SEMO NAMES YOUNG ALUMNI WINNERS

Six Southeast Missouri State University alumni will receive the school's Young Alumni Merit Awards and will be honored during spring commencement exercises on May 15 at 2 p.m. in the Show Me Center.

Each award is presented by an academic college at Southeast to honor a distinguished young alumna or alumnus.

The recipients are Cape Girardeau County juvenile officer Patricia Colon, educator Mary Dinger of Carbondale, Ill., Columbia electrician Mark Dowd, St. Louis businessman Bryan McGraw, Colorado businessman Jawad Akhtar, and businessman and St. Louis native Jeffrey Lee.

The College of Health and Human Services will honor Colon.

Colon, who is from Cape Girardeau, received a bachelor of science degree in human services/social work from Southeast in 1987.

She was a member of the university's Otahkian basketball team and is currently pursuing a master's degree in criminal justice from Southeast.

Since receiving her undergraduate degree, Colon has held several jobs: She was a clinical worker at Cottonwood Residential Treatment Center from 1987 to 1990. In 1994, she was hired as a deputy juvenile officer with the Cape Girardeau County Juvenile Office. In 1996, she took a position as chief deputy juvenile officer for court services and is currently the chief deputy juvenile officer for operations of the Cape County Juvenile Office.

Dinger will be honored by the College of Education.

She is an assistant professor of health education at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

A native of Ironton, she received a bachelor of science degree in physical education from Southeast in 1985.

She has been a faculty member at several universities, including Southeast where she taught from 1993 to 1994.

The Polytechnic Institute is honoring Dowd.

He is currently employed as an electrical engineer with the Square D Co. in Columbia. His responsibilities include designing, building, programming, debugging and maintaining controls for new equipment, as well as troubleshooting and repairing existing equipment.

A native of Fredericktown, he received a bachelor of science degree in electronic technology from Southeast in 1987.

The College of Science and Technology will honor McGraw.

He is director of quality and process improvement at Deutsche Financial Services in St. Louis.

A native of Imperial, he received a bachelor of science degree in geography from Southeast in 1984. He earned a master of public administration degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1990 and is currently completing course work toward a doctoral degree in public policy at St. Louis University.

The Donald L. Harrison College of Business will honor Akhtar.

He is president and chief executive officer of Transworld Technologies Corp., a Colorado company that specializes in computer consulting.

A native of Karachi, Pakistan, Akhtar received bachelor of science degrees in business administration and computer science in 1986 and 1987, respectively. He earned a master's degree in business administration from Southeast in 1991.

Lee is the recipient of the award from the College of Liberal Arts.

He currently works for Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Co. as the region business director for the central United States.

He earned a bachelor of science in general studies from Southeast in 1988.

Since graduating, he has had a variety of jobs: He served as a sales representative for Vincent Metal Steel Service Center in St. Louis and since 1989, he has worked in a number of positions for Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical including professional sales representative, the Indianapolis district field trainer, the national sales training coordinator and district sales manager.