UNKAA DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS

e 41st Annual University of Nebraska at Kearney Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Awards recognize alumni for their outstanding professional, civic, cultural or charitable accomplishments. e recipients will be celebrated during UNK homecoming weekend festivities.

Distinguished Alumni Awards

Meghan Barp (1999)

Meghan Barp is from Greenville, South Carolina, and is the president and CEO of the United Way of Greenville County. She has served nonpro ts for nearly 20 years in New York City, Minneapolis and Greenville and has served as a speaker and presenter for a variety of conferences and events. Meghan was named to the Top 40 Under 40: Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal in 2014.

Larry Feather (1966)

Larry Feather resides in Grand Junction, Colorado, and is retired after a long career in the petroleum industry. Following graduation, Larry taught for two years in Denver before going to work for a petroleum company. In 1976, Larry started Feather Petroleum, doing business as Stop ’n Save convenience stores. e business had grown to 19 locations at the time of his retirement in 2004. Larry is an active volunteer for many organizations in the Grand Junction area.

Kirk Hartman (1986)

Kirk Hartman, from Lincoln, Nebraska, is the assistant athletic director for HuskerVision at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Kirk started his career in broadcasting before joining the HuskerVision sta in 1994 as a video board director and graphic designer. Kirk now oversees the creative process for video programing in multiple athletic facilities, as well as produces and directs big-screen productions and events and coaches’ television shows.

Dave Thorell (1971)

Dave orell is a lifelong resident of Loomis, Nebraska, and spent his entire career in broadcasting. Dave started at KUVR in Holdrege before spending the next 42 years at KRVN in Lexington, where he was a program director and on-air announcer. Dave is now retired from broadcasting but continues to do public speaking events for churches and organizations in Nebraska and surrounding states. Dave is a member of the Nebraska Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame.

Jim Rundstrom Distinguished Service Award

Jeff Blackmon (1978)

Je resides in Olathe, Kansas, and started in the information technology industry immediately following graduation. He currently owns Strategic Continuity Solutions LLC. Je has been a longtime volunteer for the UNK Alumni Association, assisting with the leadership of the UNK Southern California Alumni organization and scholarship program, coordinating Kansas City alumni events and serving on the association’s board of directors. He has also served on UNK’s Computer Science and Information Technology Advisory Council.

Distinguished Young Alumna Award Melissa (Huffman) Bucher (2007)

Melissa is an Axtell, Nebraska, native and started her career with Eaton as a technical sales intern in 2007. After graduation, she continued with Eaton in sales and managerial roles and was promoted to national account director in 2021. Melissa is currently serving as the chair of the National Association of Electrical Distributors Women in Industry and received the NAED 30 Under 35 Award in 2015.

College of Business and Technology Distinguished Alumnus Scott Cruickshank (1986)

Scott Cruickshank of Scottsdale, Arizona, has spent more than 25 years in the nancial technology industry. He is currently the board chairman for ClickBank, an e-commerce marketplace platform, and is an advisory board member for Investcorp, a global investment management company. Scott has served in executive leadership roles for several public and private equity owned businesses, including J.P. Morgan Chase, Qsent, CyberSource, and CSID.

College of Education Distinguished Educator of Year Rebecca (Davis) Faber, Ph.D. (1979, MAE 1982)

Rebecca (Becky) Faber, of Lincoln, Nebraska, recently retired after more than 40 years as an educator. She began teaching in 1979, serving as an English and French teacher at Cozad High School and adult education instructor for two community colleges. She spent the remainder of her career as an instructor, academic adviser and assistant director/ senior career adviser in career services, all at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Becky’s dedication to education has been recognized with several honors and awards.

Dr. Don Fox Lecturer April Montoya Vaverka, Ph.D. (2002)

April Montoya Vaverka, from Roswell, Georgia, is a senior materials scientist at Kimberly-Clark Corp., where she is developing next generation materials for N95 respirators, ltration, scienti c apparel and wipes. When she joined Kimberly-Clark in 2011, she was a lead scientist in the nonwovens department, developing materials for personal care and Kimberly-Clark Professional products.

Gary Thomas Distinguished Music Alumnus

Adam Zrust, Ph.D. (2006)

Adam Zrust resides in Maryville, Missouri, and is a professor of choral music education at Northwest Missouri State University. Adam will also conduct the University Chorale and Madraliers and teach specialized music education courses. He previously served on the faculty at the University of Central Missouri and as the director of choirs at Mans eld Legacy High School in Mans eld, Texas.