The Distinguished Achievement Award is presented to an alumni based upon national or international peer recognition of his or her professional excellence and achievement.

The following recipients are listed alphabetically, followed by class year and the year the Distinguished Achievement Award was awarded.

Hon. Glenn S. Allen, Jr. '36 - 1986

• Judge, Michigan Court of Appeals
• Served as Mayor of Kalamazoo for four terms
• Special counsel for legal, fiscal and legislative affairs

Dr. Harold B. Allen '24 - 1980

• Professor of English and Linguistics, University of Minnesota
• Editor, Linguistic Atlas of the Upper Midwest
• Author of many books and papers on linguistics

Renee Askins '81 - 1999

• Founder, The Wolf Fund
• Project Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Exhibit Coordinator, Yellowstone National Park

Dr. George C. Baldwin '39 - 1987

• Research engineer, General Electric Company
• Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Physics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• Research Physicist, Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Dr. H. Lewis Batts, Jr. '43 - 1978

• Professor of Biology, Kalamazoo College
• Founder and Executive Director, Kalamazoo Nature Center;
• Developer, Parkview Hills Residential Community

Mr. Bruce Benton '64 - 1988

• Coordinator, West African Riverblindness (Onchocerciasis) Control Program of the World Bank.

Dr. Louis F. Brakeman '54 - 1992

• Provost, Stetson University
• Previous Professor and Chairman of the Department of Political Science, Denison University
• Previous President and Provost, Denison University

Dr. Roger E. Brinner '69 - 1987

• Group Vice President and Chief Economist, Data Resources
• Previous Senior Staff Economist, President's Council of Economics Advisors

Dr. Harold W. Brown '24 - 1982

• Professor of Parasitology, College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University
• Parasitologist, Presbyterian Hospital
• Author, Basic Clinical Parasitology

Mr. Garry Brown '51 - 1994

• Retired from Washington, D.C. law firm, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart
• Previous Kalamazoo Area Representative, House of Representatives
• Served on Commission on Housing

Dr. David Campbell '71 - 1995

• Professor of Biology, Grinnell, IA
• Henry Luce Professor in Nations and the Global Environment & Chair
• Fellow National, The Explorers Club

Dr. Italo Carl Candoli '50 - 1986

• Superintendent for Independent School District, Fort Worth, Texas
• Previous Professor and Chairman, University of Kansas Department of Higher Education

Ms. Frances Clark '28 - 1987

• Founder and President of New School for Music Study, Princeton University
• Author, Frances Clark Library for Piano Students

Scott Cleland '82 - 2000

• Founder and Managing Director, The Legg Mason Precursor Group
• Founder, "Investment Precursors in Telecom, Internet and Electronic Commerce" Conference

Mrs. Alma Smith Crawford '27 - 1983

• President of the Kalamazoo Board of Education

• Civic Leader and Volunteer

Dr. Mildred Doster '30 - 1976

• Assistant Director, Denver Public Schools Department of Health
• Assistant Clinical Professor of Preventive Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine
• Chairperson, Joint National Committee of the American School Health Association and the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness
  

Mr. Paul Eads '73 - 1997

• Production Designer/Art Director, Motion Pictures and Television, including Universal Pictures
• Emmy Recipient, Design of "N.Y.P.D. Blue" and "Murder One"
• "Excellence in Production Design" award recipient for the Series "Brooklyn South"

Dr. Eva M. Eicher '61 - 1992

• Senior Staff Scientist, The Jackson Laboratory
• Cooperating Professor in Zoology, University of Maine

Dr. Kenneth G. Elzinga '63 - 1983

• Professor of Economics, University of Virginia
• Faculty Member, Law and Economic Center's Advanced Course for Federal Judges on Antitrust Economics
• Co-Author, The Antitrust Penalties
  

Mrs. Elsie Herbold Froeschner '35 - 1988

• Free Lance Biological Illustrator
• Previous Entomological Illustrator, US National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Dr. Harry T. Garland '68 - 1983

• President of Cromemco, a major supplier of computers to foreign countries
• Publications in Electronics Magazines

Dr. Walter A. Good '37 - 1977

• Defense Researcher, Applied Physics Laboratory of The Johns Hopkins University
  

Dr. William E. Good '37 - 1977

• Researcher in Color Television, General Electric Co.
• A Developer of the Light Valve Projection System, which made large screen television possible
  

