Past Recipients

In 1950, Mary Jean (Price) Walls was the first African American student to apply to Missouri State University. Though she was qualified – she was salutatorian of her class – she was denied admission.

In 2010, Missouri State awarded her an honorary bachelor’s degree, and in 2016 the Mary Jean Price Walls Multicultural Resource Center Annex was named in her honor.
Walls died on July 6, 2020. She had eight children and she retired from the workforce in 2009 after serving as a janitor at a local science center.

“I was saddened to learn of the passing of Mary Jean Price Walls this week,” said Missouri State President Clif Smart. “She was denied admission to the university in 1950 because of the color of her skin. She is a reminder of our history of discrimination which we continue to work to overcome.”

Walls’ son, Terry, uncovered his mother’s story when he was a student at Missouri State. He graduated with a criminology degree in 2012.

“In 2016, the MSU Multicultural Resource Center Annex was proudly named in recognition of Mary Jean Price Walls,” said Dr. Dee Siscoe, vice president for student affairs. “I was sad to hear of her passing. I believe her legacy will live on through the vast number of students who will benefit from the MRC Annex.”

Kleinsmith has dedicated his life to public education, serving as a teacher, coach or school leader for the past 40 years.

Under his leadership as superintendent of Nixa Public Schools (NPS) for 17 years, NPS received the state’s top accreditation standard for 12 consecutive years. Its leadership team also won eight Education Leadership Team – Program of Excellence Awards from the Missouri School Boards’ Association.

He has been an outspoken advocate for public education in Missouri, serving on the Principals/Site Administrators National Committee and as legislative co-chair for the Association of School Administrators.

Kleinsmith has advanced teacher preparation in the region through MSU’s Teaching Academy for Pre-Service Teachers and MSU’s Internship Academy for Future Teachers, as well as the Ozarks Educational Research Institute.

His impact in the community as a leader is far reaching. Over the years, he has served as chair of several organizations, such as Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Nixa Community Foundation.

Kleinsmith has won many awards for his commitment to education and the community. Among them are Missouri Association of School Administrators’ Superintendent of the Year in 2017 and Springfield Business Journal’s Inaugural “Men of the Year” in 2011.

“It’s not an understatement to say that Dr. Kleinsmith’s visionary leadership in public education has resulted in a level of excellence unsurpassed for both teachers and students here in the region,” Weaver said.

Roseann Knauer Bentley first became an agent of change when she chaired the Junior League of Springfield's committee that brought public television to the city in the early 1970s after only 16 months of courting the Public Broadcasting System. She went on to become JLS President.

Roseann’s biggest impact, however, came in public office.

She was the first woman elected to the Missouri State Senate from Southwest Missouri and also the first to serve on the Senate Finance Committee, which handles the state’s budget. She served in the Senate for eight years, the maximum allowed under term limits.

Roseann also has been a long-time advocate for education. She served as president of the Springfield School Board, the Missouri State Board of Education, and the National Association of State Boards of Education, where she was honored to be asked to meet with President George H. W. Bush to consult on National Education Goals.

She presently serves as a Greene County Commissioner.

Lampe is a life-long educator and advocate for children and families. She currently serves as deputy director of Care to Learn, a local nonprofit organization that provides for students’ and families’ emergent needs in the areas of health, hunger and hygiene so children can be successful in school.

She is a co-creator of the WINGS program for gifted and talented students in Springfield Public Schools and has consulted nationally with school districts interested in creating responsive and thinking classrooms.

In 2013, Governor Jay Nixon appointed Lampe to the Missouri Commission on Human Rights, which she currently chairs. The commission’s goal is to eliminate discrimination through the enforcement of the Missouri Human Rights Act and prevent social inequality through education and outreach.

Lampe was honored with a 2010 Evelyn Wasserstrom Award for “commitment to causes of freedom and justice for minorities and oppressed people.”

 

Dr. John Bentley will receive an honorary doctorate for his extraordinary achievements in public affairs. Bentley provided free health care to the uninsured homeless through Sister Lorraine’s Kitchen Clinic and the Missouri Hotel for more than 20 years.

 

M. Elise Crain is a native of Ozark, Missouri, and has enjoyed a career in the construction industry.

She lives in her childhood home, graduated from Ozark Schools and received a B.S. degree from Drury University. She worked on construction projects in Arkansas; Florida; Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt; and Missouri. She was Project Manager on a tunnel project at Missouri State University. She was the Project Manager for the Gillioz Theatre restoration and the first above-ground green building, the addition to the Discovery Center.

