Distinguished Alumni Award
The Distinguished Alumni Award is presented annually to up to two Stetson University alumni who, through outstanding achievements in their lives and professions, have brought distinction and special recognition to Stetson University.
See the dates below to view award recipients and their bios.
Michael Pleus '94, MBA '99
Michael received his BA from Stetson University in Political Science in 1994 and MBA from Stetson University in 1999. He currently is the City Manager for the City of DeLand and has been in that role since 2008, but his career in Public Administration began back in 1994 as an Intern in the County Manager’s Office, thanks to the guidance of former professor Dr. T Wayne Bailey. Michael is a Past-President of the Florida City and County Management Association, he is a member of the DeLand Breakfast Rotary and Past President of the Kiwanis Club of DeLand. He currently serves on the Executive Committee for Team Volusia Economic Development Corporation, the Board of Directors for Volusia/Flagler Commission on Homelessness, is the Treasurer for the Community and Support Services Board for Catholic Charities of Central Florida, and the Board of Directors for the Florida League of Cities.
As City Manager of DeLand, Michael has worked with Stetson University through multiple initiatives that have embodied Stetson’s mission to provide an education for students that will prepare them to reach their full potential as informed citizens. Examples of his service to Stetson over the past two decades include judging Stetson's Model Senate, teaching Public Management courses, providing input on Stetson's selection of the University President in 2008 and 2019, and creating a city partnership with Stetson that led to growth and successes on both sides. Over the years Michael has earned numerous service awards ranging from the Boy Scouts of America Golden Eagle Award and the Spring Hill Community Neighborhood Association’s Exceptional Community Partner Award, to the NAACP Difference Maker of the Year, the Stetson University Civic Responsibility Award, and the Salvation Army Community Service Award.
Michael and his wife Vickie have been married for nearly 25 years and live in DeLand. They have one son Nicholas who is a Cadet at United States Military Academy at West Point.
John Mills '04
John graduated in 2004 from Stetson University, majoring in Religious Studies and during his time as a student, he was the recipient of the Algernon Syndey Sullivan Award and the June Brooks Award for Activism. John is also a 2008 graduate of Cornell Law School, where he received the Freeman Award for Civil-Human Rights.
Mills is a founder and the executive director of Phillips Black, Inc., an organization committed to providing excellent representation of clients facing execution or sentences to die in prison. At Phillips Black, John has successfully represented death-sentenced inmates at every stage of post-conviction litigation, including before the United States Supreme Court. In addition to teaching law school courses at University of California College of Law in San Francisco, he frequently authors scholarly articles and presents continuing legal education courses on capital punishment at national conferences. He also serves on the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Due Process Review Committee.
Before founding Phillips Black, John served as an attorney at the Habeas Corpus Resource Center, where he represented California inmates under a sentence of death and conducted strategic litigation on their behalf, including on litigation that continues to limit the state’s ability to execute his clients.
