2008 Distinguished Alumni announced
ESU Media Relations
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Emporia State University and the ESU Alumni Association are pleased to announce the 2008 class of Distinguished Alumni. The four individuals will be recognized with the Alumni Association’s highest honor at the 2008 Alumni Awards banquet on Friday, Oct. 24, during Homecoming festivities.
Louis Burns of Fallbrook, Calif.; Lonnie Clark of Birmingham, Ala.; Tom Fincken of Arvada, Colo.; and Ben R. Leedle, Jr., of Brentwood, Tenn., are this year’s Distinguished Alumni, recognized as such for their outstanding professional accomplishments as seen in their biographies below. Since the award’s inception in 1960, 204 ESU alumni, this class included, have now been honored.
The awards banquet on Oct. 24 begins with a 6:15 p.m. reception in the Memorial Union’s Kanza Room, followed by the 7:00 dinner, in the Memorial Union Ballroom. The Distinguished Alumni will be honored alongside the 2008 recipients of the Outstanding Recent Graduate award and the University Service Citation award. The public and members of the media are invited to attend. The cost per person is $25. To RSVP, contact the alumni office at (620) 341-5440 or alumni@emporia.edu.
Louis Burns
Fallbrook, Calif.; BSE 1949, Social Sciences; MS 1951, Social Sciences
Louis Burns has been the editor of Ciga Press, an instructor at Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia and Santa Ana Community College in California, as well as a teacher at Shawnee Mission High School, in Shawnee Mission, Valley Sr. High and Saddleback Sr. High in California. Burns is a member of the 1st Osage Delegation in a cultural exchange with the Occatain people of Tarn et Garoone, France, and was appointed by President Chief Tillman as Osage Tribal Representative. He was nominated to the Kansas Academy of Arts & Sciences and was named to Oklahoma’s Historians Hall of Fame.
Burns is an Osage Nation Delegate and was featured as Marquis Who’s Who in the West, America and the World. He founded Shawnee Mission Gem and Mineral Society, serves as a member of the first Cub Pack in the United States and is president of the Santa Ana Teachers Association. He is editor of the local and county Teachers Association newspaper as well as being involved in many organizations associated with Osage Indians. In addition, he has donated more than 5,000 books, documents, photos, and maps of and pertaining to the Osage to the White Hair Memorial in Oklahoma. He has also authored many of his own books and has led seminars at state parks, Oklahoma schools, the University of Kansas and historical societies. Sculptures of his Osage drawings have been displayed in France. Burns has committed his life to preserving the history and heritage of the Osage Indians and sharing valuable information with others.
Lonnie Clark
Birmingham, Ala.; BSE 1971, Physical Education
Lonnie Clark has held many positions for HEALTHSOUTH Corp, where he is currently the vice president of operations. He has also served as director of Iowa Methodist Medical Center Sports Medicine, was a teacher at Lawrence High School, and has been an instructor and head athletic trainer at Drake University. After serving with the Marine Corps in Vietnam, Clark started his career as a student athletic trainer for Kansas State Teachers College in 1968, then went on to work at the Kansas City Chiefs training camp from 1970-1971. He has coordinated many conferences and workshops pertaining to his expertise in athletic training and knowledge of the care and prevention of sports injuries.
He has been a staff member at conventions in Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota and at the NCAA Regional tournament. Clark has been appointed to many medical and athletic training positions for international sporting events, such as the World Swimming Championships in Australia, the World University Games in Great Britain, and the “Arena Festival” swimming competition in Germany. In 1992, Clark served as head athletic trainer for the U.S. swimming team at the games of the XXV Olympiad in Barcelona, Spain. He also serves as a member of the Resistol Relief Fund Board of Directors. He earned a master’s degree from Drake University in 1975.
Tom Fincken
Arvada, Colo.; BSE 1961, Physical Education
Tom Fincken is one of Colorado’s top officials, and has refereed three different sports nationally and in Colorado for almost thirty years. He has officiated basketball for 27 years, track for 24 years, and football for 16 years. Fincken officiated the 1986 Final Four tournament and the Super Bowl in 1995, 1997 and 2000, being one of only two people to ever officiate both. He has also officiated eight NCAA playoffs, the Western Athletic Conference and the Big West Conference. He is a member of the ESU Athletics Hall of Honor.
He was president of the Colorado Basketball Officials, where he instituted a valued evaluation program reiterating the rules, mechanics, and importance of professionalism and ethics. In 2006, Fincken was inducted into the Colorado High School Activities Association Hall of Fame, one of only eight referees ever to receive the honor. Fincken received the IAABO Board No. 4 Al Schalge Award in 2004 and was the 2004 recipient of the Art McNally Award for his service, leadership, dedication and professionalism. In addition, he was also a teacher and administrator in Jefferson County for 31 years.
Ben R. Leedle, Jr.
Brentwood, Tenn.; MS 1985, Physical Education
Ben Leedle is the president and CEO of American Healthways, a Fortune Small Business Top 100 Company. American Healthways helps health insurers manage patients who suffer from chronic illnesses, such as osteoporosis, fibromyalgia and Hepatitis C. It is currently the country’s fastest-growing small public company. Leedle led the design, development, sales and operations of Healthways, with many promotions along the way. He started his career as an exercise physiologist and certified diabetes educator, and was then promoted to program manager for the Diabetes Center of Excellence.
He then became a member of the corporate management team before becoming chief operating officer, then president, and finally chief executive officer. He was previously senior vice president of Diabetes Treatment Centers. Leedle is active in the American Diabetes Association. He is a member of the Health Care Management Education Advisory Board and was elected to the Board of Directors in 2003. Leedle also served as Peer Reviewer for the ADA National Recognition process. He earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Central College, and completed the Harvard Business School’s Executive Education Advancement Management program in 2002.