In the 90’s, she helped found and served as executive director for Ozarks Technical Community College’s Project CREW (construction readiness for women), educating long-term unemployed and under-employed women in the construction trades. She opened the door for decorative concrete in the Springfield area. She served as vice president for two commercial contractors in the Springfield area.

 

Tom Strong graduated with honors (Order of the Coif) from the University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Law in 1955, and practiced in Springfield from 1957, until his retirement in 2003. In 1976, he founded the law firm that is now Strong-Garner-Bauer, P.C. He was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States and all state and federal courts in Missouri. Tom has served as president of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, the Missouri Board of Law Examiners, and the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association. He has been a Governor of the American Trial Lawyers Association, a member of the Missouri Appellate Judicial Commission and has served as chairman and committee member of many Missouri Bar Association committees.

James B. Tatum is a 4th generation McDonald Countian. He is a product of Anderson, Missouri schools, Wentworth Military Academy and is the first McDonald Countian to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY. He served in the U.S. Army as an infantry company commander and was severely wounded in the Korean War and retired on a medical disability.

John Rush served as president/CEO of United Way of the Ozarks for 20 years and has since continued his commitment to the community in the areas of public health and welfare. Rush has been a strong voice of advocacy for the Jordan Valley Community Health Center, a federally qualified health center, and has served on the center's Board of Directors.

Actor and Missouri State alumnus John Goodman was awarded an honorary doctorate at the spring commencement in May 2013, after the Board of Governors approved his nomination.

Missouri State’s Faculty Senate nominated Goodman for the honorary doctorate – the 15th MSU has given out since 2003 – and brought the nomination to the board to deliberate at its regularly scheduled December meeting.

After announcing the nomination, the board unanimously approved it, citing Goodman’s outstanding acting career and personal dedication to serving Missouri State throughout his life.

Goodman, a native of St. Louis, Mo., transferred to MSU in 1973 from a junior college to play football, according to “Daring to Excel,” the book which chronicles MSU’s history.

 

Askinosie received the Doctor of Public Affairs to recognize his contributions as a community leader, an entrepreneur, a role model and an inspiration to students and others.

Following a career as a successful lawyer, Askinosie founded Askinosie Chocolate, a bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer that sources 100 percent of its beans directly from farmers in places including Ecuador, the Philippines and Tanzania. Askinosie’s factory is on Commercial Street in Springfield.

Askinosie Chocolate has several outreach programs, including Cocoa Honors, an 18-month-long cooperative learning project for high school juniors who learn about the bean-to-bar philosophy and gain exposure to different cultures and global business experiences.

In addition, women from the Victory Mission Women’s Shelter, a shelter and educational program housing women in need, are employed by Askinosie Chocolate. They use the money for field trips and projects to help others in need

 

Dr. Bert E. Park is a native of Springfield, a graduate of Parkview High School and a capable and respected neurosurgeon who has distinguished himself by his extraordinary contributions in the area of Public Affairs; he has devoted more than fifteen years of service to medical missions in developing countries of the world. He has performed, by his own count, some one thousand brain and spinal surgeries at his own expense in seventeen different countries including various nations in Africa, Central Vietnam, Nicaragua, the Palestinian West Bank, and Porte au Prince, Haiti. Since 2001 he has been an invited guest of the Vietnam government to work and teach at the Da Nang General Hospital, located in the poorest, central region of the country to upgrade the surgical skills and technology of the surgical team. Dr. Bert has developed the first ever regional neurosurgery training program in Central and East Africa that is now sanctioned by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons of the United States and the Royal College of Surgeons in United Kingdom; and, Whereas, “his personal mission is not only to provide care to patients, but to train local doctors to do the surgeries” (nomination letter quote); and, Whereas, this native Missourian has clearly and repeatedly demonstrated the highest level of skill, compassion and service in international public affairs on behalf of our state and region.

Gordon McCann is a Missouri Traditional Music musician, Historian, and Documentarian, whose collection of over 2000 field recordings has been digitized and is available through Missouri State University’s Meyer Library. This is mostly a British-Isles area in the Ozarks. "I’ve always said, you never saw a portrayal of a Pioneer with a piano slung over his saddlebag, but they sure could take a fiddle, you know. And then when Statehood came, then the fiddle really came in. Well, what few fiddlers there were? If a community had just one fiddler and he knew 2 tunes, as the most even, it didn’t matter, because the dancers just wanted that beat.” (Scots-Irish Fiddle Tune Fades Up:  Dance Around Molly, played by Pete McMahan, of Central Missouri.)