- 2022 - Randall Elliott '63
- 2022 - Cassandra Kellam Jackson '84, JD '96
- 2021 - Shaundra Kellam Lewis '95
- 2021 - Thomas Rebman, MEd '11
- 2020 - Steven Alexander '85
- 2020 - Kimberly Bonner '86
- 2020 - Yvonne Chang, MBA '09
- 2019 - Gino Santos '82
- 2018 - Andrew Daire '91, MS '93
- 2018 - Pamela Epting '86
- 2017 - Julia Nesheiwat '97
- 2017 - Charles A. Wolfe '85
- 2016 - Leopoldo "Leo" Pujals '73
- 2015 - Alethea Bonello '98
- 2015 - Todd DuBosq '01
- 2015 - Robert L. Moore '63
- 2014 - Nsaa-Lya Kihunrwa, MBA '03
- 2014 - Anne Greene Solomon '63
- 2013 - H. Frank Farmer '64
- 2013 - Kaye Wachsmuth '66
- 2012 - Chris K. Brigham '77
- 2012 - Richard W. Cheston '79
- 2012 - Shirrel Rhoades '64
- 2011 - V. Inez Archibald, MA '85
- 2011 - Laurette T. Koellner, MBA '80
- 2011 - Jim Shore '77, JD '80
- 2010 - Jane E. Eckert '70
- 2010 - Lewis M. Kling, MBA '71
- 2010 - Michael H. Yeargan '69
- 2009 - William C. Gaventa, Jr. '69
- 2009 - Gordon H. "Nick" Mueller '61
- 2008 - F. Amos Bailey '79
- 2008 - Shephard W. Hill '75
- 2008 - James W. Lea '64, MA '65
- 2007 - Emory E. "Pete" Dunn '72
- 2007 - George C. Edwards III '69
- 2007 - Timothy O. Olagbemiro '71
- 2006 - Angelita S. Floyd '74
- 2006 - Robin Marino '76
- 2006 - David S. Marsh '75
- 2006 - Joe Negron '83
- 2005 - Cesar Gonzmart '41
- 2005 - Lois Thacker Graessle '39
- 2005 - R. Dean Hollis '82
- 2005 - Jon D. Solomon, MBA '90
- 2005 - Bingham L. Vick '66
- 2004 - Bruce Berkowitz '76
- 2004 - J. Craig Crawford '78, JD '81
- 2004 - Amy Horton ''77
- 2004 - Carroll E. Lewis '53
- 2004 - William J. Schneider '66
- 2003 -J. Barry Griswell, MBA '72
- 2003 - Lawrence R. Johnston '72
- 2003 - Willa Dean Lowery '48
- 2002 - Gwendolyn Azama-Edwards '70, MA '83
- 2002 - Jill K. Jinks '79
- 2002 - Elizabeth Walker Mechling '67
- 2002 - Jay E. Mechling '67
- 2002 - James Nemec '32, LLB '36*
- 2001 - M. Lisa Carlton '86
- 2001 - Elizabeth Bergin Johns '62
- 2001 - Richard W. Pearce '55, JD '55, MA '57
- 2001 - Nancy Naylor Rue '73
- 2000 - William Clay Henderson '77
- 2000 - Joseph W. Landers, Jr. '64, JD '70
- 2000 - George H. Shriver '53
- 1999 - Diane M. Disney '63
- 1999 - M. Jean Greenlaw '62, MA '65
- 1999 - William T. Newsome III '74
- 1998 - William L. Cypress '65
- 1998 - Edward C. Furlong, Jr. '38, MA '41, Hon. '83*
- 1998 - Mel H. Gregory '58
- 1998 - David B. Rinker '62
- 1998 - Leighan Roberts Rinker '65
- 1997 - Wendy Harmer Baldwin '67
- 1997 - Lee R. Cole '67
- 1997 - Milton O. Jones '55
- 1997 - George Winston '71
- 1996 - Leroy K. New '42
- 1996 - William J. Roberts '53, MA '57, LLB '58
- 1995 - A. Dano Davis '68, Hon. '90
- 1995 - Herbert E. Phillips '36
- 1995 - Arthur P. Sullivan '62
- 1995 - Teruo Tanaka, MA '59
- 1994 - J. Ollie Edmunds '25*
- 1994 - Bruce R. Jacob, JD '59
- 1994 - Kenneth P. Kirchman '58, Hon. '80
- 1993 - J. Kermit Coble '53
- 1993 - William D. Jones '51*
