WMU News

'W' Club names its woman and man of the year

Feb. 7, 2002

KALAMAZOO -- Gayl Werme, a long-time supporter of Bronco athletics, and Jack Moss, a sportswriter for the Kalamazoo Gazette since 1948, have been named the 2002 recipients of the Western Michigan University Alumni "W" Club Woman and Man of the Year Awards.

Werme and Moss will be honored at halftime ceremonies of the Bronco men's basketball game versus Northern Illinois on March 2 in University Arena. The game begins at 2 p.m.

Werme has spent the past seven years as a special projects assistant in the WMU Development Office. Actively involved in Bronco Athletics, Werme has served on the Spikers Club board and helped raise funds for the Beauregard Golf Classic, which supports internship opportunities in the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. Werme is a past member of the WMU Board of Trustees, serving from 1982 to 1985. She also sits on numerous boards within the community, including the board of Bronson Methodist Hospital.

Werme and her husband, Don, have three grown children, Christopher, Jonathon and Katharine. Katharine Werme Hermsen was a four-year letter-winner on the Bronco volleyball team (1986-89) and was the 1996 "W" Club Woman of the Year.

Moss has worked at the Kalamazoo Gazette since 1948 and was named sports editor in 1967. He first covered Bronco football and basketball in 1937 and lists among his career highlights, covering the NCAA Championship cross country teams of 1964 and 1965. A Kalamazoo native who attended WMU for three years, Moss received an honorary doctorate for public service from WMU in 1990. He will retire from the Kalamazoo Gazette in March, concluding a distinguished career that spans seven decades.

Moss and his wife of 50 years, Janet, have three grown children; John, Tom and Barbara.

The WMU "W" Club has presented a Woman of the Year Award since 1990 and a Man of the Year Award since 1967. A complete list of former award winners follows.

Media contact: Daniel Jankowski, 269 387-4138, daniel.jankowski@wmich.edu

"W" Club Woman of the Year Award recipients

1990 Kim Worden
1991 Kim Poteau
1992 Chris Juszczyk
1993 Carol Ann Homad Davis
1994 Kayla Skelly
1995 Margaret Lillie-Smith
1996 Katharine Werme Hermsen
1997 Teresa Jackson Knoechel
1998 Elizabeth Kuhle
1999 Lois Ellis
2000 Fran Ebert
2001 Jean Friedel
2002 Gayl Werme

"W" Club Man of the Year Award recipients

1967 Jack B. Olson
1968 J. Towner Smith
1969 Alfred Pugno
1970 Robert Quiring
1971 Dr. L. Dale Faunce
1972 Richard Bryck
1973 Robert B. Rowe
1974 Jack Streidl
1975 Allen W. Bush
1976 Thomas F. Briscoe
1977 Harold McKee
1978 Jerome Persell
1979 Thomas C. Slaughter
1980 Leland Gabe
1981 Elford Pedler
1982 Victor D. Vanderberg
1983 Lewis S. Lang
1984 Fred Stevens
1985 William J. Kowalski
1986 Wayne Falan
1987 N. Scotty Wilson
1988 William F. Doolittle
1989 Larry Russell
1990 Rudel Miller
1991 Fred Decker
1992 John Miller
1993 Mike Deitz
1994 Bernard Saunders
1995 Charles "Bud" Brotebeck
1996 Bob Ezelle
1997 Kurt Bartarian
1998 Willard Brown
1999 Vern Davis
2000 Don Boven
2001 Orville F. Schneider
2002 Jack Moss


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