SEMO NAMES WINNERS OF '96 YOUNG ALUMNI MERIT AWARDS

Five Southeast Missouri State University graduates will receive the Young Alumni Merit Award, which will be presented at the graduation dinner in the Show Me Center April 28.

The honorees are Burl Stamp Jr. of St. Louis, Jill Pizzotti of St. Louis, Gina M. Bufe of Brentwood, Kenn Stilson of Denton, Texas, and Dr. Connie Simmons of Jackson.

The school's Alumni Association annually honors alumni under the age of 36 who have brought distinction to Southeast through professional growth, service and individual character.

An award recipient is chosen for each of the university's five colleges.

Burl Stamp Jr., vice president of ambulatory and clinical services development at St. Louis Children's Hospital, has been selected as the Donald L. Harrison College of Business' award recipient.

Stamp is a 1982 Southeast graduate with a double major in marketing and communications.

Stamp began working for Children's Health Services in St. Louis in 1989. He has held several positions, including corporate director (marketing and planning), and vice president (marketing, planning and strategic development). As vice president, he was the chief marketing and strategic planning officer for parent and subsidiary corporations, including St. Louis Children's Hospital.

"Making sure there is still room in a re-engineered, down-sized health-care system for institutions like St. Louis Children's Hospital makes my job both challenging and motivating," he said.

Stamp also has been active in alumni affairs at Southeast. He is on the board of directors of the Southeast Missouri University Foundation and the Harrison College of Business Dean's Advisory Committee.

Jill Pizzotti, women's basketball coach at St. Louis University, was selected as the College of Education's recipient.

"I hold Southeast dear to my heart," she said, "and when you receive an award from a place that means that much to you, it's an honor -- it really is."

Pizzotti majored in mathematics and physical education at Southeast and received her bachelor's degree in secondary education in 1989. She received her master's degree, also from Southeast, in secondary education administration-supervision in 1991.

While completing her graduate studies, Pizzotti worked as a graduate assistant coach for Southeast's women's basketball team. After receiving her master's degree, Pizzotti accepted a position as assistant women's basketball coach and facilities coordinator at Northern Kentucky University. In 1992, Pizzotti was named assistant women's basketball coach at Indiana University.

Pizzotti took the head coaching position at St. Louis University in 1995. A head coaching position has been a long-cherished dream, she said.

"I've always wanted to be a head coach, and now that I am, my immediate goal is to build a really strong team at the University of St. Louis," she said. She said one of her dreams is to be an assistant coach on the U.S. Olympic basketball team.

Pizzotti credits Ed Arnzen, Southeast women's basketball head coach, with putting her on the path to a career in college coaching. "When I first came to Southeast I wanted to coach high school basketball," she said. "After the first year playing for Ed, I wanted to coach college."

Gina M. Bufe, psychiatric clinical nurse specialist at Barnes-Jewish Psychiatric Services, was selected the College of Health and Human Services' award winner.

Bufe graduated from Southeast in 1987 with a bachelor of science in nursing. She continued her education at St. Louis University, receiving a master of science degree in nursing specializing in psychiatric-mental health nursing with the clinical nurse specialist option in 1991. Bufe is a doctoral candidate in nursing with an emphasis in research methodology at St. Louis University. She expects to graduate this May.

As a student at Southeast, Bufe was a member of the NCAA-USGF Division II National Championship Team in Gymnastics.

"I know some people have the perception that either you take an academic route or an athletic route, but you really can have an experience where they both blend together nicely," said Bufe. "I attribute that blend to the faculty at Southeast Missouri State."

Kenn Stilson, head of the acting-directing program and assistant professor at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, was selected the College of Liberal Arts' award winner.

Born and raised in Malden, Stilson received his bachelor of arts degree in theater from Southeast Missouri State University in 1984 and both his master's and doctoral degrees in theater from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Within the past year, he served as artistic director for "Shakespeare in the Park" and directed a critically acclaimed production of "The Tempest." He also performed alongside a distinguished cast in an original production at the Lincoln Center in New York City.

Stilson has presented numerous regional and national workshops and master classes, and recently has published his first book, "Ezra Stone: A Theatrical Biography."

His most recent academic production, "Five Women Wearing the Same Dress," has been invited to participate in the Kennedy Center-American College Theater Festival Region VI Festival at the University of Oklahoma this March.

This summer Stilson will perform in "Much Ado About Nothing" for "Shakespeare in the Park" and direct a production of the comedy, "Lend Me A Tenor," for the Cultural Arts Center of Central Florida.

Dr. Connie Simmons, a pediatric physician with Physician Associates in Cape Girardeau, was selected for the award from the College of Science and Technology.

Simmons, a 1987 Southeast graduate with a major in interdisciplinary studies, graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri School of Medicine in 1991. She received her associate's degree from Mineral Area College in 1984.

She performed her internship and residency at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis in pediatrics, where she received the Ambulatory Pediatrics Award. Part of her residency also was spent at St. Mary's Health Center in St. Louis.

Simmons was a softball standout at Southeast, where she became Southeast's first GTE Academic All-American Athlete and the first recipient to win the honor in two consecutive years. Simmons continues to support Southeast's women's athletic programs by serving as their team physician and consultant for the athletic training staff.

"One of my interests is sports medicine," she said. "I enjoy seeing the students and becoming involved with the teams. I wanted to give something back to the university, and this is my way of doing it," Simmons said.