Eight to receive Southeast's Merit Awards

Seven alumni and one faculty member will receive Merit Awards to be presented Friday by the Southeast Missouri State University Alumni Association at the Copper Dome Society/Merit Recognition Program during the homecoming celebration.

The awards will be presented at 6:30 p.m. in the Show Me Center.

Since 1958, Alumni Merit Awards have been presented to Southeast graduates who have brought distinction to themselves and to the university.

This year's alumni recipients are Dr. Gina Bufe, class of 1987, of Chesterfield, Missouri, advanced practice registered nurse at St. Louis Mercy Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic in St. Louis; Nanci Burchell, '80, of Kansas City, Missouri, radiation safety officer for Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City; Thomas Hendrick, '68, of Plano, Texas, a hotel developer who serves as chief investment officer for FelCor Lodging and president of TCH Partners Inc.; Dr. Tarrell Portman, '81 and '88, of Winona, Minnesota, dean of the College of Education at Winona State University; Michael A. Price, '68, of Leawood, Kansas, attorney, mediator and owner of Price Dispute Resolutions Services and former assistant U.S. Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice; Gary Smith, '67, of St. Louis, president of Smith & Associates LLC; and Michael Sullivan, '79, of House Springs, Missouri, assistant professor and chair of the Theatre Department at Fontbonne University in St. Louis.

Receiving the Faculty Merit Award will be Dr. John Kraemer, professor/director of environmental science and chief executive officer for Environmental Health Assessment and Patient Centered Outcomes at Southeast.