Five Alumni Honored at Founder's Day

Five Utah State University alumni will be honored Friday, March 6, at a Founder’s Day ceremony that celebrates the university’s 121st anniversary. 

The USU Alumni Association Executive Board gives the Distinguished Alumnus Awards and the Distinguished Service Awards to those who have had a significant impact on their communities.

 

The 2009 award recipients are Saundra S. Buys and John R. Miller, who will receive Distinguished Alumnus Awards, and Mike Dmitrich and John and Barbara Wilkerson who will receive Distinguished Service Awards.

 

“The task of honoring great Aggies is a most difficult one, because we have so many who are indeed great,” said Wally Odd, executive director of the Alumni Association. “But these Aggie greats have a sincere and generous concern for the good of mankind and are committed to make an appreciable difference wherever they are found. Their efforts bring great credit on Utah State University and our Alumni Association.”

 

Saundra S. Buys grew up in southern Utah and central Washington. She attended USU for two years and then moved with her husband, Joe, to Boston. She graduated from Northeastern University and Tufts University School of Medicine in 1979. After graduation she returned to Utah to complete an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Utah. She also completed a clinical and research fellowship in Hematology and Oncology. In 1984 she joined the faculty at the University of Utah, School of Medicine, and the Huntsman Cancer Institute since it first began. She has devoted her professional life to the field of medicine. She has cared for patients with all types of cancers since 1982, and she is one of the state’s leading specialists in the treatment of breast cancer.

 

John R. Miller was born and raised in Logan, Utah. He attended Utah State University where he earned his bachelor’s of science degree in history in 1977. After graduation he worked at American Commodities Corporation in Hyrum, Utah, as the general manager. In 1979 he became the CEO of E.A. Miller, Inc. in Hyrum, Utah. He later became the CEO and president of Armour Food Company in Omaha, Neb., then he was hired as the CEO of National Carriers, Inc. He is also the CEO of National Beef Packing Company in Kansas City, Missouri, which is the fourth largest beef processor in the United States. He has worked tirelessly throughout his life as a business leader to improve the beef industry.

 

Mike Dmitrich was born in Murray and moved to Carbon County when he was five. In 1954 he was recruited to play football at USU and in 1955 was awarded a full-ride football scholarship. After an injury he returned to Price and played for the College of Eastern Utah and in 1982 he was awarded Honorary Associate of Science Degree. At the age of 31 he was elected to the Utah House of Representatives and held office in that body until 1990. He served as the House Minority Leader from 1983-1990. In 1991 he was appointed to the Utah State Senate and elected to the senate in 1992. He was the longest serving legislator on Capitol Hill when he retired and had served continuously in the Utah Legislature for 40 years. He has been a long-time passionate voice on Capitol Hill for public and higher education and for the health and economic stability of Utah families.

 

John Wilkerson was born and raised in Elko, Nev. He attended USU and in 1965 received his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences. He continued his education at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and received a master’s and a doctorate, and met Barbara. His career began at Johnson and Johnson where he was a top-rated health industry analyst. In 1998 he was the founder of the Wilkerson Group and is a co-founder of Galen Partners. John and Barbara are co-founders of the E. L. Rose Conservancy in northern Pennsylvania.

 

Barbara was born in Binghamton, N.Y., and her landscapes and plants have won several major awards, including the coveted blue ribbon at the Philadelphia Flower Show. The couple has collected paintings of the early works of central and west Australia for the past 15 years, and their personal collection is currently on display at the Johnson Museum at Cornell University.

 

The Founder’s Day Ceremony will be in the Evan Stevenson Ballroom in the Taggart Student Center at USU. 

 

 

Contact: Cecile Gilmer (435) 797-8275, cecile.gilmer@usu.edu
Writer: Jessica Wakley (435) 797-1350