UNIVERSITY RECOGNIZES FIVE YOUNG ALUMNI

Five Southeast Missouri State University graduates have been selected as recipients of the university's 1993 Young Alumni Merit Award. They will be honored at a graduation dinner next Sunday in the Show Me Center.

The honorees include Karl W. Mueller of Ballwin, Ray L. Butler of University City, Perry J. Rhew of Holcomb, Curtis L. Waggoner of Rock Island, Ill., and Nita Na-Songkhla of Bangkok, Thailand.

Presented by the Alumni Association, the award is presented annually to alumni under the age of 36 who have brought distinction to the university through professional growth, service and individual character.

According to Tim Underwood, chairman of the 1993 selection committee, this year's recipients are outstanding alumni who have excelled in their chosen fields in a relatively short time.

"Each has exceptional professional credentials and has contributed to the excellent image of Southeast Missouri State University," he said.

Mueller, senior manager at the accounting firm of KPMG Peat Marwick in St. Louis, was selected as the College of Business Administration's award recipient.

Mueller began his career with KPMG Peat Marwick in 1981 after graduating cum laude from Southeast. In his current position, he is responsible for supervising audits to ensure the work meets firm and professional standards.

He has been actively involved in community service throughout his career. He has served in numerous capacities for the United Way of Greater St. Louis, including as loaned executive in the 1987 campaign.

He also has been a member of the board and treasurer for the Missouri Orthopedically Disabled Association Inc., and president of the Stella Maris Child Center, a non-profit, day-care center.

Mueller and his wife Jeanne, a 1982 graduate of Southeast, are the parents of three sons.

This year, the College of Education will present its Young Alumni Merit Award to Butler, principal of Crossroads High School in St. Louis.

As a student at Southeast from 1978 to 1982, Butler formed and coached the first Women's Intercollegiate Soccer Club. He also was instrumental in establishing the Cape Area Soccer League (CASL) in 1978.

Butler spearheaded a drive to initiate soccer as a university varsity sport in 1981 and worked as assistant coach of the men's and coach of the women's soccer teams.

Butler said he considers his decision to coach soccer "the best decision I have ever made. Graduating from college with experience in college-level coaching helped me land my first job as a teacher/coach at Crossroads High School in St. Louis in January 1982."

After one year as a teacher/coach at Crossroads, Butler was promoted to athletic director.

In 1987, Butler received a master's degree in educational processes and was promoted to principal at Crossroads. He currently serves as the youngest high school principal in the metropolitan St. Louis area.

He also coaches varsity soccer and basketball in addition to his responsibilities as high school principal. During the summer, he and his wife live in Eugene, Ore., where he is pursuing a doctoral degree in educational administration at the University of Oregon.

This year's award recipient from the College of Liberal Arts is 35th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Rhew of Dunklin County.

Rhew is a 1980 graduate of the university with a bachelor of science degree in psychology. He received his law degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1983.

He began his legal career as an attorney with the Missouri Public Defender Commission and later was named an assistant prosecuting attorney for Dunklin County. In 1986, he was elected county prosecuting attorney.

In addition, he served as an adjunct professor at the university from 1985 to 1987, teaching adult education classes in business law.

In 1990, Rhew was appointed to his present position by former governor John Ashcroft and was later elected to serve a four-year term.

A member of the United Methodist Church, Rhew is a gospel soloist, a lay speaker, editor of a Methodist newsletter, and a 1992 recipient of the Denman District Evangelism Award for outstanding work in the ministry of evangelism.

The College of Science and Technology will present its award to Waggoner, a senior environmental scientist at Beling Consultants Inc., in Moline, Ill.

There, Waggoner conducts environmental and ground water evaluations for several sites in Iowa, Illinois and Ohio. In addition, he develops proposals for professional environmental services to private industry and government agencies.

Waggoner received a bachelor of science degree in botany and earth science from Southeast in 1986 and a master's degree in natural science from the university in 1989.

He began his career in California as a field analyst and site assessor and eventually became owner of his own firm, Environmental Investigations in San Jose, Calif.

Waggoner is the author of several technical publications and has written or co-written more than 55 environmental assessments and feasibility studies.

Waggoner and his wife Kathleen Clark-Siebe, a 1989 Southeast graduate, are the parents of seven children.

Receiving this year's award from the College of Health and Human Services will be Na-Songkhla, assistant manager at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand.

A 1987 graduate of the university, Na-Songkhla was the first international student and the first male student to receive a Southeast scholarship in home economics, which later was renamed human environmental studies.

While at Southeast, Na-Songkhla was an active student photographer and had his work published in The Capaha Arrow, The Southeast Missourian and the student yearbook.

Na-Songkhla returned to Thailand after graduation, where he was appointed assistant manager and later manager of The Hamilton Steak House, an internationally known restaurant within The Dusit Thani Hotel in Bangkok.

He subsequently was promoted to senior sales manager of the hotel, with responsibilities in sales and conventions. He is noted as an expert in cultural diversity. The Dusit Thani Group is comprised of eight luxury hotels and resorts located throughout the world, including one in Dallas.

Na-Songkhla, who conducted graduate work at Cornell University in New York, attributes much of his success to his American education.