Alma Matters: The Grand Awards 2007

            This year the MSU Alumni Association bestowed 14 grand awards to both individuals and an organization.

            This year, 14 Spartans and a volunteer organization were honored by the MSU Alumni Association for major awards during Homecoming Week at the annual Grand Awards Gala at Kellogg Center.

            In the ceremony on Oct. 11, the MSU Alumni Association gave out five major awards—the Alumni Service Award, the Philanthropist Award, the Honorary Alumni Award, the Distinguished Young Alumni Award, and the Distinguished Alumni Award.  In attendance at Kellogg Center’s Big Ten Room were many MSU VIPs, including members of the Board of Trustees, President Lou Anna K. Simon, Provost Kim Wilcox, and many deans and department chairs.

            “We are proud of the achievements of this year’s award winners,” says Bill Beekman, executive director of the MSU Alumni Association.  “The Awards Committee of the MSU Alumni Association’s National Alumni Board of Directors did an outstanding job in selecting the honorees.”

            Here is a complete list of this year’s award recipients:

The HONORARY ALUMNI AWARD was given to:

• Edythe Broad, longtime community leader and philanthropist based in Los Angeles, CA.  She and her husband Eli have created one of the world’s finest collections of contemporary art, with the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Foundation as a “lending library.”  Their patronage has made possible, among many things, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and many other cultural events.
• Richard Foster, vice president for programs at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) of Battle Creek, MI.  Through WKKF grants, Richard has created great opportunities for MSU to meet its land-grant mission via the Land Policy Institute, the W. K. Kellogg Chair in Agricultural, Food and Community Ethics, the Great Lakes Leadership Academy, the MSU Student Organic Farm, and most recently the “Food and Fitness” initiative. 

            The ALUMNI SERVICE AWARD was given to:

• Thomas Benner, B.A. ’73 (education), associate director-ICB pricing, AT&T Sales Operations, St. Louis, MO.  Tom helped found the MSU Alumni Association’s Greater St. Louis alumni club in 1997 and served as president for three years.  In 2000 he moved to Chicago, where he helped to revitalize the Chicago alumni club. From 2003-2006 he served on the MSUAA’s National Alumni Board, where he was instrumental in developing the Young Alumni Initiative. 
• Myral R. Robbins, D.O. ‘76, FAAFP, FACOFP, FAIHQ, is clinical professor in the Dept. of Family and Community Medicine, MSU College of Human Medicine, and associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine, MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine.  Currently the Osteopathic Family Medicine Residency Program director at MSU’s Kalamazoo Center for Medical Science, Robbins recently served both as president of the Michigan Association of Osteopathic Family Physicians and as president of the MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine Alumni Association. 

            The DISTINGUISHED YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD was given to:

• Navneet Singh Narula, B.A. ’00 (marketing), is an executive in financial services at Accenture, Lawrenceville, GA.  Narula is a business leader and active humanitarian.  He received numerous service awards for his work helping provide relief to Tsunami victims and in opening relief shelters for survivors of the Katrina hurricane.  Narula has also served as director of United Sikhs and recently was named “Asian American Business Leader of the Year.”
• Jeff Schmitz, B.S. ’97 (mechanical engineering), is senior manager strategy, The Hershey Company, Hershey, PA.  Schmitz served as mentor to MSU’s Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Team Leaders for Competition since 1998, as a member of the Mechanical Engineering Board of Visitors, and helped establish the Gary L. Cloud MSU Formula Racing Team Endowment in 2004.  Prior to Hershey, Schmitz spearheaded many innovations as a vehicle engineer at DaimlerChrysler. 

            The PHILANTHROPIST AWARD was given to:

• Grand Action is a non-profit organization in West Michigan comprised of 250 community leaders.  Grand Action has helped MSU raise more than $33 million in cash toward MSU’s West Michigan Medical College-Buildings and Programs.  Hundreds of volunteer hours have been devoted to the success of this project.  At MSU’s request, Grand Action assumed a leadership role in the fundraising of this project. 
• Russell G. Mawby, ’49 (horticulture marketing), Ph.D. ’59 (agricultural economics), is chairman emeritus and honorary trustee of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, MI.   As WKKF’s CEO from 1970-1995, he strongly supported MSU.  A former MSU professor and assistant director of the Cooperative Extension Service, Mawby has served MSU in many capacities—including as MSU trustee from 1992-96, as the Honorary Co-Chair of the Campaign for MSU, and as chairperson of the MSU Alumni Association’s national alumni board.  He is a member of MSU’s Shaw Society. 
• Steve and Millie Smith: Steve attended MSU from 1987-91 and played professional basketball from 1991-2005 and is now Fox Sports’ color analyst for NBA broadcasts.  Steve calls his wife Millie the “world’s greatest mom.”  Steve and Millie are members of MSU’s Kedzie Society.  In 1997 they donated $2.5 million toward the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center, named after Steve’s late mother.  It was the largest single donation ever made by a professional athlete to his alma mater.  Since then they have funded many other projects and scholarships and also spearheaded many MSU fundraising efforts. 

The DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD was given to:

• Ghassem Asrar, M.S. ’78 (soil biophysics), M.E. ’81 (civil engineering), Ph.D. ’81 (environmental soil physics), is deputy administrator, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD, and former deputy associate administrator, NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC.  In his current role, Asrar has supported research initiatives critical to farmers and ranchers across the land.  During his long tenure at NASA, he championed many of the agency’s earth science priorities, especially in groundwater, hydrology and remote sensing. 
• Rebecca Humphries, B.S. ’78 (wildlife biology), is the first woman to serve as director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR).
• A member of Gov. Granholm’s cabinet, Humphries is responsible for a department with 1,600 employees and a $250 million budget.  She worked at the MDNE as a property specialist, as a resource specialist, and as a wildlife biologist, rising to become chief of the Wildlife Division in 1998.  She was promoted to her current position in 2004. 
• The Honorable Wallace Jefferson, B.A. ’85 (James Madison College, urban community policy), is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. In 1991 Jefferson founded an appellate law firm in San Antonio, TX, which soon rose to prominence.  He successfully argued two cases before the Supreme Court, each resulting in 5-4 decisions with major legal ramifications in civil rights litigation. In 1998 he served as president of the San Antonio Bar Association and in 1999 he was president of the William Sessions American Inn of Court. In 2001, he became the first African American appointed to the Texas Supreme Court.  He was elected in 2002 and two years later was named Chief Justice.   
• Surinder Kapur, B.S. ’64 (mechanical engineering), M.S. ’66 (mechanical engineering), and Ph.D. ’71 (mechanical engineering), is the founder, chairman and managing director of the Sona Group, Gurgaon, India, a group of six manufacturing companies—including India’s largest supplier of steering systems.  Overall, Kapur’s companies account for $280 million in annual sales. Kapur served as chairman of India’s chapter of the Young Presidents Organization, and currently is chairman of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India’s Center for Technology and the Total Productive Maintenance Club of India. 
• Andrea Van de Kamp, B.A. ’66 (history), is a consultant in corporate community affairs and nonprofit board fundraising, based in Los Angeles, CA. As chairman of the Board of Governors of the Music Center of Los Angeles County from 1996-2003, Van de Kamp—together with fellow MSU alumnus Eli Broad—spearheaded the fundraising to build the iconic, $224 million Walt Disney Concert Hall complex.  Previously, while with Sotheby’s West Coast, the Independent Colleges of Southern California, and Carter Hawley Hale, Inc., she helped numerous organizations achieve their goals in fundraising and advocacy for the arts and higher education.