|
 During
the 2007 Homecoming festivities Oct. 26-28, 2007, several
alumni honorees will receive special recognition.
CLICK ON NAMES BELOW TO VIEW BIOS
All
alumni, families and friends are invited to join Truman in
honoring these individuals at the Alumni & Friends
Celebration/Hall of Fame Banquet on Friday, Oct. 26, 2007 at
6:30 p.m. in the Student Union Building on the Truman campus.
Truman's
2007 Athletics Hall of Fame inductees will also be
honored at the banquet. Tickets
are $15 for adults and $8 for children age 12 and under.
Pre-registration is requested, and you
can purchase tickets for the Alumni & Friends
Celebration/Hall of Fame Banquet via the online
Alumni Store (go to
http://store.truman.edu/alumni/ and click on the
category for Homecoming Tickets & Events). For
more information on purchasing tickets for Homecoming
events, visit
Registration and Tickets.
The
honorees will also be recognized at halftime of the Bulldogs
Homecoming game against Emporia State on Saturday, Oct. 27,
2007.
Meet the honorees...
Dean ('41)
& Amy (Ayres) ('43) Rosebery
Dean
Rosebery ('41) and Amy (Ayres) ('43) Rosebery are serving as Grand Marshals for
Truman State University’s Homecoming 2007 parade.
Dean received his B.S.E. in biology from Northeast Missouri State Teachers
College (now Truman State University) in 1941 and then attended graduate school
at Virginia Tech for one year. From 1942 to 1945 during World War II, Dean was a
Naval lieutenant on a Destroyer Escort and spent most of the time in the North
Atlantic. After returning to Virginia Tech, he received his Ph.D. in aquatic
zoology. From 1950 to 1953 he was the assistant chief of the Division of Fish for
the Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries. His position with Truman
State University began in 1953, and in 1985, he retired as professor emeritus of
biology and head emeritus of the Division of Science. Aside from teaching
the general education course “Man and the Scientific World” and serving as head
of the Division of Science, he taught additional courses in biology. During many
summers, he was the director of Institutes for the Teachers of Science with
funding of about $900,000 from the National Science Foundation. He is a fellow
of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and served as
president of the National Association of Academies of Science.
Amy
graduated from Truman as valedictorian of her class in 1943 with a B.A. and
B.S.E. in English, and she received her M.A. degree from Columbia University in
New York in 1949. She taught speech at the Kirksville Junior High School in
1945, and from 1946-48, she taught English at the Blacksburg Virginia High
School. During her undergraduate days at Truman, she was active in Alpha Sigma
Alpha, Cardinal Key, Alpha Phi Sigma, Pi Kappa Delta and a member of the Debate
Team.
Dean
and Amy are both active in University events, such as alumni activities, Lyceum
programs, and the John R. Kirk Society. Dean also served as committee chairman
to raise funds for the Kohlenberg Lyceum Program and Magruder Hall, the
University’s science facility.
Their immediate family consists of son J. Frank Rosebery (’74) and his wife
Wanda (Evans) (’74), and their children, Kristin (’02) and James Jr. (’05) with
wife, Virginia; and their daughter Margaret McKinney (’76) and husband Robert
(’75) and two children, Trey and Veronica. Dean and Amy celebrated their 64th
wedding anniversary this year.
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Randa Rawlins ('79)
Randa Rawlins, a 1979 Truman graduate, is General Counsel and Corporate
Secretary at Shelter Insurance Companies in Columbia, Mo.
While attending Truman, she was a Pershing Scholar and was involved in Student
Senate. She was a member of Alpha Sigma Alpha and served as an intern in the
Washington, D.C., office of Congressman Tom Coleman and in the Jefferson City
office of State Representative Harry Hill.
Rawlins received her juris doctorate from the University of Missouri-Columbia School
of Law, and in 2003, the Law School presented her with the Citation of Merit, its
most prestigious alumni award.
In December of 1997,
Rawlins was appointed to
Truman's Board of Governors, reappointed in March 2002 and
currently serves as Chair of the Board. She is also a member of the Truman State
University Foundation Board, the Capital Campaign Steering Committee, the John R. Kirk Society, and the President's Circle.
In addition, she serves
as Chair of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges
Council of Board Chairs.
Rawlins is a member of the Missouri Bar Association, Federation of Defense and
Corporate Counsel, the International Association of Defense Counsel, The
American Board of Trial Advocates, Association of Corporate Counsel and the
Women Lawyers Association of Mid-Missouri. She was recently appointed to serve
as a member of the Missouri Supreme Court Civil Rules Committee and is a member
of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. She is also active in
Missouri United Methodist Church in Columbia and recently returned from her
third mission in Africa.
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Jaime Geer
(’00)
 Jaime
Geer received a B.A. in business administration with
concentrations in economics and communication from
Truman in 2000. While at Truman, she was involved
with the Women’s Golf Team and was a four-year
letter winner and a student assistant coach during
her senior year. She qualified for three Division II
National Championships. When not on the golf
course, Geer was served on the Student Athletic
Committee [Captains’ Roundtable] as its president
and vice president as well as the business
fraternity, Delta Sigma Pi, where she was president
her senior year.
Upon graduating from
Truman, Geer went to work for Famous Barr Department
Stores (now Macy’s) in the Assistant Buyer
Management Training Program. For three years, Geer
was the assistant buyer for Women’s Accessories and
subsequently Junior Shoes. Then, in 2003, she became
manager of College Recruiting and enjoyed returning
to the college scene, especially Truman where she
was able to recruit her fellow Truman graduates.
