Award recipients

This weekend is the Southeast Missouri State University Homecoming. While the weekend is full of special events that draw university alumni back to Cape Girardeau, one of the highlights is recognizing the Alumni and Faculty Merit Award recipients.

This year's class:

* Bill Black, of Knoxville, Tenn., is a professor and associate head of theater at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. A two-time recipient of the John F. Kennedy Medallion for outstanding service to the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival, Black has been involved in the production of more than 200 plays, musicals and operas. Majoring in art education and speech education, Black received a bachelor of science in education from Southeast.

* Dr. Maureen Clancy-May, of St. Louis, is the superintendent of the Bayless School District. Clancy-May received a bachelor of science in education from Southeast and was affiliated with the Student Government Association, Homecoming Steering Committee and Student Activities Committee while in college. She was recognized with the Southeast Salutes Award in 2003.

* Kevin Govero, of Cape Girardeau, is the president and owner of B.P. Financial Services Inc. Having received a bachelor of science in education at Southeast, Govero has been active in numerous local civic organizations.

* Daniel Mohorc, of Arlington, Texas, is the president and chief executive officer of Galactic Ltd. Mohorc received a bachelor of science in business administration from Southeast in 1977. With 35 years of experience in wholesale marketing and sales management, Mohorc has also been a guest speaker for the Donald L. Harrison College of Business.

* Anne Schroeppel, of Hutchinson, Kan., is the co-owner and co-manager of Jackson Brothers LLC and Jackson Brothers, Joint Venture, and general partner of the Jackson Family LP. Having already received a bachelor of arts in speech pathology from Southeast, Schroeppel returned to the university in 1978 after the tragic death of her husband the year before. In 1980 she received her associate of arts in nursing. Now remarried to a pastor, Schroeppel has been at her husband's side in his ministry in addition to working in the family business and maintaining her R.N. license in Kansas.

* Dr. Mark Stacy, of Durham, N.C., is a professor of medicine/neurology and associate dean of clinical research at Duke University Medical Center. Nationally recognized as an expert on Parkinson's disease, Stacy has published more than 100 manuscripts on Parkinson's disease, dystonia, tremor and other movement disorders and regularly provides expert commentary on Parkinson's disease on WebMD.

* Charles Stamp Jr., of Atlanta and Cashiers, N.C., is the vice president of Public Affairs Worldwide at Deere and Co. A former lawyer who practiced in Sikeston, Mo., Stamp serves on the board of directors for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Missouri Bar. While earning his political science degree from Southeast, Stamp was a member of the golf team and Sigma Chi fraternity.

* Dr. Susan Swartwout, a professor of English and publisher and editor of the Southeast Missouri State University Press, is this year's recipient of the Faculty Merit Award. The award recognizes a Southeast faculty member who demonstrates excellence in teaching.

This year's recipients will be recognized at the Copper Dome Society and Merit Award Recognition Dinner starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Show Me Center.

Before the dinner, a book commemorating alumni merit award recipients from 1958 to 2010, written by Southeast alumna and former development director Jane Cooper Stacy, will be sold. Books will be delivered at a later date and can be signed by Stacy.

Congratulations to all of this year's award recipients. May your success be an inspiration to students both now and in the years to come.