the development of a unique NOAA-funded Meso-Net in both horizontal and vertical dimensions, and co-managed the Mount Washington Icing Sensor Project with NCAR scientists. This project, sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration, was the largest remote sensing experiment at the Observatory, uniting US and Canadian researchers to study icing potential in the lower atmosphere.

Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology: Distinguished Alumni Award

Luke J. Harmon

‘98 zoology
Moscow, Idaho

Luke Harmon grew up in western Iowa and attended Iowa State after graduating from high school in Clarinda, Iowa. At Iowa State, he began studying evolution in Fred Janzen’s lab and earned his degree in zoology. He received his Ph.D. in evolution, ecology, and population biology from Washington University in 2005.

Since 2007, Harmon has been a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Idaho, where his research focuses on macroevolution and comparative methods. His work involves developing and applying tools to explore the history of life on Earth through the tree of life. Harmon developed the R package Geiger, a widely used tool in evolutionary biology for analyzing how species have evolved over time. Geiger allows researchers to run statistical tests and simulations on phylogenetic trees to understand patterns of evolution, such as the rate of trait evolution and species diversification. This tool is particularly valuable for comparing traits across species and studying long-term evolutionary processes.

Harmon’s current projects focus on testing hypotheses related to trait evolution, diversification, and adaptive radiation using statistical comparative methods. He also regularly teaches workshops on R programming and comparative methods.

Department of Economics: Distinguished Alumni in Economics Award

Randyl Elkin

‘65 economics, Ph.D. ’71 economics
Forest Lake, Minnesota

Randyl Elkin entered Iowa State with an associate’s degree from Webster City Junior College, earning a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1965 and a Ph.D. in economics in 1971. After teaching in the economics department at Illinois State University and serving as a visiting professor at Iowa State, Elkin became an assistant professor of economics at West Virginia University (WVU). He was tenured as a full professor in 1983.

For over 30 years, Elkin led the master of science in industrial relations (MSIR) program as director and chair of the department of industrial relations. Under his leadership, the program gained national recognition and achieved nearly 100% placement for students in top firms, unions, and government agencies. His expertise in negotiation, mediation, and arbitration extended internationally, where he contributed to developing graduate and executive MBA programs in various countries, including Italy, Germany, and China.

Elkin’s work also included grants that led to collaborations with the United States Information Agency on labor relations in Argentina, Uruguay, and Indonesia. He served on the labor panel of the American Arbitration Association, mediated for magistrate court, and coauthored the texts Labor and the Economy and Successful Arbitration.

Department of English: Distinguished Alumni Award

Marla J. Stewart

‘73 English, psychology; MS ‘75 education
Brooklyn, New York

Marla Stewart’s journey began in Audubon, Iowa, where her curiosity, work ethic, and optimism were nurtured by her family, teachers, friends, and the broader community. During her time at Iowa State, she took on leadership roles in the residence hall program, forging lifelong friendships and meeting her future husband, Wayne Svoboda.

Stewart’s master’s degree paved the way to New York City, where she became the assistant to the president of Barnard College. This role exposed her to the complex challenges of university management and sparked her interest in business. She pursued this new passion at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, earning an MBA in 1986.

Following her MBA, Stewart spent a summer traveling through Africa before starting a 35-year career in investment at Goldman Sachs in New York City. Each chapter of her life, from Audubon to Africa, shaped a dynamic career. Stewart remains deeply grateful for the foundation provided by Iowa State, which prepared her for a series of exciting adventures.

Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology: Outstanding Alumni Award

Stanley M. Duchman, M.D.

‘87 biology
Houston, Texas

Stanley Duchman is a practicing cardiologist in Houston, Texas, and a clinical professor at Weill Cornell Medical College and the DeBakey Heart and Vascular Institute at Houston Methodist Hospital. He completed fellowships in heart failure/transplant and interventional cardiology. In private practice, Duchman focuses on preventive and interventional cardiology, emphasizing both teaching and patient care.

His academic interests include studying the effects of inflammation on atherosclerotic plaque formation, progression, and rupture, as well as identifying inflammatory causes and markers. Duchman has also served on medical boards for the state of Texas.

Outside of medicine, Duchman and his wife Lisa are the founders and chief executive officers of Duchman Family Winery. He also advises several medical technology companies on business development. In his free time, he enjoys traveling and exploring the wine and food of different cultures.

Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication: James W. Schwartz Award for Distinguished Service to Journalism and Communication

Stephen C. Coon

MS ‘70 journalism and mass communication (Ag)
Ames, Iowa

Steve Coon is a retired broadcast journalist and journalism teacher with a career spanning professional journalism, teaching in the United States, and media training abroad. He has worked as a broadcast journalist for Central Iowa radio and television, as well as the Voice of America in Washington, DC. Coon began his teaching career at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before being invited by legendary Iowa broadcast journalist Jack Shelley to join the Iowa State journalism faculty in 1981.

Throughout his career, Coon has been guided by great mentors, including James W. Schwartz, whom he met in graduate school. The success of his journalism students, who have gone on to become outstanding journalists and close friends, remains a constant source of pride.

For over 30 years, Coon has conducted media workshops in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America, sponsored by the Voice of America, U.S. State Department, Knight Journalism Fellowships, and Fulbright Scholarships. He considers himself both a student and an instructor, learning from each experience and applying that knowledge to his university classes at Iowa State. Coon is married to Elizabeth Strand Coon, and they have two children and twin granddaughters.

Department of History: Distinguished Alumni Award

Tilman Engel

MA ‘90 history
Frankfurt, Germany

Tilman Engel has almost four decades of experience in international leadership. His career began in 1991 with roles at the American Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Senate Office of Tom Harkin, and the Frankfurt Galaxy Football Team. From 1999 to 2019, he had an extensive career in sports management, working as general manager for the Frankfurt Galaxy Football Team with the National Football League’s Europe League, serving on the Managing Board for the NFL League, and acting as the league director of audience and marketing for the Qatar Stars League. He was also the managing director of SBC International Consulting in the Arab Gulf Region.

In 2014, Engel served as a reserve officer in Afghanistan with NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, heading the Afghan Presidential Election Advisory Group. He returned to Afghanistan in 2019 as the chief for civil-military cooperation with NATO’s Resolute Support Mission, advising the 209th and 217th Afghan Army Corps. From 2020 to 2024, Engel was the head of the German Armed Forces Reserve Forces Enhancement Project, reporting directly to the deputy chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the German Bundeswehr.

Department of Mathematics: Distinguished Alumni Award

Scott V. Kongable

‘89 mathematics, statistics
Center Point, Iowa

Scott Kongable attended Iowa State from 1984 to 1989, earning bachelor degrees in mathematics and statistics. During his time at Iowa State, Kongable was active in Air Force ROTC and residence hall student government. After a brief career in the air force, he joined Rockwell-Collins in Cedar Rapids as a test engineer in the military data links business area. He later transitioned to reliability engineering and ultimately became a project engineer in their global positioning system business area. While at Collins, Kongable developed and taught the company’s statistical design of experiments (DOE) class to over 300 engineers.

In 1997, Kongable earned his MBA from Nova Southeastern University. The following year, he joined Crystal Group, a rugged computer manufacturer in Hiawatha, Iowa, as director of engineering, eventually becoming president in 2003. Under his leadership, Crystal Group experienced significant growth, making the eastern Iowa fastest-growing companies list six times. One of Kongable’s proudest achievements was when the U.S. Department of Defense recognized Crystal Group as one of the top 12 patriotic employers in the nation for its support of employees in the guard and reserve. Kongable retired from Crystal in April 2023.

Department of Music and Theatre: Distinguished Alumni Award

Michael David Wilder

‘77 music
Lombard, Illinois

Michael David Wilder earned his undergraduate degree at Iowa State, completing requirements in music performance and music education. As the first recipient of the Ames International Orchestra Festival Association’s tuition scholarship, Wilder was a concerto soloist with the Iowa State orchestra and band and held his first professional orchestra position with the Des Moines Symphony. He earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in clarinet and music education at the University of Michigan.

Currently, Wilder serves as dean of the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music and the Division of Arts and Communication. He has performed for many years with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and is now a member of Camerata Chicago. Wilder has also served on the faculty of the Credo Festival at Oberlin and the Master Works Festival in England and the U.S. He is the current president of the National Association of Schools of Music, which accredits over 625 institutions, including Iowa State.

Wilder and his wife, Joyce Anne, are the grateful parents of 11 children and honored grandparents to 14.

