The following University High School alumni and friends were honored at the school’s homecoming celebrations on September 21, 2012 in Stroud Auditorium.
Distinguished Alumni Award
John Hobart Friedhoff ’76 is the 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient for his contributions to his profession and civic service. For more than 20 years Friedhoff has served various multinational charitable organizations. He also worked for Amnesty International, appealing to governments for the release of political prisoners. After graduating from college, he moved to Brazil to open an import-export company. His passion to contribute to U.S.-Latin American relations drove him to return to the U.S. and study law at the University of Miami. He started a practice in Miami where he represents foreign individuals and corporations investing in the U.S. as well as corporations investing in Latin America.
While at U-High, he was Student Senate president, a member of the International Thespian Society, a four-year letterman in tennis, Boys’ State participant, winner of the U.S. Senate Youth Fellowship, and National Honor Society member. Friedhoff lives in Miami, Fla., with his wife, Carolina, and their two children.
Pioneer Hall of Fame
Clyde Coombs ’63 will be inducted into the Pioneer Hall of Fame for his achievements and contributions to his profession, the community and nation, and to his alma mater. Coombs had a 32-year career at Caterpillar, Inc., retiring as the inspector in security police for the worldwide headquarters.He also served in the Vietnam War and was selected to guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the gravesite of President John F. Kennedy, and to assist in the burial of astronauts at Arlington National Cemetery.
Coombs grew up at the Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s School in Normal. At U-High, he lettered in track, football, and swimming and was a leader in his class. He attended Northland College in Ashland, Wis., where he planned to study art before he was drafted into the military. In 2011, he established the Clyde B. Coombs Endowment Fund, which provides financial grants to U-High students to participate in extracurricular and athletic activities, as well as to provide scholarships for students attending college in Central Illinois.
Jeffrey Prochnow ’72 will be inducted into the Pioneer Hall of Fame for his achievements and contributions to the community and as an entrepreneur. Prochnow is recognized in the community and state for his civic service. In 2010, he served a one-year term as a potentate/chief executive officer of the Mohammed Shrine. He’s also been involved with more than 20 local and regional civic organizations.
Prochnow began working at the age of 14 and worked full-time while attending high school. At the age of 19, he purchased a Mister Donut franchise and was the youngest owner. His franchise was ranked in the top 20 out of 485. In 2000, he left the bakery industry and entered real estate as an agent.
Dr. Stephen N. Doran ’75 is a 2012 inductee to the Pioneer Hall of Fame for his achievements and contributions to his profession and to the community. Since starting his practice in 1990, Dr. Doran has served the Bloomington-Normal community as an oral surgeon. In 2011, he received the Illinois State Dental Society’s President’s Award for his contributions. For the past decade, he has coordinated and organized a free extraction clinic. Twice a year, he helps assemble a team of local dentists to perform extractions for about 150 patients.
Dr. Doran has served on the board of directors of the John M. Scott Health Resources Center. In 2010, he served as the lead surgeon in the oral surgery department of the Illinois State Dental Society’s inaugural Illinois Mission of Mercy. He graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University and the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine. He has remained involved with U-High as a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee. Doran and his wife, Joy, have three daughters.
Alumni Service
Dave Mizer ’72 is being honored for his dedication and commitment to his alma mater and the U-High athletics programs. For nearly three decades, Mizer has volunteered with the U-High basketball program. Since 1992, he has served as the public address announcer, scorekeeper, and statistician for the varsity boys basketball program. He held the same role for the varsity girls basketball program from 2001 to 2004.
Mizer graduated from Illinois State University majoring in art. He owns Creative Insurance Concepts and Consulting Service, LLC, in Bloomington. He and his wife, Debra, have two daughters.
Friend of U-High
Michael Sondgeroth will receive the 2012 Friend of U-High Award. Sondgeroth is a math teacher and assistant athletic director at U-High. He joined the faculty in 1985 and has taught math for nearly three decades.
He has coached a multitude of sports, from freshmen football to varsity softball and has been the “Voice of the Pioneers,” serving as the public address announcer for hundreds of athletic contests and school activities. Sondgeroth received his math degree from Illinois State University in 1985. He and his wife, Debra, have three children.
Outstanding Young Alumni
Patrick C. McGuire ’85 is the recipient of the 2012 Outstanding Young Alumni Award for his achievements as a research scientist in the areas of climate science, planetary science and astrobiology, astro-physics, and robotics and computer vision.
McGuire serves as a research associate in the Department of Chemical Engineering at West Virginia University. He’s also a member of the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars team based at Johns Hopkins University. In 2011, he received the NASA Group Achievement Award for an imaging camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. He has lectured on sustainability, global warming, astronomy, and planetary science.
McGuire attended the University of Chicago as a National Merit Scholar, majoring in physics and mathematics, and completed his doctorate at the University of Arizona. He and his wife reside in Morgantown, W.Va.
