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The University of Southern Indiana Alumni Association honored an administrator, a faculty member, and two alumni with awards on May 4 at Graduation Celebration 2007.

Award recipients are John Deem, Special Recognition Award; Dr. Susan Smith Wolfe, Faculty Recognition Award; Donna M. Mesker ’86, Alumni Service Award; and Brett J. Niemeier ’81, Distinguished Alumni Award. All are residents of Evansville.

In addition to the award ceremony, the Graduation Celebration will include a reception at 6 p.m. in University Center, Room 201, followed by a dinner at 6:30 p.m. in Carter Hall.

John Deem, USI associate vice president for Student Affairs and assistant professor of accounting, joined the faculty in 1967, two years after the University was founded. He was registrar for 33 years and also has served as director of Veterans’ Affairs, assistant vice president for Student Affairs, and acting vice president for Student Affairs. In 1968, he became USI’s first men’s basketball coach, finishing the season with six wins and six losses. Deem served from 1985-96 on the board of the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation, including two terms as president. In memory of his father, Deem and his wife Pam ’83 have endowed the Lowell L. Deem Memorial Scholarship to benefit USI students.

Dr. Susan Smith Wolfe, acting chair of the Department of Foreign Language, has been instrumental in growing the German language curriculum since she joined the faculty in 1988. Along with her colleague Dr. Folke-Christine Moeller-Sahling, she established USI’s first distance education courses in foreign language in 2003. Wolfe serves as USI’s Fulbright advisor, encouraging students to apply for research and study opportunities worldwide through the exchange program. She also dedicates her time to helping students investigate their interests and understand the advantage of combining those interests with a foreign language for greater career potential. Wolfe will join her husband Dr. Donald S. Wolfe, retired USI associate professor of German, in retirement this summer.

Donna M. Mesker has demonstrated extraordinary commitment to the USI Alumni Association’s mission to serve and enhance the excellence and reputation of the University. She is the 2006-07 chair of the USI Varsity Club, which raises money to fund scholarships for student athletes, and has served on the club’s board since 2004. She served as president of the USI Alumni Association in 2001-02 and was an Alumni Council member from 1998-2006. Additionally, she has provided leadership for many years to the Alumni Special Events Committee and continues to volunteer at alumni events, including Homecoming, an annual picnic, and golf outings. A member of the USI Foundation Board from 2000-03, she is past chair of the alumni campaign for the Annual Fund.

The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes a graduate who has made outstanding achievement in career or in public service. Brett J. Niemeier, a Vanderburgh County Superior Court judge since 2001, has distinguished himself as an innovator of court programs to assist at-risk youth and their families. He is responsible for all cases involving juveniles who are adjudicated to be in need of services or delinquent. He has initiated programs in collaboration with community organizations including a truancy program, parents drug court, an alternative high school classroom, a mentor program, a Churches Embracing Offenders program, a juvenile drug court, and a teen court. He also supervises cases involving child custody, support issues, and estates. A political science graduate, he is an adjunct professor of criminal justice at USI.

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USI Alumni Association 2007 Award Recipients