Gladly he served
Military science graduate Lt. Col. Tony Haager ’87 completed a 27-year military career with assignments in Korea, Iraq, and Germany. His work involved Special Operations assignments at Fort Campbell and with the Defense Intelligence Agency. He served as deputy director of Installation Management Command-Europe Region. Haager retired as a colonel in 2015 and became the chief of Installation Logistics and Services. He oversees 12 programs with a budget of $1.4 billion. A member of ISU’s College of Applied Science and Technology Alumni Hall of Fame, Haager has received the Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, and National Intelligence Council Medallion.
Leadership kudos
The civic and professional contributions of Nikita Richards ’06, M.S. ’15, have been recognized by the State of Illinois. Treasurer Michael Frerichs presented Richards with the 2020 Outstanding Service in Leadership Award for her strength, courage, and leadership across the state. A U.S. Navy veteran, Richards owns NDR Communications, which focuses on crisis diversion, management, and political communication. She is the employment coordinator for the City of Bloomington. A member of ISU’s Alumni Association Board, Richards has been appointed by Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker to the Illinois Council on Women and Girls.
Protecting the providers
Technology education alumnus Eric Race ’18 has been in the national spotlight for his work in mass-producing personal protective equipment (PPE) for essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. A technology education teacher at Wheeling High School in the Chicago suburbs, Race partnered with teachers in District 214 to design a prototype for face shield headbands using a 3D printer. They created 1,750 PPEs per week, with the units distributed to emergency workers and employees still on the job in public places such as grocery stores. Beyond local media coverage, Race’s effort was showcased on CNN.
Ahead in her field
Pushpa (Chandrasekhar) Winbush ’95, ’99, is the 2020 Illinois School Psychologist’s Association Practitioner of the Year. A graduate of ISU’s specialist program in school psychology, Winbush works as a school psychologist at Riverside Brookfield High School in Riverside. A few of her many accomplishments include redesigning existing behavioral interventions, creating a website called “Attendance Matters” to serve as a resource for parents, starting a peer mediation program, creating an after school group called “Homework Hangout” to support students academically, and developing a problem-solving structure for team meetings.
