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News Release

Last modified: Tuesday, December 19, 2006

IUAA honors alumni volunteers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 19, 2006

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University Alumni Association recently honored eight alumni with its 2006 President's Awards for their volunteer service to IU and their local communities. The alumni reside in the state of Indiana and represent all eight IU campuses.

The President's Award is the highest honor bestowed by the association on alumni volunteers. The awards were presented Dec. 8 during a banquet at the Indianapolis Artsgarden.

This year's recipients were John G. Ashman, of Muncie; Robert J. Deputy, of Elkhart; Martha B. Gutmann, of Jeffersonville; Robert L. Hayes Sr., of Kokomo; Christine M. Jakacky, of Indianapolis; Lawrence H. Lee, of Fort Wayne; Viktoria D. Voller, of Valparaiso; and James R. White, of Indianapolis.

"These special alumni are the epitome of dedicated servants of their alma mater," said Ken Beckley, president and chief executive officer of the IU Alumni Association. "Thousands of alumni have served the university well through the Alumni Association and continue to do so today. IU is fortunate to have such dedication available to help carry out its mission."

The banquet also included the awarding of the 2006-07 Jerry Foster Memorial Scholarship. Valued at $1,500, the scholarship is granted to a full-time undergraduate student on any IU campus who is the son or daughter of an IUAA alumni chapter officer or board member. This year's recipient is Matthew J. Ryder, of Boca Raton, Fla. Ryder, a junior at IU Bloomington, studies marketing in the Kelley School of Business and is a student manager for the IU men's basketball team. His mother, Nancy Ryder, serves on the board of the Palm Beach (Fla.) chapter.

Following are brief bios for each President's Award recipient:

John G. Ashman, of Muncie, has practiced optometry for 43 years. He is a partner at the Family Vision Center in Muncie. He received his bachelor's degree in optometry in 1962 and his master's degree in optometry in 1963, both at IUB. Ashman serves on the IUAA Executive Council as a representative of the School of Optometry and is a Hoosiers for Higher Education community captain. He is past president of the Woodburn Guild, and in 1992−93, he was national chairman of the IU Alumni Association. He also was on the board of the Delaware County (Ind.) Chapter of the IUAA and served on the IUAA Strategic Directions Task Force, 2005-2010. Ashman is a member of the Indiana Optometric Association, which has named him Optometrist of the Year, and of Rotary International. He also has received the IUPUI Spirit of Philanthropy award. He is a life member of the IUAA.

Robert J. Deputy, of Elkhart, is president and CEO of Godfrey Marine. He received a bachelor's degree in finance in 1960 and an MBA in 1962, both at the Kelley School of Business at IUB. However, his involvement with IU is most evident on the South Bend campus. He is an active participant in the IU South Bend advisory board and is on the steering committee of the campus' Elkhart Project, a unique campaign to raise private funds for a permanent Elkhart facility. Additionally, he has served as president of the Elkhart County (Ind.) Chapter of the IUAA. He is a member of Hoosiers for Higher Education, the Varsity Club Hoosier Hundred and the IU Foundation Well House Society. He is a life member of the IUAA. Deputy received IUSB's Lewis S. Armstrong Award for 1996-97. This honor recognizes distinguished achievement, leadership and contributions to the advancement of business and the quality of life in Elkhart County. It is presented each year by the School of Business and Economics at IUSB.

Martha Barry Gutmann, of Jeffersonville, is a registered nurse at Jewish Hospital of Louisville, Ky. She completed a bachelor's degree in nursing in 1985 and a master's degree in education in 1987, both at IU Southeast. While working on her second degree, she worked as an academic counselor in the nursing program, where she assisted countless students. Gutmann is on the board of the Clark Memorial Hospital Foundation, is active in Leadership Southern Indiana and is board president of Hospice of Southern Indiana. She regularly attends IUS alumni events and has assisted with many fundraisers that benefit alumni programming. She is a life member of the IU Alumni Association and a regular contributor to the IU Foundation.