In 2005, Geer left St.
Louis for an adventure in Denver, Colo. Moving west
without a job, her goal was to be employed “by the
end of the year.” Not one month later, she began
her career with RE/MAX International, serving as a
Franchise Development Consultant for the RE/MAX St.
Louis Region – a position that would find her back
in Missouri two weeks every month. Now, more than
two years later, Geer works for the RE/MAX
California & Hawaii Region.
When not booking
frequent flyer miles, Geer still enjoys many of the
things she did in college including golf,
volunteering for Junior Achievement, and serving the
University on the Business School’s Advisory
Board. Also important to Geer are volunteering for
the adoptive services of Bethany Christian Services
and leading the Toastmasters public speaking group
within her company.
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2007 Distinguished Service
Award
Major General John V. Cox
Major
General John V. Cox retired from the Marine Corps on July 1, 1985.
General Cox was born
on March 26, 1930, in Bevier, Mo. He attended Northeast Missouri
State Teachers College (now Truman State University) earning a B.S.
degree in business administration. He also holds a master's degree
in international affairs from George Washington University.
He entered the
Marine Corps via the Officer Candidate Program at Quantico, Va., and
was commissioned a Marine second lieutenant in September 1952. After
completing The Basic School, he reported for flight training and was
designated a Naval Aviator in July 1954.
Successive
assignments were with all three active Marine Aircraft Wings and
with the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing; service on the USS Lake
Champlain; duty as an air and naval gunfire platoon commander; duty
with Marine Fighter Squadron (VMF)-451, VMF-333, and VMA-324. He
completed Communications Officers School, served as Communications
Officer at MAG-15, El Toro, and later was Operations Officer of
VMFA-513 at El Toro, Atsugi and DaNang (1962-1965).
He graduated from the Armed Forces Staff College in 1967, and after
serving as an instructor at the Naval War College, he returned to
Vietnam for a second tour of duty, serving as Commanding Officer of VMFA-115 and as
Executive Officer of MAG-13 at ChuLai.
Tours of duty in the
1970s include Executive Officer of MCAS, Kaneohe Bay, and duty on
the staff of the Commander in Chief, Pacific. After graduation from
the National War College in 1974, General Cox reported for duty at
Headquarters Marine Corps. He was promoted to brigadier general on
Nov. 4, 1977. Duty as Assistant Wing Commander, 1st Marine Aircraft
Wing, Commanding General, 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade, Assistant
Chief of Staff at Headquarters Marine Corps, Deputy Chief of Staff
for Research, Development and Studies at Headquarters Marine Corps,
and Commanding General, MCAS El Toro/COMCABWEST, followed.
He was promoted to
major general on April 9, 1981, with a date of rank of Aug. 1, 1978.
He assumed command of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Corps Air
Station, El Toro, Calif., in May 1981. In June 1982, he was assigned
duty as the Director of Operations, J-3, for the Commander in Chief,
Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii. He served in this capacity until July 1,
1985, when he retired from the Marine Corps.
His personal
decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal; Legion
of Merit with Combat "V"; Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V"; Air
Medal with Numeral 19; the Joint Service Commendation Medal; and the
Navy Commendation Medal with Combat "V" and gold star in lieu of a
second award.
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2007 Distinguished Service
Award
Tom Ballard ('69)
Tom
Ballard grew up in Ankeny, Iowa, and attended Truman State from 1965
to 1969, graduating with a B.S. in the spring of 1969. While at
Truman, he was a member of Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity.
Following graduation, Tom spent most of the next three years as an
officer in the U.S. Marine Corps and served as an infantry officer
with the 1st Marine Division in Vietnam. He and his wife Susan met
in Washington, D.C., while Tom was still in the Marines, and
they were married in 1972.
After the Marines, Tom decided on a
career in the computer industry that included working for Honeywell,
Loral/Rolm and Cordant Systems. He retired from Cordant Systems in
1997 as vice president, Command/Control/Intelligence Programs
where he managed all contracts and engineering activities related to
the contracts with the various U.S. Intelligence Agencies and other
Department of Defense contracts. Susan also retired in 1997 after a
27-year career with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
Tom
also served as a corporate officer with Cordant, a privately held
company that provided complex computer systems to the Federal
Government and was bought by a major U.S. defense contractor in
1996. In addition, Tom also served on the Intelligence Committee of
the Armed Forces Communication and Electronics Association (AFCEA) from
1993 to 1997. While in the Washington, D.C., area, Tom and
Susan resided in Falls Church, Va., and later in Great Falls, Va.
In 2001,
Tom and Susan decided they needed a slower pace of life and moved to
Iowa, and they currently reside about 15 miles northwest of Des
Moines. Tom keeps busy managing farm land that he and Susan own
in northwest Iowa, serving as a general partner in an Iowa-based
Ethanol plant and as a managing partner in a flight-training company
where he is a commercial pilot and flight instructor. He also
enjoys playing golf and is involved with several charitable
organizations. Since 2005, he has served on the Truman State
University Foundation Board or Directors. Tom says he is "addicted" to sailboat
racing and races a sailboat based in Annapolis, Md., that he has an
ownership interest in, and he travels to Annapolis regularly in the
summer for races. While living in Virginia, Tom raced competitively
on the East Coast and is a two-time winner of Key West Race Week
held in January at Key West, Fla.
"I
consider myself very fortunate to have attended Truman State,” says
Tom. “The friendships that I developed while in Kirksville remain
even stronger today and are very important to me. The education and
experiences gained here have provided me with many opportunities over the
years. Kirksville is a great place to get a great education."
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