Golden Apple Award Recipients
2024
2023
2022
Ph.D.'09, Educational Leadership: Higher Education
View her biography
2021
Mark Bielang
B.S.'74, Industrial Education; M.A.'81, Educational Leadership
View his biography
Dr. Sandy Standish
B.S.'79, Business Education; M.A.'85, Counseling; Ed.D.'04, Educational Leadership
View her biography
2019
Dr. Margaret McGlinchey
B.A.'77, Secondary Education: Psychology
Read her biography
Dr. Wayne "Rusty" Stitt
M.A.'99, Educational Leadership; Ph.D.'10, Educational Leadership
Read his biography
2018
Dr. Manuel Brenes
Ph.D.'12, Evaluation, Measurement and Research
Principal, San Juan Diego Academy
Tracy Daniel
B.A.'87, Physical Education; M.A.'94, Physical Education
Physical education instructor and coach, Comstock Public Schools
Dr. John Severson
B.S.'87, Secondary Education; M.A.'94, Educational Leadership; Ph.D.'13, Educational Leadership
Superintendent, Muskegon Intermediate School District
2017
Dr. Dennis McCrumb
B.S.'71, Physical Education and Mathematics
Professor and Program Coordinator of Educational Leadership, WMU College of Education and Human Development
Dr. Richard Sanchez
Ed.D.'72, Educational Leadership
President, Navarro College
2016
Robert Ezelle
B.S.'94, Physical Education
Chief Operating Officer, Boys and Girls Club
Teresa Neal
M.A.'00, Educational Leadership
Superintendent, Grand Rapids Public Schools
Von Washington Jr.
M.A.'94, Educational Leadership
Executive Director of Community Relations, The Kalamazoo Promise
2015
Dale Schreuder
B.A.'72, Elementary Education; M.A.'77, Educational Leadership
Retired Superintendent, Bloomingdale Public Schools
Dr. Rigoberto Rincones-Gómez
M.A.'00, Educational Leadership; Ph.D.'02, Evaluation, Measurement, and Research
Associate Vice President of Institutional Research, Planning, Effectiveness and Analytics (IRPEA), Broward College
2014
Stephanie Burrage
B.A.'90
Executive director of school achievement services at Wayne RESA
Ana Gil-Garcia
Ed.D.'91
Professor of educational leadership and development at Northeastern Illinois University
2013
Garrett Boersma
Ed.D.'79
Retired Assistant Superintendent for Special Education, Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency (KRESA)
Linda Powell
B.S.'70; M.A.'71
Retired Business Management, Marketing and Technology Instructor, Portage Northern High School
Lisa Williams
B.A.'98; M.A.'04
Principal, Ferndale Public Schools
2012
John Mark Rainey
Ed.D.'07
Grant Administrator, Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators
Kali Lightfoot
B.A.'67
Executive Director, University of Southern Maine National Resource Center for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes
Kimberly A. English Davis
B.S.'87
Principal, Detroit Charles H. Wright Academy of Art and Science
2011
Betty Ongley
B.S.'47; M.A.'58; Certificate'84
Retired Teacher, Counselor and Guidance Director, Portage Public Schools
James Menchinger
B.A.'62; M.A.'66
WMU Coordinator of Student Interns
Forensics Co-Coach, Portage Northern High School
Cynthia Green
B.S.'80; M.A.'93
Assistant Superintendent for Student Services, Kalamazoo Public Schools
Liesha Crawford
B.S.'84
Teacher for the Physically Impaired and Otherwise Health Impaired, Alger Middle School, Grand Rapids Public Schools
2010
Liliana Rodriguez-Campos
M.A.'00; Ph.D.'02
Jethro Jaye Johnson
M.A.'75
Dennis Patzer
B.S.'75; M.A.'86
2009
The Late Dr. Geoff Balkam
Ed.D.'79
Superintendent, Climax-Scotts Public Schools
Mary Blakely
M.A.'85
Principal-Superintendent, Youth Advancement Academy
Pamela K. Ide
M.A.'94
Teacher and Mentor Coach, Winchell Elementary School, Kalamazoo Public Schools
Dr. V. Clayton Sherman
Ed.D.'75
Chairman, Management House Incorporated
2008
Willie Gill, Jr.
