Arkansas Alumni Association Honors Achievements During Annual Awards Celebration

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Ten alumni and faculty were honored during the 67th annual Alumni Awards Celebration on Nov. 4 at the Janelle Y. Hembree Alumni House. Pictured on the front row from left to right are Robert Stapp, Jacque Martini, Kay Kelley Arnold, and Tommy Love. Back row: Quinn Taylor, Norm DeBriyn, John Forrest Ales, John Pijanowski, Alan Mantooth and Marty Matlock

The Arkansas Alumni Association proudly announces its 2011 award recipients, all of whom personify the University of Arkansas’ tradition of excellence through service and leadership. All 10 honorees were recognized during the 67^th annual Alumni Awards Celebration on Nov. 4 at the Janelle Y. Hembree Alumni House.

Two University of Arkansas graduates received the Citation of Distinguished Alumni Award, which recognizes exceptional professional and personal achievement and extraordinary distinction in a chosen field. The awardees included:

Kay Kelley Arnold BA’76, MA’77, vice president for public affairs, Entergy Services Inc., Little Rock. As vice president for public affairs at Entergy Services Inc., Arnold manages the Entergy Foundation and political action committees, as well as low-income, grassroots, giving and community programs. Encompassing corporate social responsibility, including corporate contribu­tions and employee volunteerism, she helps to lead special assignments, such as license renewal and climate change working groups.

Quinn Taylor BSHE’87, senior vice president, Movies, Miniseries & Acquisitions ABC Entertainment Group, Burbank, CA. Taylor oversees all made-for-TV movies, miniseries and acquisitions for the ABC Entertainment Group, a unit composed of the television network and its production studio. Working for the company since 1996, Taylor has served as executive director and vice president of Movies for Television and as senior vice president for Motion Pictures for Television & Miniseries.

Other alumni who were honored during the awards celebration include:

Jacque Martini BS’78 MBA’09, owner, MSquared Wines, Calistoga, CA, Andrew J. Lucas Alumni Service Award. A third-generation winemaker, Martini has helped her husband, Michael, promote his family’s winery and wines, Louis M. Martini Winery, in and around the Napa Valley area.  They work to continue the winemaking legacy, all while sharing the passion with those in the area, including Arkansas alumni in the area. Each year, Martini and her husband host the Louis M. Martini Winery BBQ at Monte Russo ranch in Sonoma Valley, an event that has occurred for the past 20 years. Aiming to help students attend the University of Arkansas, all of the event proceeds go to the Earnest J. Wong Scholarship Fund, which reached a total of $100,000 with this year’s event.

Norm DeBriyn, associate director of The Razorback Foundation Inc., Fayetteville, Honorary Alumni Award. Growing up in Ashland, Wis., DeBriyn has been a part of the University of Arkansas for more than 40 years. Serving as the Univer­sity of Arkansas’ head baseball coach for 33 years, he stays involved with the university by serving as associate director of the Razorback Foundation. Since retiring as the Razorbacks baseball coach in 2002, DeBriyn has taken on the role of associate director of the Razorback Foundation. Transitioning from coach to fund­raiser, he continues to build relationships with coaches and those in the University of Arkan­sas community. Aiming to support University of Arkansas athletics through fundraising, his involvement has led to multiple expansions of Baum Stadium.

John Forrest Ales BA’02, director of Global Brand Public Relations Hilton Hotels and Resorts, McLean, VA, Young Alumni Award. With the re­sponsibility of managing the Hilton Worldwide brand and its reputation, Ales leads communi­cation strategies for the company and its more than 540 hotels in 78 countries across six con­tinents. He is responsible for executing media and community relations, leading the brand’s social media conversation, supporting brand marketing objectives and creating resources for hotels to excel in local markets. He has also helped launch eforea, which is the brand’s first global spa concept; Hilton Huanying, a tailored program for Chinese travelers; reposition Hilton Resorts; and create the Hilton Global Media Center, which is the travel industry’s most comprehensive media resource.

