‘A Special Place in My Heart’

Dr. Alex Garza is UMKC's 2016 Alumnus of the Year. Photo by Janet Rogers, Division of Strategic Marketing and Communications

Alumnus of the Year credits UMKC for career success

Alex Garza started with a laugh, and ended in tears.

Garza, a physician and Associate Dean for Public Health Practice and Professor of Epidemiology at Saint Louis University, was standing on stage at Swinney Recreation Center, accepting the Alumnus of the Year Award from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

“I can’t believe I beat out the brewery guy,” he joked, referring to another award winner on the stage, Jim Caruso, CEO of Flying Dog Brewery, the Alumni Achievement Award winner for the College of Arts and Sciences.

But Garza quickly turned serious. His service as a U.S. Army doctor during Operation Iraqi Freedom, charged with rebuilding the country’s ruined medical school infrastructure, helped lead to his eventual appointment as chief medical officer of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2009 to 2013.

During his acceptance remarks, he choked up briefly while thanking his wife, Melissa, for standing strong and raising their two children as a single parent during his deployment to the war zone.

At that time, it was her turn to be a UMKC student, studying at the UMKC School of Law. But looking back over the course of his own successful career, he recalled his own undergraduate days.

“UMKC holds a special place in my heart,” said Garza, a 1990 graduate of the UMKC School of Biological Sciences. “It’s not just the place where I received a great education, but also the place where I matured as a person, and set me on course for everything that followed.”

Each year, the UMKC Alumni Association Governing Board and the campus recognize outstanding alumni at a luncheon event that also serves to raise funds for student scholarships.

Garza was one of 16 individuals and one family honored at the event, one of the university’s largest. In the last eight years, the Alumni Awards event has garnered more than $900,000 for student scholarships and immediate aid. This year’s luncheon attracted more than 500 attendees and brought in more than $120,000 in student scholarship support.

UMKC Chancellor Leo E. Morton and Raymond Cattaneo, president of the UMKC Alumni Association Governing Board, alluded to the importance of student aid during their opening remarks.

“Imagine having to choose among paying for school, utilities or food,” Morton said, citing the story of one student who could not have remained in school without aid funded by the program.

Urging the guests to donate, Cattaneo added, “Let’s make sure that our students get the opportunities they deserve.”

Following are the 2016 UMKC Alumni Awardees:

Campus-Wide Award Recipients

Alumnus of the Year: Alexander Garza (’90 Biological Sciences)
As Chief Medical Officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2009 to 2013, Alex Garza, M.D. (B.S. ’90) led the nation’s health and security efforts in combatting both natural disasters and terror threats. His office led DHS programs including the BioWatch program and the National Biosurveillance Integration Center. He served as the DHS lead in response to the H1N1 flu pandemic, and the health lead for multiple disasters including the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the Haiti earthquake. Today, he serves as Associate Dean for Public Health Practice and Professor of Epidemiology at the Saint Louis University College of Public Health and Social Justice.

Spotlight Award: Darrel W. Stephens (’74 Arts & Sciences)
Darrel W. Stephens has transformed American policing and has earned a lifetime national reputation for progressive law enforcement. He is Executive Director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association and is a member of the faculty of the Public Safety Leadership Program at the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University. He served as chief of police for multiple cities, including Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., St. Petersburg, Fla., Largo, Fla., and Newport News, Va. Best known for advancing innovative approaches to policing, he was inducted into the “Evidence-Based Policing Hall of Fame” by the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy at George Mason University in 2010.

Bill French Alumni Service Award: Julia M. Wilson (’84 Management)
Teamwork is a value Julie Wilson wields daily in her role as Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at Cerner Corp. That central focus characterized her time as a UMKC athlete and describes the volunteerism and dedication Wilson has shown to UMKC and, specifically, to UMKC athletics. Following an exciting basketball career including two NAIA Honorable Mention All-American selections and three NAIA All-District 16 selections and the NAIA Frank L. Hesselroth Award, Wilson became a central supporter of the UMKC Athletics program.

Defying the Odds Award: Judy G. Jacobs (’77 Management, ‘86 Education)
After Germany occupied Hungary in 1944, Judy Jacobs and her family were placed in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp when she was 7 years old. She lost many loved ones in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. When she and her parents were freed, she was sent off – young, alone and scared – to boarding school while her parents attempted to rebuild their lives. In 1946, Jacobs and her family moved to the United States. Despite everything they had experienced, her parents passed on their belief in the importance of education and Jacobs went on to college. Jacobs came to UMKC to earn her MBA and a Ph.D. in higher education administration and finance, and completed her degrees while working and raising a family. Today, Jacobs utilizes her education and her experiences during World War II to teach others about the Holocaust and makes every possible effort to accept all the speaking engagements she can.