B.S.'70
Assistant Principal, Kettering High School
Dr. Bruce Kocher
B.S.'59; M.A.'60; Ed.D.'75
Vice President for Academic Services, Kalamazoo Valley Community College
Janet Lee
B.A.'70; M.A.'98
Principal, Climax-Scotts Elementary Schools
2007
Dene William Hadden
B.S.'69; M.A.'74
Principal, South Haven High School
Dr. James Hawkins
B.A.'63
Superintendent, Ypsilanti Public Schools
Rhonda Vander Veen
B.S.'84
Elementary Teacher, Portage Public Schools
2006
Fred Decker
B.S.'64; M.A.'68
Retired faculty in Intercollegiate Athletics, Western Michigan University
Mr. John Dominguez, Jr.
M.A.'70
Retired Director of Migrant and Bilingual Programs, Van Buren Intermediate School District
Mrs. Leta Schoenhals
B.A.'42; M.A.'65; Ed.S.'68
Retired School Counselor, Portage High School
2005
Dr. Josephine Barry-Davis
Ed.D.'72
Assistant Professor, WMU Department of Teaching, Learning and Educational Studies
Dr. Craig Misner
B.S.'69; M.A.'72; Ed.D.'84
Superintendent, Kalamazoo Regional Education Service Agency (KRESA)
Dr. A. L. "Mike" Sebaly
B.A.'33
Professor Emeritus, WMU Department of Education and Professional Development
2004
Terry Kuseske
B.A.'72
Teacher, Hamilton Middle School
Vivian Davis
M.A.'85
Counselor, Albion High School
Bertha McNeal
B.A.'63; M.A.'75
Retired Music Teacher, Milwood Middle School
2003
Van Dickerson
B.A.'78; M.A.'93
Principal, Phoenix High School Alternative Education, Kalamazoo Public Schools
Dr. Sandra Gagie
Ed.D.'78
Owner/Director, Gagie School, Kalamazoo
Vickie Winfield
B.A.'71; M.A.'79
Retired Principal, Winchell Elementary School, Kalamazoo Public Schools
2002
Kathleen Adams
B.S.'72
Teacher, Upton Middle School, St. Joseph Public Schools
Dr. M. Arthur Garmon
B.A.'70; M.A.'75
Associate Professor, WMU College of Education and Human Development
Joy Reinstein
B.S.'64; M.A.'72
Teacher, Sunset Lake Elementary School, Vicksburg Community Schools
2001
Nancy Amar
B.S.'71
Retired Teacher, Portage Public Schools
Christie Enstrom
B.A.'76; M.A.'80
Principal, Woodward Magnet School for Technology and Research, Kalamazoo Public Schools
Dr. Robert Hamet
B.S.'62; M.A.'64; Ed.D.'74
Retired Superintendent, Comstock Public Schools
2000
Dr. Diane E. DeFord
Ph.D.'78
Professor, Ohio State University
Judy Brush Douglass
B.A.'69
Teacher, Louise Peacock Elementary School, Corunna, MI
Charles Glaes
B.A.'76; M.A.'82
Principal, Vicksburg Middle Schools
1999
Dr. James O. Ansel (Posthumous)
B.A.'35
Retired Faculty, WMU College of Education and Human Development
Retired Teacher and Principal, Michigan Public Schools
Judy McGowan
B.A.'66
Retired Teacher, Milwood Middle School
Martha J. Orloff
Physical Education Program Aquatic Coordinator, Texas A&M University
1998
John M. Gazella
B.A.'68
Teacher, Corunna Public Schools
Bettie Goodman
B.S.'63
Professor, Mott Community College
Patricia M. Reeves
B.A.'79
Superintendent, Vicksburg Community Schools