Patti Penny, founder of Penmac Personnel Services, and creator of several programs that assist the economically disenfranchised in Springfield and the surrounding communities.

A giant in the Springfield philanthropic and nonprofit community. Jan Horton was the first employee of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, serving from 1988 to 2003.

Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh has distinguished herself by her extraordinary contributions to the area of Science; she is an internationally known scholar doing important research in language and cognition on the bonobo, or “pygmy chimpanzee”. Dr. Sue has written 5 books, made 9 films, and authored or coauthored 170 journal articles; and WHEREAS, she along with her colleagues, have established the Great Ape Trust of Iowa, where great apes live and collaborate with their human hosts; she has been named “A Woman of Influence” by the Des Moines Business Record; she is involved in conservation efforts to protect the natural habitat of bonobos in eastern Congo, an area which has been torn by war for decades; and WHEREAS, she wants to educate people, both around the world and here at home, about the great plight of the great apes in general, and in particular the bonobos, and the important things we can learn from them.

Ms. Nancy Brown Dornan has distinguished herself by her extraordinary contributions to the area of Public Affairs, she is an innovator, a businesswoman, a collaborator, and a visionary leader. Ms. Nancy has been instrumental in founding the Walnut Street Historic Neighborhood Association, the Historic Walnut Street Development, LLC, and the Arts Fest. She served as President of the Springfield Landmarks Preservation Trust from 1993 to 2007 and under her guidance saw through the $8.3 million renovation of the historic Gillioz Theatre and adjacent Netters building. Nancy is active in various renovation projects in downtown Springfield, including the redevelopment of the Busy Bee and single-family residences around Walnut Street, she has also served on over 25 boards and organizations, frequently as a founding member or officer.

James R. Craig has grown up as a native son of the Ozarks. He is known as the good humor man, has crafted stories which describe and convey the values and character of this region. Mr. Craig has shared his sense of place with audiences at conventions and gatherings in all 50 states. He has served the University and region as a citizen of character and humble leadership.

Annie Busch has a long record of implementing innovative services which provide open access of information. Annie has exceeded her role as Executive Director to create a nationally acclaimed public library system. She has served on numerous state and local advisory boards for civic betterment.

Pat Walker exemplifies the ideals of the Public Affairs Mission, and has "worked for the greater good" for more than 60 years. To honor her service, leadership, and contributions to the community, the Missouri Public Affairs Academy was named after Pat Walker in 2018.

 

Harrison's poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for young readers have been anthologized in more than 185 books, translated into twelve languages, sandblasted into a library sidewalk, painted on a bookmobile, and presented on television, radio, podcast, and video stream. Ten of his 90 books are professional works for teachers. He is poet laureate of Drury University. David Harrison Elementary School is named after him. He has given keynote talks, college commencement addresses, and been featured at hundreds of conferences, workshops, literature festivals, and schools across America.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Drury University in 1959, a Master of Science degree from Emory University in 1960, and two Honorary Doctor of Letters degrees. His poetry collection, Pirates, represented Missouri at the 2013 National Book Fair in Washington, D.C.

Greene County Commissioner Harold Bengsch will not seek reelection when his term ends this year.  The 85-year-old has served as commissioner since 2004.  Before that, he worked for the Springfield-Greene County Health Department for 45 years.  Twenty of those years he was the health department’s director.

In a statement, Springfield Mayor Ken McClure said Bengsch has been “an exemplary public servant and community leader for over six decades” and that he made the Springfield-Greene County Health Department “a premier health agency in the country.”

U.S. Senator Roy Blunt said in a statement that Bengsch’s work as a commissioner “added to his dedicated efforts to improve our local health system, particularly with regard to increasing access to mental and behavioral health care, and will have a long-lasting impact.”

 

Biebel has served Springfield in many ways over the past 54 years by caring for the poor and homeless. She developed and started numerous support services and programs to help thousands in need. Her volunteer networks provide more than 54,000 hours of service every year. "Sister Lorraine Biebel stands out because of her extraordinary service to the community by helping those who most need assistance," said Dr. James Giglio, honorary doctorate degree committee chair and distinguished professor of history. Biebel's major contribution to those in need is through The Kitchen in downtown Springfield. When she started The Kitchen in 1983, it was a borrowed school cafeteria where she fed the hungry and homeless one hot meal a day with donated food, and volunteers cooked and served the meals. The Kitchen is now a rehabilitative ministry that provides shelter and support services to those who seek it. Its services aim to teach people skills to deal with their problems, overcome them and move toward self-sufficiency.