At Stetson University’s Homecoming 2014, the following individuals were recognized as this year’s alumni award honorees.

Distinguished Service Award is given each year in recognition of outstanding service to Stetson University.

• Jane Edmunds Novak, daughter of former Stetson President Dr. J. Ollie Edmunds and wife Emily, graduated from Wake Forest University and attended the New York School of Interior Design. She worked as an interior designer in New York and Atlanta and in 1987 established her own design business in Greenville, Miss., after she and her husband, Wayne, moved there to establish a new factory for his family business. Novak operated The Decorative Touch for 12 years before she and her husband retired to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Jane has served on Stetson’s Board of Trustees since 1996, co-chairing the Board’s Legacy Celebration Committee for Stetson’s 125th Anniversary and the tribute to former President H. Douglas Lee upon his retirement. She also served on our $200M Campaign Host Committee. Continuing her family’s legacy of service to Stetson, Novak has supported the J. Ollie Edmunds Distinguished Scholarship Program, the most prestigious scholarship Stetson offers. She has also helped perpetuate a culture of service by establishing several awards to recognize outstanding individuals within the Stetson community while continuing to encourage others to engage in a life of service. She serves on the board of Gualala Redwoods Inc., a family-owned redwood forest company in Northern California, and serves as chair of Third Growth Foundation, Inc. She and her husband are trustees of the Emily E. Novak Charitable Remainder Unitrust. Jane serves on the board of the Cultural Center of Ponte Vedra Beach and volunteers with the Wolfson Children’s Hospital Auxiliary in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit.

The George and Mary Hood Award is given in recognition of passion for, and commitment and contributions to, Stetson and its core values.

• Hyatt Brown, Hon. ’92, and his wife Cici Brown, Hon. ’07, are the recipients of this year’s Hood Award. The Browns have long shown a deep regard for Stetson and its mission and values, from service on the Board of Trustees to the recent establishment of the Brown Center for Faculty Innovation and Excellence. They previously endowed the Brown Faculty Fellow & Visiting Professor Program, and numerous students have benefitted from the Browns’ scholarship support through the years.
• Hyatt Brown is a graduate of the University of Florida. He holds both Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designations. He was a member of the Florida House of Representatives (1972-80) and Speaker of the House (1978-80), and has remained active in numerous civic organizations. From 1961 to 2007, Hyatt served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Brown & Brown, Inc., a publicly owned corporation, and now serves as Chairman of the Board. He was the driving force behind the company’s expansion, which has made it the sixth largest insurance intermediary/brokerage in the country and the world. Today, the company has more than 200 offices in 41 states as well as three foreign offices. He has served 33 years on the Stetson University Board of Trustees, including one term as chair, and currently chairs the Finance Committee.
• Cynthia (Cici) Brown graduated from Westbrook College in Portland, Maine. In 1961, she moved to New York City, where she joined the executive training program at Saks Fifth Avenue and became a buyer. Deeply devoted to her community, she is a founding member of the Cultural Arts Council of Volusia County, serving on its Board of Directors for 12 years. She also served on the Florida Humanities Council State Board for several years, and is a member of the local United Way Alexis de Tocqueville Society. Cici has worked with the Museum of Arts & Sciences in Daytona Beach continually since 1971 and served for three years as President of its Board of Trustees. She has served on the Stetson University Board of Trustees for 15 years and also served 12 years (including one term as chair) on the College of Arts and Sciences Board of Advisors.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is presented annually to up to four Stetson University alumni who, through outstanding achievement in their lives and professions, have brought distinction and special recognition to Stetson.

• Nsaa-Iya Kihunrwa, MBA ’03, is one of two recipients of this award this year. At Stetson, “N.K.” helped create CHOMI-RAFIKI, a thriving microcredit program in Tanzania. Now a program director at The Jane Goodall Institute in Tanzania, he is also one of the founding members of Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, a global environmental and humanitarian program for young people. While in the United States, he was instrumental in setting up Roots & Shoots clubs, especially in Florida. Kihunrwa also teaches environmental art to young people and is founder and executive secretary of the Dar Art Youths (DAY) art group. Since 1998, he has been involved in coordinating various initiatives that demonstrate care and concern for the human community in Tanzania.

• Anne Greene Solomon ’63, also received this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award. An English major at Stetson,she earned a Master of Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and studied Mandarin Chinese at the Yale-in-China Center in Hong Kong, SAR. Now the senior advisor for science and technology policy at The Center for Study of Presidency & Congress, Solomon focuses on foreign policy and economic and security implications of science and technology globalization. In the mid-1990s, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science, Technology and Health at the Department of State, overseeing U.S. bilateral and multinational science and technology ties, international health initiatives and civilian and commercial health space activities. She began her career at the National Academy of Sciences and also worked with the Carter Administration where her responsibilities included developing the first U.S.-China science and technology agreement. Solomon is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Committee on US-China Relations.

The Outstanding Young Alumni Award is presented to alumni of Stetson University who are 35 years of age or younger. The award recognizes contributions to society, to a profession or to the university. Recipients must demonstrate significant accomplishment or promise in their fields; leadership; or civic, cultural or charitable involvement.

• Isa Marie Adney ’09 is this year’s recipient of the Outstanding Young Alumni Award. A first-generation college graduate with a degree in communications, Adney went on to earn an M.Ed. in Training and Development at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign while serving as student life coordinator at Seminole State College. Her book, Community College Success, was published in 2012 and has been called “groundbreaking.” A motivational speaker on such topics as student success and breaking the cycle of poverty, Adney has been selected for GOOD Magazine’s list of 100 People Pushing the World Forward. She serves on the board of the Florida College System Foundation, shares advice on her blog and YouTube channel, and founded the #SoCanU Project to help students around the world share their college success stories.

The Stetson University Alumni Awards can be viewed online. GO HATTERS!