Southeast salutes alumni, faculty

We're days away from Southeast Missouri State University Homecoming weekend.

The annual celebration is the university's big opportunity to welcome graduates back to Cape Girardeau for a weekend of fun activities and good fellowship.

It's also about recognizing some of those who have found success beyond their years on campus. This year's alumni merit award recipients include:

* Karla Bakersmith, president and chief executive officer of Scrubs & Beyond LLC;

* Cynthia Fleck, president of Cynthia Fleck & Associates LLC;

* Eric Levin, chief financial officer of The Boeing Company's Phantom Works division;

* Sam Park, west coast editor and part owner of the transmedia company Monsterverse Entertainment and his company Scratch Lightning Productions;

* James W. Riley Jr., founder of Red Letter Communications;

* Dr. Cynthia Stone, chief academic officer for Northeast Maritime Institute;

* Dr. Chris Wright, corporate strategic research downstream portfolio manager at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering (EMRE) Company.

* Faculty Merit Award recipient is economics professor Dr. Willie Redmond.

These eight individuals will be recognized Friday night at the university's alumni association Copper Dome dinner.

Congratulations to this year's award recipients.