The Alumni Association has announced the annual Alumni Association Awards recipients. Honorees will receive their awards at the Founders Day Convocation on Thursday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. in the Bone Student Center’s Brown Ballroom. The award recipients will then be introduced at a dinner that evening. Register for the dinner by clicking on Alumni Awards Dinner.
Outstanding Young Alumni
The Outstanding Young Alumni recipient is Mac Condill ’99. Condill is the general manager of The Great Pumpkin Patch and owner of The Homestead Bakery in Arthur. He returned to his family farm after completing his degree in agribusiness and horticulture. Condill has traveled and studied horticultural practices in Scotland, Africa and India. Putting what he has learned globally to work, Condill plants and harvests more than 400 varieties of squash a year at the family’s Great Pumpkin Patch in Central Illinois. It is an attraction that receives national attention, with educational opportunities for visitors. Condill aids in the education of other Illinois State Agriculture department students as well, donating a vast variety of seeds. The seeds are used in studies and research, and many of them also appear in the Horticulture Center’s autumnal festival.
E. Burton Mercier Service Award
The E. Burton Mercier Service Award recipient is Kimberly (Lockwood) Travers ’92, M.S. ’94. Travers is on the Technology faculty at Heartland Community College. She is an educator and a leader of various organizations. She has served on the National Association of Industrial Technology (NAIT) executive board as an officer and has received several association awards for her contributions. Travers is also a part of the Bloomington-Normal Education Alliance (BNEA), which sponsors an annual Students Involved with Technology (SIT) conference at Heartland Community College. The conference works to interest students in grades 3-12 in technology careers. Travers uses her technology knowledge and more to assist several agencies, including 4H, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Race for the Cure, Relay For Life, Hands All Around Quilt Guild (HAAQG), Girl Scouts of America and Project Oz. She assists with fundraising efforts as well.
Alumni Achievement Award
The Alumni Achievement Award recipients are David Kranz ’75, M.S. ’76 and Sandra Steingraber, M.S. ’82.
Kranz is a biochemistry professor at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. He graduated from Illinois State with two biological sciences degrees. Kranz completed a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and postdoctoral studies at MIT. He is currently at the University of Illinois, where he is the Phillip A. Sharp Professor of Biochemistry, a position endowed by U of I alumnus and Nobel Laureate Phil Sharp. Kranz teaches biological sciences courses and works with graduate student research projects. His research focus includes immunotherapy of cancer and molecular basis of immune recognition and autoimmune diseases. Kranz’s work has garnered many grants, led to several patents and resulted in 120 peer-reviewed publications. His myriad accolades include the Searle Scholar Award, the James S. McDonnell Foundation Research Award and the Life Science Innovator Award.
Steingraber is an environmental writer at Ithaca College in New York. Combining her master’s degree in English from Illinois State with a doctoral degree in biology, Steingraber is a scientist and author who advocates for environmental human rights. Her ability to combine data analysis with lyrical storytelling is showcased in several books, including the award-winning “Living Downstream,” which will soon be released as a documentary film. Steingraber serves as Scholar in Residence in the Division of Interdisciplinary and International Studies at Ithaca College. An enthusiastic public speaker, Steingraber has presented before the United Nations, the European Parliament, U.S. Congress and the President’s Cancer Panel.
Distinguished Alumni Award
The Distinguished Alumni Award recipient is J. Michael Adams ’69. Adams is president of Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. He studied industrial technology and mathematics while attending Illinois State. Adams served in the United States Army before beginning a long career in higher education that included serving as a professor at State University of New York. He served Drexel University as dean of the College of Design Arts, which flourished under his direction. Now president of Fairleigh Dickinson University, which is New Jersey’s largest private university, Adams encourages his students to explore their options through a global education curriculum. He has authored several articles and books, including “The Next Generation.” He is also the founder of TIES magazine. Adams is president-elect of the International Association of University Presidents, including nearly 700 presidents, rectors and vice chancellors from around the world. Throughout his career, Adams has been awarded several national and international honors for his work in higher education. Illinois State has also honored Adams with the Alumni Achievement Award and Department of Technology Distinguished Alumni Award.
Senator John W. Maitland Jr., Commitment to Education Award
The Maitland Award recipient is Donald M. Prince, professor emeritus from Illinois State. Prince attended Illinois State through the Navy’s V-12 program during World War II. He completed a doctorate at the University of Illinois and returned to Illinois State as professor and first chair of the Department of Educational Administration, leading in the creation of the University’s first doctoral program. Prince is a past president of the University’s Alumni Association and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Illinois State in 1981. A former chair of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, Prince also worked with the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to develop College Illinois, the state’s pre-paid tuition program. He served as vice president of Rand McNally and Company and as president/owner of E. A. Hinrichs & Co. in Chicago.