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Outstanding Alumni Award

John H. Weaver

Ph.D. ‘72 physics
Jericho, Vermont

John H. Weaver is professor emeritus of materials science and physics at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He was on the staff of the Synchrotron Radiation Center at University of Wisconsin-Madison until 1982 when he moved to the University of Minnesota. In 2000, he was head of the material sciences and engineering department at UIUC and he was named D.B. Willett Professor in 2003.

Weaver’s research focused on the physics and chemistry of surfaces, interfaces, and nanostructures. He authored approximately 490 refereed papers, including 21 chapters and feature articles in Scientific American, Physics Today, and Science.

Weaver is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Vacuum Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He held the Amundson Professorship at UM and received the Alexander von Humboldt Senior Distinguished U.S. Scientist Award. He was a university professor at Tohoku University in 1994 and the Royal Society Kan Tong Po Professor at the University of Hong Kong in 1995. He was named Scientist of the Year by Research & Development Magazine in 1997 and received Iowa State’s Distinguished Achievement Citation in 1998. In 1999, he served as chief judge for Singapore’s National Science Talent Search and received the Medard W. Welch Award from the AVS.

In retirement, Weaver shifted from surface science to surface art, focusing on live edge wood creations.

Department of Political Science: Outstanding Alumni Award

Kevin B. McAdams

‘93 political science
Eden, Maryland

Kevin McAdams leads Perdue Farms’ senior leadership team, overseeing its two independent operating companies, Perdue Foods and Perdue AgriBusiness, along with the company’s corporate functions. McAdams was appointed chief executive officer in July 2023, becoming the fifth person to hold this position. He joined Perdue Farms in July 2022 as president of Perdue Foods and chief operating officer of Perdue Farms.

Before joining Perdue, McAdams served as president, North America, at Jack Link’s Protein Snacks, a privately held, family-owned company. His prior senior roles include president of Schwan’s Consumer Brands and president and chief operating officer of Pabst Brewing Company. Earlier in his career, McAdams held key positions at Red Bull North America, The Coca-Cola Company, and Frito-Lay.

Department of Statistics: Distinguished Alumni Award

Todd Sanger

MS ‘91, Ph.D. ‘92 statistics
Indianapolis, Indiana

Todd M. Sanger is the vice president and leader of the predictive and text analytics group within the advanced analytics and data sciences team at Eli Lilly and Company. In this role, Sanger oversees predictive analytics and natural language technologies, including generative AI, across the enterprise. He has been with Eli Lilly for over 30 years, contributing to various areas such as business analytics, clinical development, project management, and functional leadership. Sanger has authored over 39 manuscripts and delivered 125 presentations. His current interests include large language models, data mining, marketing analytics, linear models, causality analysis, and statistical computing.

A Michigan native, Sanger earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics, summa cum laude, from Michigan Technological University in 1987 and his doctorate in statistics from Iowa State in 1992. He is a member of the American Statistical Association, including the biopharmaceutical section, marketing section, and the local Central Indiana chapter.

Department of World Languages and Cultures: Distinguished Alumni Award

Angela Reber

‘01 political science, russian studies
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), Belgium

Colonel Angela Reber, a career Army intelligence officer, currently serves as commander of Allied Command Counterintelligence (ACCI) and the 650th Military Intelligence Group, the integrated organization providing counterintelligence support across the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Reber has served at all echelons within joint, interagency, and multinational environments, conducting operations and planning to advance national security objectives. She commanded a military intelligence battalion supporting the U.S. Army and European Command throughout Europe and was a company commander at the Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center in Iraq.

Her staff experience includes service on the Army staff at the Pentagon, with a multinational corps in Poland, a multinational division in Iraq, and two infantry brigades in Iraq and Hawaii. She also served on a battalion-level staff providing intelligence support across U.S. Central Command. Reber’s combat experience includes 30 months during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

A distinguished military graduate of Iowa State’s ROTC program, Reber holds bachelor’s degrees in Russian studies and political science. She earned master’s degrees in organizational change from Hawaii Pacific University and political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine. Reber is a U.S. Army War College Fellow at Indiana University and a former instructor at the U.S. Army’s School of Command Preparation.

Her honors include the Polish Armed Forces Medal (Silver) and the Knowlton Award. She is married to Jason Reber of Iowa, and they have two sons.