Legacy Award: The Armacost Family
The Armacost family’s Kangaroo tradition began with the University of Kansas City (UKC), the predecessor to the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Lucille Cahill Armacost graduated from UKC in 1938 and her husband, the late Don R. Armacost, Sr., former owner of Peterson Manufacturing Company, graduated in 1940. Their son, Don R. Armacost, Jr., CEO of Peterson Manufacturing Co., graduated from the Henry W. Bloch School of Management in 1968 and received that school’s 1990 Alumni Achievement Award. Other graduates from the Armacost family include Jarrett Bertoncin (B.A. ’94, M.F.A. ’96, Arts & Sciences), who is an active member of the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Board and current board president. In 2010, Lucille Armacost created the Don & Lucille Armacost Scholarship, one of the largest and most prestigious scholarships at UMKC.

School-Based Alumni Achievement Award Recipients

College of Arts & Sciences
Jim Caruso (B.A. ’89, M.A. ’90)
CEO of Flying Dog Brewery in Maryland, Jim Caruso got his start in the restaurant business as a busboy with Denny’s and eventually became the corporate Vice President.

School of Biological Sciences
Bernard Beall (B.S. ‘82, M.S. ‘85)
Bernard Beall, Ph.D., heads the Streptococcus Laboratory within the Division of Bacterial Diseases’ Respiratory Diseases Branch in the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

Bloch School of Management
Doug Baker (M.B.A. ’95)
Doug Baker is Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Discovery Networks International, the world’s no. 1 nonfiction media company reaching 2 billion subscribers in 220 nations.

School of Computing & Engineering
Fareed Adib (B.S. ’00)
Fareed Adib is the Chief Technology Officer at Vista Equity Partners, a leading private equity firm focused on investing in software and technology-enabled businesses. Prior to taking that position, he was global head of Telecom Business Development and Partnership for Android at Google.

Conservatory of Music and Dance
Charles Bruffy (M.M. ’88)
Artistic director of the Kansas City Chorale since 1988 and the Phoenix Chorale since 1999, Charles Bruffy’s recordings have been honored with a total of 12 Grammy nominations and five Grammy wins.

School of Dentistry
Charles F. Squire (D.D.S. ’68)
During his career, Charles Squire was a periodontist serving patients in Wichita, Kan. He also served on the State Board of Dentistry in Kansas and participated in a variety of local and national roles.

School of Dentistry – Dental Hygiene
Ashley Grill (B.S.D.H. ’99)
A speaker, writer and leader in the field of oral health, Ashley Grill is a clinical assistant professor at New York University and has served in numerous leadership roles including the New Hampshire Dental Hygienists’ Association, New Hampshire Public Health Association and the American Dental Hygienists’ Association.

School of Education
Scott Harlan Brownlee (M.A. ’04)
With more than 30 years of experience in the arts as an educator, performing artist and administrator, Harlan Brownlee has served as president and CEO of ArtsKC Regional Arts Council and as executive director for Young Audiences. He was recently named chief executive officer of the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey.

School of Law
Jean Peters Baker (J.D. ’98)
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker has earned recognition in her role for a number of leadership and community safety initiatives, including Kansas City’s No Violence Alliance (NoVA), which received a significant national award from the FBI.

School of Medicine
Karen Remley (M.D. ’80)
In 2015, Karen Remley, M.D., was named executive director and CEO of the American Academy of Pediatrics – the first woman to serve in that role.

School of Nursing & Health Studies
Cathy L. Young (M.S.N. ’92)
Cathy Young is an associate professor at Texas Christian University and has served as president of the Northeast Arkansas Nurse Practitioner Association, and in 2015, was one of 168 leaders to be inducted into the American Academy of Nursing.

School of Pharmacy
Deborah Kavanaugh (B.S.P. ’85)
Debbie Kavanaugh’s pharmacy career has included positions at Roche and as regional sales director at Novartis and Pfizer as well as practicing and preceptoring students at the Kansas City VA Medical Center; she is also past president of the Missouri Society of Health System Pharmacists.


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