- 1993 - M. Lee McGraw '79
- 1993 - Dennis C. McNamara '44, Hon. '82, Hon. '86
- 1992 - Jean F. Dickman '50
- 1992 - Joseph J. Master '58, MA '58, Hon. '95
- 1992 - Carolyn Miller Parr '59, Hon. '86
- 1992 - W. Morgan Patterson '50, Hon. 79
- 1991 - J. Wendell Crysel '59
- 1991 - Helen Quincy Woodard '20*
- 1990 - Frances Rutledge Hand '49
- 1990 - Murray Sams '49, Hon. '83
- 1989 - Vanita M. Baldwin '48, Hon. '90
- 1989 - George R. Borders '61
- 1989 - Craig T. James '63, JD '67
- 1989 - Louie L. Wilkinson '48
- 1988 - Jon L. Mills '69, Hon. '86
- 1988 - James C. Smith, JD '67, Hon. '86
- 1986 - Judith M. Dixon '74
- 1986 - E. Everette Huskey '48
- 1985 - Thomas P. Prince '67
- 1985 - Jack D. Woodall '58
- 1985 - Shelly Crittendon Zwick '63
- 1984 - Charles B. Bugg '65
- 1984 - Chris F. Hasty '70
- 1984 - Lana Jane Lewis-Brent '68
- 1984 - W. Harold Parham '49
- 1984 - E. Clay Shaw '61, JD '66, Hon. '02
- 1983 - Richard A. Beauchamp '63
- 1983 - Joseph B. Folds, Sr. '37*
- 1983 - Cecil W. Holley '54
- 1983 - Barbara Deveaux Holmes '69, MEd '72, Hon. '91
- 1983 - Howard S. Warner '33*
- 1982 - Mary Allgaier Dunn, MA '59
- 1982 - Harry E. Gaylord '36*
- 1982 - Mark C. Hollis '56, Hon. '89
- 1982 - Mary McCollough Mauldin '61
- 1982 - Earnest W. Murphy, Jr. '54, Hon. '94
- 1982 - R. Grady Snowden, Sr. '29, Hon. '96*
- 1981 - E. Ross Allen '29
- 1981 - Jacquelyn Hogue Gentry '58
- 1981 - David P. Houchens '59
- 1981 - David B. Legters '31
- 1981 - Richard D. Pope, Sr. '24
- 1981 - William A. Watson '59
- 1981 - Pat T. Wilson '49
- 1981 - Patricia Maxcy Wilson '47
- 1980 - Thomas J. Deen, Jr. '48
- 1980 - Mary Leary 1902
- 1980 - D. Peter Mazur '52*
- 1980 - Ernest A. Rano '35*
- 1979 - James R. Golden '42
- 1979 - Ralph F. Hansen '29
- 1979 - Joseph T. Sutton '48
- 1978 - Cecil C. Bailey '27, Hon. '78*
- 1978 - Carl M. Kuttler, Jr., JD '65
- 1978 - Clyde C. McCully '49
- 1978 - W. Ret Turner '50
- 1977 - Barbara Rowe, MA '42
- 1977 - Etter McTeer Turner '35, MA '36, Hon. '83*
- 1976 - Clarabel Brandon Jett '32*
- 1976 - William C. Kaleel '56, LLB '59
- 1976 - Jan J. Wieckowski '50, MA '51
- 1975 - Thomas R. Horton '49, Hon. '82
- 1974 - Fran Stewart Carlton '58
- 1974 - Vassar B. Carlton '37, Hon. '84
- 1974 - Cartha D. DeLoach '42, Hon. '66
- 1974 - Harris P. Gravely '44
- 1974 - Edward B. Henderson '27, MS '28
- 1974 - Wm. Amory Underhill '36, Hon. '69*
- 1973 - Priscilla Kauth Griffith, MA '63
- 1973 - John C. Howell '49, Hon. '79
- 1973 - Sara Staff Jernigan '35, MA '37
- 1972 - Grady Crawford '39
- 1972 - Morris Duane '27, Hon. '65*
- 1972 - J. Thomas Smith '28
- 1971 - Walter Auffenberg '51
- 1971 - Richard T. Dillon, JD '57
- 1971 - Raymond G. Dunne '53, MA '57*
- 1971 - David W. Marcell '58
- 1971 - Ronald S. Spencer '51
- 1971 - Redden J. Thames '58
- 1970 - Max Cleland '64, Hon. '77
- 1970 - Elizabeth A. Kovachevich '61
- 1969 - Robert E. Jagger '58
*- Now Deceased