Rusts will receive Southeast's Friend of the University award

Cape Girardeau newspaper owner Gary Rust and his wife, Wendy, will receive the 2004 Friend of the University award from the Southeast Missouri University Foundation at an annual dinner Friday.

The award recognizes those who support and are closely associated with the mission, plans and programs of Southeast Missouri State University, school officials said.

Dr. Ken Dobbins, university president, announced the award recipients on Wednesday. Dobbins will make the formal presentation at the dinner at the Student Recreation Center.

"Gary and Wendy have made many contributions to the university over the years," Dobbins said, "including generous gifts to help build Dempster Hall for the Harrison College of Business and the River Campus."

In 2004, the Rusts finalized a six-figure gift to the foundation to help build and furnish a 200-plus-seat theater at the River Campus arts school.

Gary Rust served as member of the university foundation board of directors for 13 years and became a director emeritus in 2000, Dobbins said.

Gary Rust served the university as a member of the presidential search committee in 1995-1996. "He is also a great supporter and booster of the athletic program," Dobbins said.

"Wendy is a long-time supporter of arts and theater education at the university, and served as president of the University School Parent-Teacher Association when her children attended the laboratory school on campus," Dobbins said.

Wendy Rust also has supervised the landscaping and maintenance of the Johnson Faculty Centre at Southeast. She was named the Missouri Mother of the Year in 1989 by the Missouri Mothers Association. In 1983, she received the Otto F. Dingeldein Award from the Council on the Arts.

Gary Rust is founder and chairman of Rust Communications, a media company headquartered in Cape Girardeau. The company owns 18 daily newspapers, including the Southeast Missourian, and more than 30 weekly newspapers, 20 Web sites and several niche magazines in seven states. It also has part ownership in Mississippi River Radio.

Gary Rust's newspaper and community achievements have been recognized with the highest awards from the Inland Press Association, the Suburban Newspapers of America and the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce. He has been inducted into the Missouri Press Hall of Fame.