NWU Honors Seven Legends
The university will honor these outstanding alumni during Wesleyan Weekend.
| Jennifer Cognard-Black (’91)Alumni Achievement Award Cognard-Black is professor of English at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. The author of six books, Cognard-Black’s accolades include Fulbright grants to Slovenia and the Netherlands, and Baylor University’s Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching—considered an “American version of the Nobel Prize” for teaching.
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| Ashton Honnor (’13)Young Alumni Loyalty Award Honnor is marketing manager at the Nebraska School Activities Association. She promotes NWU as a recruiting ambassador, speaks on alumni panels and serves on NWU’s Alumni Association Council. She credits NWU for instilling her strong values in excellence and service.
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| Jo (Afrank) (’82) and Kirk (’83) KinbergAlumni Loyalty Award Jo Kinberg, a retired pediatrician, serves on NWU’s Board of Governors. She is a former member of the Presidents Board of Advisors. Kirk Kinberg is a physician with Allergy Asthma and Immunology Associates. Both were early and generous supporters of Doctors for Science, which helped build Acklie Hall of Science. They’re grateful for their NWU educations, which equipped them to understand their patients’ needs and stay current on new therapeutics.
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| Nate Pattee (’09)Young Alumni Humanitarian Award Pattee is a policy and capacity planning officer for the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. His work focuses on the WHO’s IT governance framework, procurement and resource management. NWU taught him the value of diverse international perspectives.
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| Philip Mullin (’65)Medal of Honor Award Mullin joined Garner Industries, a small manufacturing company in northeast Lincoln, early in his career. He’d eventually buy the company and elevate it into a world-class manufacturer. He recently sold it and sought to create a legacy empowering young people on their own entrepreneurial journeys. The Philip S. Mullin Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program equips NWU students with knowledge and skills to transform industries and create new companies.
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| Alicia (Dallman) Shoemaker (’09)Young Alumni Achievement Award Shoemaker is a language teacher at Elkhorn Public Schools and president of the Malaika Foundation, which helps Nebraska teachers access global educational resources and travel opportunities. The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages named Shoemaker its 2023-24 National Language Teacher of the Year.
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