Dr. Richard D. Haas '65 - 1993

• Advisor, Research Department, International Monetary Fund
  

Dr. Donald L. Hafner '66 - 1987

• Associate Professor of Political Science, Boston College
• Advisor, US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
• Co-Editor, Weapons in Space

Mr. E. James Harkema '64 - 1992

• Head Football Coach, Eastern Michigan University
• MAC Coach of the Year, 1987

Dr. Richard C. Hudson '69 - 1991

• Executive Producer of Science Programming at KTCA-TV, St. Paul, Minnesota
• Series Producer for the Emmy Award winning program, Newton's Apple

Holly Hughes '77 - 1995

• Feminists Art Institute Member
• Playwright, WOW Women's Theater
• Playwright and Performer, "The Well of Horniness," "Clit Notes," and "Preaching to the Perverted"

Dr. Cynthia Earl Kerman '44 - 1979

• Assistant Professor of English Language and Literature, Villa Julie College
• Author, Creative Tension: The Life and Thought of Kenneth Bolding
• Co-Author, The Lives of Jean Toomer: A Hunger for Wholeness
  

Ms. Lisa Kron '83 - 2003

• Playwright: 101 Humiliating Stories, Well, and 2.5 Minute Ride, which was recpient of Obie Award, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations, L.A. Dramalogue Award, GLAAD award for Best Off-Broadway Play, and named Best Autobiographical Play by New York Press.
• Founder of Obie and Bessie-award winning Five Lesbian Brothers theater company
• Actress: The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, The Vagina Monologues, Well, and others
  

Mr. Vincent Liff '73 - 1995

• Casting Director
  

Ms. Jacqueline Buck Mallinson '48 - 1989

• Adjunct Associate Professor of Science, Western Michigan University
• Co-Authored and Developed standardized tests for the Scholastic Testing Service
• Director, Instructor, Evaluator in more than 30 National Science Foundation Institutes and Programs

Mr. Mark McDonald '73 - 1996

• Sports Editor, The Dallas Morning News
• Previous Political Editor, International Herald Tribune in Paris
• Guide, John Muir Wilderness and Mt. Whitney regions of the Sierras

Dr. Ralph W. McKee '34 - 1981

• Assistant Dean Emeritus of the School of Medicine, UCLA
• Professor Emeritus of Biological Chemistry, UCLA
• Author of over 100 publications in the fields of nutrition. cancer, and metabolism research

Dr. Genna Rae McNeil '69 - 1986

• Ecumenical Officer, American Baptist Churches, USA
• Previous Professor of History, University of North Carolina, Howard University School of Law, and Roosevelt University
• Author, Groundwork: Charles Hamilton Houston and the Struggle for Human Rights

Julie Mehretu '92 - 2007

• Acclaimed artist
• MacArthur Fellow and fellow with The American Academy in Berlin, Germany
• Work has shown worldwide including the Whitney Biennial and a solo show at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis

Rev. David Mesenbring '73 - 2003

• Educator and Advocate in South Africa during 1970s and 1980s, researcher, editor and publisher of writings of Steven Biko; during 1980s served as Lutheran World Federation's Alternate Representative to the U.N., and spread awareness of Southern Africa.
  
• Founder, Seafarer's House, an ecumenical non-profit that connects seafarers to their families and emphasizes human rights.
  
  

Helen Pratt Mickens '76 - 2006

• Professor and Associate Dean of Community Relations at Thomas M. Cooley Law School
  
• Fellow of the State Bar of Michigan and has served on the board of directors of the Ingham County Bar Association

Dr. John D. Montgomery '41 - 1988

• Ford Foundation Professor of International Studies, Harvard University
• Served US Army and was instrumental in planning the rebuilding of Hiroshima
• Publisher of 15 books and numerous articles
  

Dr. Gilbert F. Otto '26 - 1989

• Adjunct Professor of Zoology and Senior Research Associate, University of Maryland
• Previous Assistant to the Vice President and Director of Personnel, Abbott Laboratories
• Consultant, FDA, World Health Organization, National Institutes of Health, and the National Academy of Science
  

