Macalester Honors Nine Alumni at Annual Alumni Awards

St. Paul, Minn. – Macalester College honored nine alumni last weekend during its annual Alumni Association Awards Convocation. Their ages and stories are varied, but they’re all accomplished in their fields.

Distinguished Citizens
Recognizes alumni who have exercised leadership in civic, social, religious and professional activities.

Pamila Brown '76 watch her receive the award and tell us what the award means»

Brown is a frequent lecturer on topics from gender equity and tort liability to ethics, and she has assumed numerous professional and community roles dedicated to improving the lives of others. Throughout her career, Brown has mentored women and people of color in the legal profession. She worked with Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) to obtain funds for a model breast health program for underserved women. more»

Mihailo Temali '76 watch»

Temali helped develop five business incubator projects including Mercado Central (soon to celebrate its 10th anniversary), Midtown Global Market, the Swedish Bank Building, and soon, Frogtown Station and Entrepreneur Center. Temali said his approach incorporates “the dual responsibility of the individual entrepreneurs to build their businesses and of society to lower extraordinary barriers like language, financing, and access to business knowledge.” more»

Jessie Parker Strauss '59 watch»

For 12 years Strauss has been the consummate volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and its affiliates across the world.  Strauss plans and organizes the trips, working with Habitat affiliates in the destination countries. In March she went to Zambia and in August will make two trips to Guatemala, bringing her to a total of 24 trips. more»

H. Kris Ronnow '59 watch»

As director of community relations in Oak Park, Ill., Ronnow developed and directed enforcement of ordinances pertaining to fair housing, public accommodations, and fair employment.  When he became vice president of public affairs for Harris Trust and Savings Bank, he developed the first Employee Assistance program, positioning Harris as a public affairs leader.  In 1988 he became vice president of McCormick Theological Seminary. more»

Arthur “Bud” Ogle '64 watch»

In 1973 Ogle went to Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. and became director of Christian campus ministry where he involved students in addressing poverty in a nearby neighborhood. In time, he and his wife and Macalester classmate, Donna Sederburg Ogle, moved into the neighborhood and started an emergency shelter. Then they bought and rehabilitated the long-neglected Jonquil Hotel to help meet the need for safe, low-cost housing. Today, the Jonquil is a thriving community of 60 families and individuals. more»

Young Alumni Award

Recognizes an alumnus or alumna who has graduated within the past 15 years and demonstrated outstanding involvement and achievement in their post-graduate education, community contributions, career advancement and their service to Macalester.

Fred Swaniker '99 watch»

Swaniker is the founder and CEO of African Leadership Academy (ALA), a pan-African high school dedicated to developing the next generation of African leaders. Located near Johannesburg, South Africa, the ALA opened in September 2008 with 106 students from 29 countries.  The Academy is a two-year, intensive, merit-based program with a world-renowned international faculty. Its curriculum focuses on leadership, entrepreneurship, and African Studies. In this, its first year of operation, the African Leadership Academy is already harder to get into than Harvard. more»

Catharine Lealtad Award
Honors a Macalester College alumnus or alumna of color who has used their Macalester education to distinguish themselves in service to community. 

Chuck Harris '75 watch»

Harris served in the United States Army, rising to the rank of major and receiving commendations for his service in West Germany and at the Pentagon. In 1988 Harris left a promising career as an Army doctor to become a medical missionary in Hait. Harris has continued to live a life of service. In Iowa Harris volunteered with at-risk youth at Clarinda Academy, where his Bible study class had rival gang members studying side by side. Harris is a one of a decreasing number of surgeons serving a largely rural population in southwest Virginia. more»

Inaugural Charles J. Turck Global Citizen Award
Honors the legacy of Charles J. Turck, president of Macalester College from 1939 to 1958, by recognizing an alumnus or alumna who has provided inspirational leadership, had an impact on the international community, and lived their lives as citizens of the world by promoting global understanding, peace and justice.

Tonderai Chikuhwa '96 watch»

Chikuhwa is presently based in New York as senior program officer in the United Nations Office for Children and Armed Conflict. He advocates with the countries of the Security Council for stronger protection measures for children in such places as Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sri Lanka, and Colombia, and is working to implement a global mechanism to monitor and report on grave child rights violations in these and other conflict zones. He is driven by his personal encounters with children ravaged by warfare. In May he brought his perspective on the world to Macalester’s graduates as the Commencement speaker.  As he says, “Once you have been with the children, it is not possible to turn your back on them.” more»
Listen to his graduation address at Commencement 2009»

Macalester Alumni Service Award
Honors a Macalester College alumnus or alumna whose significant service and consistent loyalty to the college has set an outstanding example of volunteerism.

Louisa Chapman '75 more»

Dr. Chapman is a medical epidemiologist with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and a commissioned member of the United States Public Health Service. As part of various teams, Chapman has addressed nearly every public health challenge of the last 20 years, including a deadly hantavirus, smallpox, anthrax, terrorism, the West Nile virus, and the health of Hurricane Katrina victims. Most recently, she collaborated with colleagues around the world to develop science and policy around xenotransplantation, the use of non-human tissue in human beings, treatment that holds great promise, but runs the risk of introducing new infections to the human recipients. more»