Utah State University will honor seven people at a Founders Day program March 7.
The Distinguished Alumnus Award will be presented to Cecelia H. Foxley, associate commissioner of high education for Utah.Jay Haws, director of the USU Alumni Association, said the Distinguished Alumnus Award is the highest honor presented solely by the association. It is for extraordinary distinction and service.
In addition, USU will present five Distinguished Service Awards and name an Honorary Alumnus.
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Awards include Danniel S. Dennis and Alva C. Snow, both of Roosevelt; B. Austin Haws, Logan; John P. Olsen, Dallas, Texas; and Dominic Welch, Salt Lake City. All are USU graduates.
The Distinguished Service Award goes to alumni and friends of USU whose attainments have brought distinction to themselves, credit to the university and real benefit to their fellow citizens, Haws said.
David N. Kooyman, Hyde Park, executive vice president of Morris Travel, a Utah-based travel agency network, will be named Honorary Alumnus. Kooyman attended the University of Utah but has been active in university and community organizations in Logan. He has been president of the Big Blue Club two terms and is a member of the Old Main Society. He is president-elect of both the Cache Chamber of Commerce and the Logan Rotary Club.
Foxley is associate commissioner for academic affairs for the Utah System of Higher Education. Earlier she served as a faculty member and administrator at USU, the University of Iowa and University of Minnesota.
Both Dennis, a veterinarian, and Snow, a community and business leader, were leaders in promoting the Uin-tah Basin Education Center, through which hundreds of Uintah Basin residents have taken university course work and many have received degrees from USU.
Haws is emeritus professor of entomology at USU. He was a leader in establishing USU's agricultural and education assistance work in developing nations. He was the first director of the Office of International Programs and Studies, and for three years he was chief of party for USU in Bolivia.
Olsen is senior vice president of Radisson Hotels International and manages a hotel development office in Dallas. A native of Paradise, Cache County, he has been a vice president of Quality Inns International, Rodeway Inns and Royal Executive Inns of America.
Welch, a native of Price, is president of Kearns-Tribune Corp. and Newspaper Agency Corp. He is financial adviser on the Governor's Columbus Day Commission and is on the board of directors of First Interstate Bank Corporation, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Utah and Westminster College.
A reception for recipients will be held at 5 p.m. in the Taggart Student Center Sunburst Lounge. A dinner will follow in the student center ballroom at 6:30 p.m.