College Awards
Haworth College of Business Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award
Kevin J. McQuillan, B.B.A.’78
Co-founder, Focus Ventures General Partner,
Focus Opportunity Fund
“The venture business includes some of the sharpest minds around, but I have yet to find anybody who can match Kevin’s incredible sense of intuition around reading people and what makes a company successful.”
- George Bischof, Managing Director, Meritech Capital Partners
Haworth College of Business Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award
Bernard R. Meldrum, B.B.A.’64
First Vice President, Investments, Senior Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch
“Bernie has three traits that really stand out to me: charisma, empathy and being goal-oriented. You can’t be goal-oriented without having empathy, and you can’t be truly charismatic without empathy.”
- Alfred Kuskowski, Director (former), Merrill Lynch
Haworth College of Business Outstanding Service Award
Richard G. Haworth, B.B.A.’64
Chairman Emeritus, Haworth Inc.
“Dick is a leader among leaders and a gracious servant to the greater Holland and West Michigan community.”
- Greg Holcombe, Community Planner for the Riverview Group
Haworth College of Business Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Brookton N. Behm, B.B.A.’98
Principal, Crowe Horwath LLP
“Brook is a strong leader who embodies the qualities of hard work, strategic leadership and integrity and that extends to the teams that he manages.”
- Greg Hahn, Principal, Crowe Horwath LLP
Haworth College of Business Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Aimee J. Jachym, B.B.A., B.A.’04
Attorney, Miller Canfield
President, Korean Kids and Orphanage Outreach Mission
“Driven by a selfless compassion for humanity and relentless pursuit of truth and justice, Aimee is a remarkable professional, leader and philanthropist.”
- Dr. Jennifer Palthe, Professor of Management, Western Michigan University
Department and program awards
Department of Accountancy Outstanding Alumni Award
Douglas P. Roosa, B.B.A.’82
Director of Internal Controls and Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance, General Motors
“Doug’s career exemplifies leadership and embodies service to the accounting profession. We are proud Doug is a graduate of the accounting program here at WMU.”
- Dr. Donald Gribbin, Chair, Department of Accountancy, Western Michigan University
Department of Business Information Systems Outstanding Alumni Award
Joel P. Sundman, B.B.A.’95
Client Architect Manager, z Systems, U.S. Midwest Region, IBM
“A dedicated, inquisitive, jovial, adventurous leader—that is Joel Sundman. Joel inspires others as he takes leaps of faith to manage new teams, new people, new technologies, and finds new lessons to be learned.”
- Mark Borowski, Cloud Technical Sales Leader, IBM North America
Department of Finance and Commercial Law Outstanding Alumni Award
Lisa Lopiccolo Gallagher, B.A.’02, MBA’06
Human Resources Representative, State Farm Insurance Company
“Lisa is an extraordinary leader and contributor with a work ethic second to none. Lisa is highly respected in her field of Human Resources, and her passion for teaching and continuous learning has benefited both State Farm and WMU.”
- Carla Orwin, Human Resources Services Team, Manager, State Farm Insurance Company
Department of Management Outstanding Alumni Award
William J. Crane, Jr., B.B.A.’06
Founder and CEO, IndustryStar
“I have had the distinct pleasure to work with Bill in multiple facets of business. Bill has displayed the highest level of professionalism and has proven to be an industry expert in multiple areas.”
– Eric Meldrum, Supply Chain Manager, IndustryStar
Marketing Hall of Fame Award
Donald M. Collins, B.B.A.’79
Chief Administrative Officer, Acrisure
President, Acrisure Business Outsourcing Services
“Don Collins is a visionary and inspiring leader in the insurance and business industry. We are very proud that Don is one of our graduates and to recognize his achievements.”
– Dr. Mushtaq Luqmani, Chair, Department
Food and Consumer Package Goods Marketing
Outstanding Alumni Award
William B. Nasshan, B.S.’80
Senior Vice President and
Chief Merchandising Officer,
Bi-Lo Holdings
“With more than three decades in the grocery and retail industry, Bill demonstrates a great dedication to service that we see reflected in all of our food marketing alumni. We are proud to call Bill one of our outstanding alumni.”
– Dr. Frank Gambino, Professor of Marketing: Director, Food and Consumer Goods Package Goods Marketing Program, Western Michigan University
Food and Consumer Package Goods Marketing Adrian Trimpe Distinguished Service Award
Dave Jones
Vice President, Industry Initiatives,
Kellogg Company
“Dave Jones has provided outstanding leadership as the two-term chairperson of our Food and Consumer Package Goods Marketing Industry Advisory Board. Under his leadership, our program continues to grow and be recognized as the leading program in the country.”
– Phil Straniero, Executive-in-Residence, WMU Food and Consumer Package Goods Marketing Program
WMU ROTC Wall of Fame Award
Colonel Michael T. Katona, B.S.’94
Senior Service College, Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, National Defense University, Washington D.C.
Selected to command the 193rd Infantry Brigade, Ft. Jackson S.C., June, 2016
“ I consider Colonel Katona the best combat leader I have ever observed. He has no peers in his ability to motivate, inspire and lead soldiers into combat. There is no finer commander in our Army than Colonel Mike Katona.”
– Command Sergeant Major Jimmy Carabello, U.S. Army