John Pijanowski, associate professor and coordinator of the Educational Leadership Program in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education and Health Professions, Fayetteville, Charles and Nadine Baum Faculty Teaching Award. An associate professor and coordinator of Educational Leadership at the University of Arkansas, Pijanowski teaches students about ethical decision making theory. During his time at the U of A, he has redesigned both the master’s and doctoral programs, transi­tioned the Educational Leadership doctorate program online, guided the program through NCATE and ELCC accreditation review and helped create new admissions and advising standards and guidelines. Spending 20 years as an educator and administrator, he is estab­lished in the realm of research, publishing 13 articles in peer-reviewed journals, co-author­ing two books and currently has seven articles in the review or publishing stage.

Tommy L. Love, Jr. BA’70, physician with the Central Medical Group, Little Rock, Community Service Award. Love specializes in internal medicine with the Central Medical Group in Little Rock and has 37 years of medical experience. As an internal medicine physician, he focuses on the treatment of those who may exhibit multiple illnesses at one time; treating not only the illness and/or disease, but also the well-being of the patient. Taking advice from his church’s minister, he decided to start his own free health fair through his church. Stationed in Little Rock, the goal of the annual health fair is to provide free access to health related services for those in the public who express medical need. Those who attend the health fair are able to receive free screen­ings for various illnesses and diseases, such as glaucoma, cholesterol, HIV and prostate cancer. The health fair also offers attendees the chance to bring their medicine bottles and receive free prescription and non-prescription medicines.

Each year the Alumni Association also presents three Distinguished Faculty Achievement Awards for outstanding success. The 2011 recipients were:

Marty Matlock, professor and area director for the Center for Agricultural and Rural Sustainability Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food & Life Sciences and College of Engineering, Service Award. Professor of ecological engineering in the biological and agricultural engineering department. In 10 years at the University of Arkansas, he has worked to develop an internationally recognized program in ecological engineering. Through this program, Matlock has created a foundation for the undergraduate degree. Working with The Sustainability Consortium in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, he helped achieve success for the U of A in framing and communi­cating strategies for sustainable supply chains, which led TSC to become the leading academic research-based organization in supply chain sustainability metric development in the world. Matlock serves on the Science Advisory Committee for MARS Corporation and is a sustainability advisor to Kellogg, Kashi, Monsanto, Bayer Crop Sciences, Levi Strauss, World Wildlife Foundation, World Resources Institute and others.

H. Alan Mantooth BSEE’85, MSEE’86, distinguished professor and 21^st Century Chair in Mixed-Signal IC Design and CAD Department of Electrical Engineering College of Engineering, Research Award. Mantooth, distinguished professor of electrical engineering in the College of Engineering, Research Award. His ability to bridge the academic and business/industrial communities through entrepreneurial activities, his international research leadership, and his research pro­ductivity and mentorship of students has led him to be recognized by internationally known researchers who praise his work and developments. Mantooth is also the executive director of the NSF Center for Grid-connected Advanced Power Electronic Systems and NSF Vertically-Integrated Center for Transformative Energy Research.

Robert Stapp, Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Economics in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, Teaching Award. Although ranking high among his colleagues in the Sam M. Walton College of Business, Stapp’s students tend to rank him as one of the best professors they have had while at the University of Arkansas. His ability to teach what some believe to be difficult subject material is viewed as extraordinary because of his in-depth knowledge of various techni­cal skills, including math, finance, accounting, psychology, sociology and politics. Each summer, Stapp takes a group of students to Japan for a study abroad program. During their time overseas, students visit with the government officials and CEOs of various Japanese firms, as well as attend cultural events and home stays. He has mentored a number of students who have gone on to pursue gradu­ate degrees at MIT, Oxford, Harvard, George­town, Chicago and Stanford. Considering his students to be as knowledgeable and capable as students from other universities, 19 of his pupils competed with other universities in the Nation Model United Nations – Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference and won top awards, while many have gone to work for notable corporations in not only America but the world.