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Faculty and Alumni Honored
By Jan Puckett
The University of Missouri-Columbia Alumni
Association honored 17 outstanding faculty and alumni on Oct.
10, during its 36th annual Faculty-Alumni Awards Ceremony. Awards
presented included the Distinguished Service Award, the Distinguished
Faculty Award and Faculty-Alumni Awards.
 Dale
A. Whitman, of Columbia, received the Distinguished
Faculty Award. This is MUAA’s highest honor awarded to
an MU faculty member. This award was established in 1960 and
recognizes a faculty member whose sustained efforts in teaching,
research and service have added to the excellence of the University.
The award places special emphasis on the faculty member’s
relationship with students.
Whitman is being recognized for his national
and international reputation in the field of real estate law.
As a professor at the MU Law School from 1982 to 1991, and again
since 1998, Whitman was instrumental in raising money to build
Hulston Hall, which houses the school. In addition to publishing
many articles and the book Real Estate Finance Law, Whitman
also works with emerging private economies in Russia, Eastern
Europe, Central Asia and the People’s Republic of China
to assist them in the development of effective legal systems
in real estate. In 2002, he served in the most prestigious position
in legal education — president of the Association of American
Law Schools.
 Sam
F. Hamra, BS BA ’54, JD ’59, of Springfield,
Mo., received the Distinguished Service Award, MUAA’s
highest honor awarded to alumni. The award was established in
1956 and recognizes outstanding service by an individual whose
efforts and support have added to MU’s excellence.
Hamra is chairman and chief executive officer
of Hamra Enterprises. He owns and operates 23 Wendy’s
restaurants in Missouri and 32 Panera Bread restaurants in Chicago
and Boston. He serves as a board member of St. Jude Children’s
Research Hospital, a board member of the Missouri Sports Hall
of Fame, and charter president of the Springfield Southeast
Rotary Club. Currently, he is the governmental relations attorney
for Branson and St. Robert. On Sept. 20, 2003, he received the
MU Law School’s Citation of Merit Award during Law Day.
Faculty-Alumni Awards, first awarded in
1968 by the MU Alumni Association, recognize the achievement
of faculty and alumni. Assistant, associate and full professors
are considered for their work as teachers, researchers and their
relationship with students. Alumni are considered for both their
accomplishments in professional life and service to their community
and alma mater.
2003 Faculty-Alumni Award Winners
 Catherine
A. Allen, BS HES ’68, financial services executive,
of Santa Fe, N.M.
A leader in technology and financial services, Allen is a nationally-known
expert on e-commerce, cybersecurity, the Internet and smart
cards. She is co-author of The Artist’s Way at Work:
Riding the Dragon — Twelve Weeks to Creative Freedom
and Smart Cards: Seizing Business Opportunities, as
well as founder of the Santa Fe Group, a strategic consulting
firm.
 Jo
Behymer, BS Ed ’62,
M Ed ’65, EdSP ’75, EdD ’77, associate professor
emerita of education, of Columbia
Behymer retired as MU assistant provost in 1996, but has since
served as consultant to the provost and as an avid volunteer
on campus and in the Columbia community. During her tenure at
MU, the Asian Affairs Center, the General Education Program
and the Office of Service Learning were established.
 Charles
T. Bourland, BS ’59, MS ’67, PhD ’70,
aerospace consultant, of Houston, Texas
Over the past 34 years, Bourland has contributed significantly
to the development and use of space foods. He retired in 1999
from his position as manager of the Space Station Food System
for the National Aeronautical and Space Administration at the
Johnson Space Center. Before his retirement he worked with the
space food projects for such space projects as Apollo 12 and
13, the joint U.S./Russian mission in 1975 and the 1996 Shuttle-Mir.
 John
L. Bullion, professor of history, of Columbia
Bullion, one of the world’s leading authorities on the
American Revolution and British Empire politics of the mid-18th
century, published two influential books in his career. His
first, A Great and Necessary Measure: George Greenville
and the Genesis of the Stamp Act, 1763-1765, won the University
of Missouri Curators Publication Award, and his second, In
the Boat with LBJ, a memoir of his family’s relationship
with the former president, earned critical acclaim. For his
outstanding teaching and his role in the launch of the Social
and Behavioral Sciences Sequence for the Honors College, Bullion
was named Honors Professor of the Year in 2001 by the Kansas
City Chapter of the MU Alumni Association.
 Karyn
Buxman, MS ’90, motivational speaker, of Hannibal,
Mo.
As a motivational speaker and expert on the benefits of humor
and laughter, Buxman educates audiences on the physiological,
psychological and social benefits of humor. With more than 15
years of research in the field of therapeutic humor, she is
a Certified Speaking Professional and is one of the 28 women
in the world to become a member of the Council of Peers Award
for Excellence Speaker Hall of Fame. She wrote This Won’t
Hurt a Bit! And Other Fractured Truths in Healthcare and
is co-author of Chicken Soup for the Nurses Soul.