Mr. Guy L. Perry '27 - 1988

• Founder and Chairman of the Board, G.L. Perry, Inc.
• Founded his first store in 1939, Elkhart, Indiana
• Expanded the first store into 14 stores located in Michigan and Indiana

Mr. Harley R. Pierce '51 - 1993

• Head Football and Tennis Coach, Sturgis High School, MI
• National High School Tennis Coach of the Year, 1979
• Michigan High School Football Coach of the Year, 1969 and 1974

Dr. Fred O. Pinkham '42 - 1989

• Associate Director of the Morrison Institute for Population and Resource Studies, Stanford University
• Previous President and Chief Executive Officer, Population Crisis Committee
• Previous President, Ripon College
  

Mr. Jack P. Ragotzy '48 - 1993

• Producer and Director, The Barn Theatre, Augusta, MI
• Director, Several Broadway and Off-Broadway Productions
• Director, Actor, Writer, various TV programs

Dr. William R. Rogers '54 - 1985

• President and Professor of Religion and Psychology, Guilford College
• Author, Nourishing the Humanistic in Medicine: Interactions with the Social Sciences, Project Listening and The Alienated Student

Mr. Daniel M. Ryan '42 - 1975

• Publisher, Kalamazoo Gazette
• Community Leader

Dr. John Sarno '44 - 2004

• Innovator in back pain therapy as a result of the mind-body process
• Author, Mind Over Back Pain, Healing Back Pain, and The Mindbody Prescrpition

Hon. Myra Selby '77 - 1998

• Justice, Indiana Supreme Court
• Previous Director of Health Policy

Rev. P. Ronald Spann '65 - 1999

• Rector, Church of the Messiah
• Focuses on providing decent, affordable housing for low income families through the renovation and rehabilitation of existing dwellings
• Church of the Messiah Housing Corporation (CHMC), which provides consulting services to other non-profit groups involved in community development, was formed under Rev. Spann
  

Dr. Laurence E. Strong '36 - 1984

• Professor of Chemistry, Kalamazoo College and Earlham College
• Research Professor, Earlham College
• Director, Chemical Bond Approach Project

Mr. Gene Tidrick '64 - 2004

• Expert in development economics, serving as one of the World Bank's lead economists in China, India, and Southern Africa
• Author, Accelerated Development in Sub-Saharan Africa (still recognized as one of the most significant works on Africa), Leading Issues in Economic Development, co-author of China: Long-Term Issues and Options and Can Africa Claim the 21st Century?

Dr. Peter S. Tippett '75 - 2005

• CEO of Cybertrust and creator of the antivrius product purchased by Norton AntiVirus
• 1998 Entrepreneur of the Year and listed on 2002's "25 Most Influential CTOs" by InfoWorld Media Group

Dr. Frank S. Tomkins '37 - 1990

• Senior Scientist, Metallurgical Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory
• Scientific Observer, US atom bomb test on Bikini
• Department of State Technical Advisor, US delegation to the Second International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy
  

Dr. Margaret E. Waid '40 - 1987

• Associate Medical Director, Central Indiana Regional Blood Center
• Previous Chairperson of the Medical Technology Department, Florida International University
• Cancer Education Coordinator and Pathology Instructor, Florida International University.

Dr. John W. Warner '66 - 1990

• Chairman, President and CEO, Taunton Technologies, Inc.
• Previous Acting Chief, Research Flight Programs Development Branch at NASA Headquarters

Mr. Craig S. Wells '75 - 1989

• Owner and Operator, Craig Wells Photography
• Recipient of National Gold and Silver Awards for Photography

Kathleen West '77 - 2001

• Co-Founder, SHIELDS for Families Projects, Inc.
• Director, Drug Endangered Children Resource Center and Clearinghouse
• Consultant, Center for Child Protection, Children's Hospital of San Diego, and National Advocacy on Addictions in Los Angeles

Mr. Owen W. Williams '48 - 1986

• Deputy Director of Management and Technology, Defense Mapping Agency, US Department of Defense
• Assisted with the development of the fields of satellite geodesy, laser geodesy, airborne gravimetry, and the establishment of the World Gravity Standardization Network

Ms. Marcia J. Wood '55 - 1986

• Professor of Art, Kalamazoo College
• National Sculptor Exhibitor