Eight Westminster Alumni To Be Honored Alumni Weekend

Eight Westminster College alumni will honored for their significant accomplishments and contributions to society at the annual Alumni Achievement Award Convocation held at 10:30 a.m., on Saturday, April 23, during Alumni Weekend on the Westminster College campus in Fulton, MO.

“Westminster has always been known as an academic environment where students prepared to create the future, not wait on it,” says Westminster College President Dr. Benjamin Ola. Akande.  “We are pleased to be able to honor eight of our distinguished alumni during Alumni Weekend who left Westminster to take ownership of the future and made a significant difference in the world by striving for excellence.”

David Veitch, from Tulsa, OK, Class of 1973 and Phi Delta Theta, is the 2016 recipient of the Jack Marshall Alumni Loyalty Award.

A past member of Alumni Council, David Veitch has a long history of loyalty to Westminster College. He has consistently hosted alumni events in Tulsa, hosted the Blue Jay Road Crew, and opened his home to many Westminster administrators and alumni.  In 2010, he was asked to join the Westminster College Board of Trustees, and during his tenure as Trustee, he has never missed a meeting. Veitch is a Senior Financial Advisor for Morgan Stanley.

Established in 2009 and renamed in 2012, the Jack Marshall Alumni Loyalty Award is bestowed upon alumni who demonstrate a continued interest in Westminster College through contributions of time, talent, influence and/or funds, and who have demonstrated exceptional loyalty, commitment and dedication to the College.  The Jack Marshall Alumni Loyalty Award is approved by the Alumni Council and requires a motion and vote from the Board of Trustees for approval.  Only one recipient is honored at Alumni Weekend each year.

Lifetime Alumni Achievement Awards this year will be presented to Alan Henderson from Jackson Hole, WY, Class of 1968 and Phi Delta Theta; Bob Monroe from Overland Park, KS, Class of 1968 and Beta Theta Pi; Neal Perryman from St. Louis, MO, Class of 1988 and Kappa Alpha; Rusty Reese from Chicago, IL, Class of 1977 and Beta Theta Pi; and Greg Richard from New York, NY, Class of 1988 and Delta Tau Delta.

Henderson took RehabCare public in 1992 as the company’s President and CEO and grew the company from $40 million annual revenues to over $500 million in revenues before retiring in 2003.  In 2001, RehabCare stock was the best performing stock for that year of all New York Stock Exchange listed stocks.

Monroe has served as counsel to well more than 150 financial institutions and has served as a resource and mentor in connection with matters involving bank holding company mergers and formations, branch acquisitions, negotiating regulatory orders, bank reorganizations and succession planning during his 40-year career as Chairman of the Banking and Financial Services Division and Partner for Stinson Leonard Street.

Perryman focuses his practice on labor and employment law where he defends employers and management in personnel-related disputes before state and federal courts and administrative agencies as a partner for the Lewis Rice law firm.  In 2008 as lead trial counsel, he gained one of the first defense jury verdicts in Missouri under the new lower causation standard for Missouri Human Rights Act cases.

Reese is Chief Executive Officer of Price Asset Management, Inc. (PAM) and a member of the Board of Directors of Price Holdings, Inc.  He was most recently Executive Managing Director and Senior Vice-President of Wells Fargo Asset Management’s Evergreen Investments division.

Richard has had an exemplary career in the healthcare industry and is currently Sr. Vice President & General Manager of the Interpace Diagnostics Group.  He is well regarded as a national subject matter expert in the field of healthcare commercialization and reimbursement.  In his current role, he was responsible for the launch of novel molecular diagnostic tests for Pancreatic, Thyroid and Esophageal cancers.

The Lifetime Alumni Achievement Award is presented annually to alumni whose accomplishments reflect the Westminster mission and who have distinguished themselves through personal achievements, professional achievements and /or have made significant contributions to society.  The award is approved by the Alumni Council and requires a motion and vote from the Board of Trustees for approval.  Up to six alumni can receive the award annually.

The final awards of the ceremony will be the Young Alumni Achievement Awards presented to Jeanneane Dixon Maxon from Arlington, VA, Class of 2002, and Scott Swindler from Playa Vista, CA, Class of 2007.

Currently Maxon serves as general counsel and Vice President of External Affairs for Americans United for Life, the nation’s largest pro-life organization. Through her work with this organization, she devotes her life to tirelessly help to protect the unborn.  Previously, she worked as a litigator for the top law firm Divine, Milliment and Branch after graduating at the top of her class from Boston University School of Law.

Swindler’s dedication impacts the lives, cultures, entertainment and communities of people throughout the world as Brand Manager for 72andSunny, a marketing and advertising firm.  Adidas, ESPN, College GameDay, MLB, The Masters, British Open, and the St. Louis Blues are just a few of the organizational and brand highlights of his career involvement

Established in 2009, the Young Alumni Achievement Award is presented annually to recognize alumni who demonstrate the Westminster mission through outstanding achievement early in their chosen career and/or dedicated leadership and service to their community and who have graduated within 5-15 years.  This award is approved by the Alumni Council, requires a motion and vote from the Board of Trustees for approval and is given annually to up to two alumni.

Past alumni award winners can  be found at http://www.westminster-mo.edu/alumni/awards/AlumniAchievementAwardRecipients.html.