 Vicki
Conn, MS ’81, MA ’83, PhD ’87, Potter-Brinton
Distinguished Professor and associate dean of nursing, of Columbia
Conn has developed the Sinclair School of Nursing Research Office
into an operation that has helped faculty win more than $7 million
in grants from the National Institutes of Health. Since her
arrival to Mizzou in 1987 as an assistant professor, she has
been a driving force in the creation of a gerontology research
interest group, and has secured mission enhancement funding
for five additional gerontology faculty members. She received
the Society of Behavioral Medicine’s Research Presentation
Citation of Merit in 2002 and the MU Graduate Student Nurse
Association’s Outstanding Faculty Member Award in 1990.
 Gordon
E. Crosby, Jr., retired insurance executive, of Fort
Myers, Fla.
Before leaving MU in 1941 to join the navy, Crosby was captain
of MU’s track team and established a Big Six record in
the quarter mile. After his MU experience, he became an innovator
in the life insurance industry. His success enabled him to donate
$10 million to expand Mizzou’s master of business administration
program, now known as the Gordon E. Crosby, Jr. MBA Program.
 Gregory
C. Flaker, BA ’72, MD ’76, Brent M. Parker
Professor of Medicine, of Columbia
Flaker is more known now for his medical experience than his
former athletic career as co-captain of the 1972 Tiger basketball
team. Throughout his time at MU, Flaker has held more than 20
administrative positions within the School of Medicine. He was
the recipient of the School of Medicine Alumni Organization’s
Distinguished Service Award in 2003 and the Young Physician
Award in 1994.
 John
A. Gordon, BS ’68, presidential adviser, of Alexandria,
Va.
Gordon is currently the Homeland Security Adviser and an Assistant
to the President. He is responsible for developing interagency
homeland security policy, advising during domestic incidents
involving terrorism and natural disasters, and leading the Homeland
Security Council staff. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in
2000 as a four-star general, after an extensive background in
science and research within the government and private sector.
 Art
Holliday, BJ ’76, news anchor and executive producer,
of St. Louis, Mo.
Holliday is the executive producer and anchor of KSDK-TV’s
top-rated morning show “Today in St. Louis,” as
well as the co-anchor of the station’s “News Channel
5” at noon. He wrote, videotaped and produced “Before
They Fall Off the Cliff,” a feature-length documentary
released this year about schizophrenia’s effect on a St.
Louis family that earned him national awards from the National
Alliance of the Mentally Ill and the Eastern Missouri Psychiatric
Society.
 Jack
Jones, professor of forestry, fisheries and wildlife,
of Columbia
Known internationally for his water quality work in Nepal, Jones
provides research in setting standards for water quality to
protect human health and natural ecosystems to the Environmental
Protection Agency. Jones is the recipient of numerous awards
in his field, including the Water Conservationist Award from
the Conservation Federation of Missouri and the Award of Excellence
in Conservation from the Missouri Chapter of the American Fisheries
Society.
 M.
Kay Libbus, BSN ’75, MS ’77, professor
of nursing and women studies, of Columbia
For her outstanding teaching, Libbus was awarded the Kemper
Fellowship for Teaching Excellence in 1998. She currently coordinates
the doctoral program at the Sinclair School of Nursing, and
has received national grant funding to develop and implement
a web-based master’s degree program in public health nursing.
 Gary
L. Rainwater, BS EE ’69, utility industry executive,
of Creve Coeur, Mo.
With his educational background in engineering, Rainwater has
risen to the position of president and chief operating officer
of Ameren Corporation, the parent company of Ameren UE, Ameren
CIPS and Ameren CILCO, which provide energy services to 2.2
million customers in Missouri and Illinois. Rainwater is very
active in the community serving on such boards as the Missouri
Historical Society in St. Louis, the St. Louis United Service
Organization and the Illinois Energy Association.
 Jack
L. Stephens, DVM ’72, veterinarian and business
executive, of Anaheim, Calif.
Stephens applied his love of animals to his company Veterinary
Pet Insurance. He is the founder and chief executive officer
of the oldest and largest pet health insurance company, which
helps pet owners afford veterinary care and avoid “economic
euthanasia.” He is also the founder of VPI Skeeter Foundation,
a philanthropy that supports programs that endorse a “Prescribe
Pets Not Pills” philosophy and promotes the positive effects
that pets have on human health.
 Esther
Thorson, associate dean of journalism, of Columbia
As the School of Journalism’s associate dean for graduate
studies and research for the last decade, she has helped build
the doctoral program into one of the top five programs in the
United States. Since her arrival, faculty and graduate students
have greatly increased their scholarly productivity, and the
school is now a top-three producer of refereed papers at major
national and international meetings. She serves on the editorial
boards of eight journals and is the only female fellow in the
American Academy of Advertising.
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Last Update:
November 15, 2007
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