BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan alumna Barbra J. Ford ’68, director of the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), received the Sheth Distinguished Faculty Award for International Achievement at UIUC’s annual International Achievement Awards Banquet. The award recognizes the work of a current UIUC faculty member who shows exemplary work in teaching, research and public service in the international arena.

Ford was honored for her distinguished academic career in developing educational programs for librarians around the world and promoting a global vision of librarianship through her work as president of the Association of College and Research Libraries from 1990 to 1991, president of the American Library Association from 1997 to 1998 and as an elected member of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions Governing Board from 2005 to 2009.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – After graduation, many Illinois Wesleyan University alumni scatter all across the globe to live and work, but some end up coming back to the twin cities of Bloomington-Normal where they spent their college years.

Three alumni are employed locally. Melissa Beaver ’93, is the director of marketing at Heritage Enterprises, and received a degree in business administration from IWU. Michael Jensen ’96, is a management consultant at State Farm and received dual degrees in political science and sociology. Joann Yant ’95, is a business analyst at State Farm, and received a history degree. Even though it has been nearly 20 years since they earned their degrees, the trio is still open to learning. They are taking a class through the McLean County Chamber of Commerce called Leadership McLean County (LMC).

According to the LMC website, the class was started in 1995, and is designed to develop community leaders by cultivating skills, awareness and engagement through intentional learning experiences. The yearlong program requires all of its members to attend leadership retreats every other Friday, attend a town council meeting and school board meeting in McLean County, volunteer for a local organization and complete a service project.

The bi-monthly sessions feature community-related themes such as Diversity Day, Agriculture Day, Education Day and Criminal Justice Day. Community leaders also speak at the sessions, sharing their personal leadership experiences. Many sessions include visiting locations such as the local jail, the coroner’s office, and, most recently, Springfield, Ill., to tour the capital building.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan alumna Charlene Carruthers ’07, was recently named one of America’s 10 Most Daring Young Black Activists by CampusProgress.org.

According to their website, Campus Progress is a national organization that works with and for young people to promote progressive solutions to key political and social challenges. The organization engages a diverse group of young people nationwide and attempts to inspire them to embrace their progressive values.

The Chicago native, who graduated from Illinois Wesleyan with dual degrees in international studies and history, was selected for the award for her efforts in Haiti after the devastating earthquake last August and for her political and social activism in her blog and twitter accounts. These accounts, she says, “document her individual journey to freedom and focus on issues affecting youth, women and people belonging in the African Diaspora.”

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – For five decades music teacher Robert Manahan has directed high school theatre in Illinois, and at 81 years old he shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, the IWU alumnus (’52) is currently celebrating the success of his 81st show.

Manahan recently presented A Grand Night for Singing, a musical review he compiled and directed, at Hall High School in Spring Valley, Ill. He credits his unflagging enthusiasm for music and theatre to the infectious energy of his students.

“Young people keep me young! I certainly don’t look 81 years old,” Manahan said. Even after directing 81 shows, he says he still enjoys “creating characters and watching them come to life.”

The teacher believes that participation in the fine arts also creates character in his students.  He notes that teenagers today lead complicated lives, and that often being part of a show gives them “something to hold on to” when they are struggling.

Still, directing his 81st show at 81 years old is a milestone he almost didn’t reach. Manahan retired in 1993, after teaching at both LaSalle-Peru High School and Putnam County High School.

However, staying retired proved to be a challenge. “When you’re a musician, music is the bug in you,” he says. Manahan returned to his alma mater Hall High in 1999 in order to continue passing on his love of music.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill.— Denise (Williams) Wilson, associate professor of nursing for Mennonite College of Nursing (MCN) at Illinois State University (ISU) was recently one of 18 nursing faculty in the state of Illinois to be awarded a Nurse Educator Fellowship by the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Wilson, who is the sequence leader for the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) sequence at ISU, is a 1978 graduate of Illinois Wesleyan with a bachelor of science in nursing degree. She says she will use this funding “to conduct research on quality of care issues.”

Wilson also received the Graduate Teaching Excellence Award from MCN in 2010, and practices as a nurse practitioner at Medical Hills Internists & Pediatrics in Bloomington. She is certified as both a Family Nurse Practitioner and an Adult Nurse Practitioner (ANP) and recently passed the American Nurses Credentialing Center national certification exam to be a Gerontological Nurse Practitioner.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – While watching American Idol with his 5-year old daughter, alumnus Justin Ahrens ’94 decided that his life of “suburban dad and entrepreneur,” was not enough.  “How can we help in Africa,” asked Ahrens’ daughter.   Inspired by “Idol Gives Back”, celebrity Bono’s charitable work in Africa and his daughters words, Ahrens embarked on a new adventure, one that would take him across the globe, into the depths of his soul and would materialize into a lifelong mission.

Shortly after graduating from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1994, Ahrens opened the doors to Rule29, a creative design firm located in Geneva, Ill.  “Our desire was to create a firm that would make creativity matter to our clients and to our community,” said Ahrens. Although Ahrens loved his job, he felt something was missing. The firm had previously worked with rock legend and director of Solid Rock Foundation, Alice Cooper.  Continuing their work with not-for-profits, Rule29 connected with Life in Abundance (LIA), a Christian-community development organization founded in Africa.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – With the number of orchestras and wind symphonies in Dallas, Texas, it was no surprise that 2009 Illinois Wesleyan graduate Preston Prior was drawn there with his music education degree. What might surprise some, however, was his decision to found his own ensemble.

“The Dallas-Fort Worth area is a wealth of musical outlets,” said Prior, who works as head band director and music department chair for Bishop Dunne Catholic School in Dallas. “Every suburb has its own symphony and the area has more community bands per capita than anywhere else in the world.” Along with teaching, Prior is part of such ensembles as The Dallas New Life Symphony Orchestra, the Carrollton Wind Symphony and the Metropolitan Winds.

“Music for me is both a vocation and an avocation,” Prior said. “It’s important as an educator to continue to perform. Music educators are scholars and artists, and it benefits students to be able to bring an artist’s work and musicianship into the performance-based classroom.”

With that belief in the educational power of music, Prior created the Dallas Civic Wind Ensemble (DCWE) last fall. Although they only began playing in September of 2010, the ensemble has already garnered attention. Next season, they are anticipating performing in the grand Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, and this summer they have been invited to be a featured ensemble performance at the Texas Bandmasters Association Conference in San Antonio. “That’s quite an honor for a band that has only been in existence for six months,” said Prior.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – On May 20, 2010, a mere month after graduation, Illinois Wesleyan University alumna Whitney Thorpe-Klinsky’10, was enjoying time off from school. Her future seemed set; she had earned a bachelor’s degree and would begin medical school at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine that August.

But Saturday, June 19, everything changed. The then 22-year-old Thorpe-Klinsky was crowned Miss Illinois, earning herself a spot in the Miss America pageant recently held in Las Vegas, Nev. at the beginning of January.

“It was very unexpected,” said Thorpe-Klinsky, who added that she had only competed in a handful of pageants before claiming the state title. “I came into the pageant hoping to at least make the top 10, learn some things and try again next year, and I ended up winning.”

Thorpe-Klinsky impressed the judges with her eloquent answers, confidence modeling, and her involvement during her college career. A biology major and psychology minor, she was also a cheerleader for four years, Vice President of Scholarship of Alpha Gamma Delta, and a member of the scholarship fraternities Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Eta Sigma.

Once she was crowned Miss Illinois, the New Baden, Ill., native deferred her acceptance into medical school until August 2011. Since then, her life has been a whirlwind of public appearances and preparation for the national contest.

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