76 to Receive Awards During MSU Homecoming

BOZEMAN — Seventy-six individuals associated with Montana State University will receive awards during ceremonies scheduled as part of MSU’s 2021 homecoming. The ceremonies, hosted by individual MSU colleges and units, are free and open to the public.

The college awards honor individuals in the following categories: alumni achievement, young alumni, entrepreneurial alumni, honorary alumni, distinguished staff, distinguished faculty, early career faculty, honorary Extension professional and valued MSU partner. The Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering’s alumni achievement awardees will also be inducted into the college’s Academy of Distinguished Alumni.

The alumni engagement awards given by the MSU Alumni Foundation honor individuals in the following categories: advocate of the year, alumni engagement advisory board member of the year, board of governor of the year, chapter of the year, chapter volunteer of the year, retiree volunteer of the year and social media contributor of the year.

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Verna Billedeaux, MSU Extension Blackfeet Reservation Agent - Photo Courtesy of V. Billedeaux

Among those to be honored is MSU Extension Blackfeet Reservation Agent Verna Billedeaux, who will receive the MSU Extension Distinguished Faculty Award, given in recognition of meritorious service Montana State University in areas of teaching, research, leadership, achievement, mentoring, and outreach.

Verna was born and raised in Babb, and is a 1991 graduate of MSU with a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science. She has been the MSU Extension Service Agent for the Blackfeet Reservation for 26 years. Her focus is on Beef production and management, youth and adult loan preparation and financial management and youth development: 4-H, and Jr Ag Program has assisted many youths and adults prepare and obtains funds to purchase cattle for their own business development

When Verna was student at MSU, she often wondered how her classmates already knew how to judge animals, had great public speaking skills, and socialized with others well; when she asked, they all said because of 4-H. It was then she vowed to go home and start a club, 30 years later she has had the honor to be a part of so many young people’s lives through 4-H on the Blackfeet Reservation where there are now (8) 4-H clubsinvolving well over 100 youth, and her husband is the club leader of the Rocky Ridge Riders 4-H Club. 4-H volunteers host the annual Charging Home Stampede 4-H Fair and Auction.

Verna serves as the Secretary for the Rocky Mountain Region Intertribal Agriculture Council, member of the Montana NRCS Tribal Conservation Issues Subcommittee, Blackfeet Natural Resources Conservation District, and Secretary for the Blackfeet Nation Stock Growers Association.

She and her husband, Book St. Goddard, own a cow/calf operation south of Browning, MT and raise Simmental/Angus cattle, horses and produce alfalfa hay.

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The college and unit awards ceremonies will be hosted Thursday, Oct. 7, and Friday, Oct. 8, at the following times and locations:

Thursday, Oct. 7:

MSU Alumni Foundation, 4:30 p.m., Alumni Foundation Building, Great Room
Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship, 4:30 p.m., Risa Scott Collaboration Lab, Jabs Hall, Room 207

Friday, Oct. 8:

College of Agriculture, 10:30 a.m., Plant Bioscience Building, Room 108
College of Nursing, 10:30 a.m., Strand Union Building, Room 235
College of Education, Health and Human Development, 11:30 a.m., Strand Union Building, Leigh Lounge
College of Arts and Architecture, 3 p.m., Haynes Hall, Helen E. Copeland Gallery
Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering, 3 p.m., Norm Asbjornson Hall, Inspiration Hall, Room 201
Honors College, 3 p.m., Strand Union Building, Procrastinator Theater
College of Letters and Science, 3 p.m., Strand Union Building, Ballroom A

Award recipients are listed below by unit, award and name:

College of Agriculture

Alumni achievement award: Eric Tilleman
Honorary alumni award: Mark Quinn
Distinguished staff award: Jim Berg
Distinguished faculty award: Bob Peterson

College of Arts and Architecture

Alumni achievement award: Jerry Locati
Honorary alumni award: Dave Grusin
Honorary alumni award: George McClure
Young alumni award: Jason Baide
Young alumni award: Sasha Neulinger
Distinguished staff award: Jeanette Goodwin
Distinguished staff award: Victoria Miller
Distinguished faculty award: Meta Newhouse

College of Education, Health and Human Development

Alumni achievement award: Kelly Boswell
Honorary alumni award: Gianna Vanata
Distinguished staff award: Debra Redburn
Distinguished staff award: Micki MacGregor
Distinguished faculty award: Elisabeth Swanson

College of Letters and Science

Alumni achievement award: Betsy Gaines Quammen
Honorary alumni award: Terry Payne
Distinguished staff award: Lisa Perry
Distinguished staff award: Jody Sanford
Distinguished faculty award: Franke Wilmer

College of Nursing

Alumni achievement award: Pat (Wamsley) Wilson
Honorary alumni award: Jeri Bends
Distinguished staff award: Toni Rule
Distinguished faculty award: Laura S. Larsson
Valued MSU partner award: Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez
Valued MSU partner award: Anne Cantrell
Valued MSU partner award: Kelly Gorham

Honors College

Alumni achievement award: Joseph Thiel
Honorary alumni award: Lori Rosolowsky
Honorary alumni award: Mark Rosolowsky
Distinguished staff award: Diane Donnelly
Distinguished faculty award: Jeffrey Heys

Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship

Alumni achievement award: Nicole (Acton) Jones
Alumni achievement award: Richard "Rick" Reisig
Honorary alumni award: Kirsten Hilleman
Honorary alumni award: Greg Slamowitz
Young alumni award: Tara Petre
Entrepreneurial award: Will Price
Distinguished staff award: Suzanne Hepburn
Distinguished faculty award: Susan W. Dana

MSU Alumni Foundation

Advocate of the year: Allison Hupp
Alumni engagement advisory board member of the year: Ginny Swan Sullivan
Board of Governor of the year: Greg Collins
Chapter of the year: MSU Mile High Chapter in Denver, Colorado (Cody Christman, Dale Zachary, Dan Dunbar, Kate Oswald, Kyra Flatow, Mark Spiroff, Marla Schroeder, Melanie Rowlison, Nicole Kindt, Roberta Kronebusch, Ryan Pitsch, Seth Wright and Traci Shanahan Williams)
Chapter volunteer of the year: Arielle Stoness, Houston chapter chair
Retiree volunteer of the year: Jerome "Jerry" Coffey
Social media contributor of the year: Bill Freese
Social media contributor of the year: Rob Maher

MSU Extension