5 GET YOUNG ALUMNI MERIT AWARDS

Five Southeast Missouri State University graduates will be honored with the Young Alumni Merit Award.

The honorees are John C. Tlapek of Cape Girardeau, Peggy Dersch of Brentwood, Catherine Florich Villhard and Marietta Hannigan, both of St. Louis, and Dr. Mark A. Stacy of Columbia, the son of alumni services director Jane Stacy and former Southeast president Bill Stacy.

The awards will be presented April 30 at the graduation dinner in the University Center Ballroom.

Southeast's alumni association annually gives the award to alumni under the age of 36 who have brought distinction to the university through professional growth, service and individual character. Each college at Southeast names a recipient.

Tlapek was chosen by the Donald L. Harrison College of Business.

Tlapek, a 1981 graduate, is president and chairman of Auto Tire and Parts.

He also heads up Cape Electrical Supply. The two companies have grown to include two warehouses, a machine shop and 26 stores in Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois and western Kentucky.

Dersch, a speech and debate teacher at Parkway West High School and adjunct faculty member at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, was chosen by the College of Education.

Dersch served as president of the Greater St. Louis Speech Association board and has been recognized as an outstanding teacher.

Villhard, a commercial interior designer and project manager at Wedemeyer Cernik Corrubia Inc. in St. Louis, was chosen by the College of Health and Human Services.

A 1984 graduate, she began her career as a facilities planning officer at Mercantile Bank in St. Louis.

Hannigan, vice president and director of strategic planning and marketing at Sverdrup Corp. in St. Louis, was chosen by the College of Liberal Arts.

A 1980 graduate with a major in commercial art, she began her career as a marketing coordinator in Sverdrup's construction management division.

Stacy, director of the Parkinson's Disease Clinic and Movement Disorders Center at the University of Missouri-Columbia, was chosen by the College of Science and Technology.

Stacy is also assistant professor of neurology at the University of Missouri Medical School. He graduated from Southeast in 1981.