Robert L. Hayes Sr., of Kokomo, is a product line purchasing leader at Delphi Electronics and Safety. He received a bachelor's degree in general studies degree at IU Kokomo in 1995. Hayes serves as vice president of the IU Kokomo Alumni Association's board of directors and as co-chairman of its membership committee. He is the IUK representative to the IU Continuing Studies Alumni Association board of directors. Hayes has taken an active part in several IUKAA programs including Relay for Life, IU vs. Purdue game-watching parties and the Old Ben 5K Run/Walk. He also has been featured in a video that touts IUK and its importance to the 11-county service region, and an IU basketball halftime show that focused on successful regional-campus alumni.

Christine M. Jakacky, of Indianapolis, is a licensed clinical social worker. She received a bachelor's degree in social work in 1995 and a master's degree in social work in 1998, both from IU. She has had extensive professional experience in working with adults and children who are trying to cope with their individual grief journeys. In addition to her work in bereavement, Jakacky is a social worker at Ruth Lilly Hospice of Clarian and at the End-Of-Life Palliative Care Unit at Methodist Hospital, both in Indianapolis. Jakacky has served on the IU School of Social Work Alumni Association board of directors since 1998, and she is completing her second term as president. She has been instrumental in the creation of the mental-health conference that more than 200 alumni attend each year, the establishment of three scholarship funds at the school and the implementation of a student and alumni program series. She also has served on numerous committees at the school and campus level.

Lawrence H. Lee, of Fort Wayne, is owner and president of Leepoxy Plastics Inc. He earned a bachelor's degree in government in 1966 at IUB. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa, he went on to receive a law degree from Harvard University in 1969. Lee has served the Alumni Association as president and board member for the Northeast Indiana Chapter of the IUAA, as an Executive Council member, as a Hoosiers for Higher Education community captain and as a member of the Strategic Directions Task Force, 2005-2010. Lee has been a loyal supporter of the athletics program at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. He was a charter member and board president, among many other roles, for the IPFW Royal Dons Athletic Club. In 2006 he became a charter member of the IPFW Athletics Hall of Fame. His generous financial contributions to the campus will benefit the Student Services Complex and countless athletics scholarships for many years to come. In 1986 Lee received the IUAA's Ralph E. Broyles Medal for outstanding service to the campus. He also received an honorary degree from Purdue University in 2001 for his exemplary service to IPFW. He is a life member of the IUAA.

Viktoria Danning Voller, of Valparaiso, has had several careers in education. She was born in Southern California, studied at the University of California Berkeley, and finished her bachelor's degree at the University of North Dakota. She received an additional certification in fine arts at Valparaiso University and has taught for the Gary (Ind.) Community School Corp. She earned a master's degree in education at IU Northwest in 1976. Voller has served as director of continuing education at Purdue University North Central, vice president of human resources and training at Family Express Corp., and executive director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center at Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana. She currently volunteers as a council member for the Campagna Academy charter school and as a board member for the Gary Chamber of Commerce, the IU Northwest Center for Regional Sustainability, and the Northwest Indiana Humane Society. She has been recognized for her service to others by Pi Lambda Theta, the Northwest Indiana Health Alliance and the Jewish Historical Society. She is past president of the IU Northwest Alumni Association, a member of Hoosiers for Higher Education, a member of the Regional Campus Constituent Society Task Force and a life member of the IUAA.

Retired Col. James R. White, of Indianapolis, was a member of the first graduating class at IU East. A native of Richmond, Ind., he earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice studies from IU East in 1979 and a master's degree in education from Butler University in 1982. He is one of the founding members of the campus' constituent society, established in 1989. He is a member of the IU East Alumni Association's board of directors and has been instrumental in the restructuring and redefining of the association's vision and mission. He is a life member of the IUAA. His military education includes the Army Combined Arms Services Staff School, the Army Command and General Staff College, and the Army War College, where he studied at Tufts University as an Army Fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He has served his state and country in uniform for more than 40 years. He is now a clinical lecturer for the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

The Indiana University Alumni Association is dedicated to serving the university and its diverse alumni, students and friends. As one of the nation's largest alumni organizations, serving nearly 490,000 graduates worldwide, the IUAA provides many programs and services to its members, non-member alumni and the university. For information, visit https://www.alumni.indiana.edu or call (800) 824-3044.

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