St. Norbert College Honors Alumni Award Recipients

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From St. Norbert College, October 20, 2015
by Mariah Doughman, mariah.doughman@snc.edu, 920-403-3089

The 2015 Alumni Award recipients were honored at a banquet Wednesday, Oct. 14, by the St. Norbert College board of trustees, alumni board and the alumni and parent relations office.

The awards are given each year to honor alumni accomplishments that exemplify St. Norbert College's goal to serve others.

Tracy Galarowicz, a 1991 graduate, received the Distinguished Achievement Award in Natural Sciences. As professor and chair in the biology department at Central Michigan University, Galarowicz has earned not only the Outstanding Teaching Award in CMU's College of Science and Technology, but also, in 2010, a university-wide Excellence in Teaching Award. Her work studying several species of game fish in the Great Lakes has brought in more than a half-million dollars in grants to her university. She is known by her colleagues to be extremely dedicated to her students' success, and mentors numerous undergraduate and graduate students and, along with serving the university, she also sits on the board of directors of the Chippewa Nature Center.

Paul and Carol Gehl were presented the Distinguished Service to the SNC Community Award. They have been providing scholarships at St. Norbert and other colleges to students from Hilbert, Wis., and the surrounding area for many years through decades of determination and hard work. The Gehls have played critical roles in nearly all of the college's major initiatives over the last 30 years, with Paul Gehl having served as a trustee for a quarter century. Recently, they provided gifts that would help fund the creation of our new Gehl-Mulva Science Center. Along with their service to St. Norbert College, they have been a driving force behind the renovation of Hilbert's historic buildings and the continued good health of its business community.

Rich Siegel, a 1972 graduate, was presented the Distinguished Achievement Award in Public Service. He worked in the probation office of the Cook County Juvenile Court in Chicago where he worked day in and day out with young men and women facing life-changing crises. He also began serving as a part-time crisis worker at a local YMCA that he would continue to serve for 20 years. There he was part of a team that provided much-needed services in the south suburban area of Chicago such as implementing plans in runaway situations. From there, Siegel went on to work as a juvenile court liaison for the Montefiore Special School, the Chicago Public School System's citywide facility for behaviorally disordered and emotionally disturbed boys. Most recently, Rich has been working with the public defender's office in a new program, through which he advocates for clients seeking fair and reasonable bonds in criminal cases.

Miriam Mulva, a 1969 graduate, was presented the Alma Mater Award, which is presented to an alum who has demonstrated distinction in his or her chosen field and lives a life reflecting the Norbetine spirit and Christian ideals. Due to Miriam's and her husband, Jim's, generosity, St. Norbert College has been able to produce great academic structures on the campus that include the Miriam B. and James J. Mulva Library and, together with Paul and Carol Gehl, the Gehl-Mulva Science Center. Both of these buildings will work towards the advancement of the college and have already shown great results in admission and partnerships with the college such as the Medical College of Wisconsin. She is also an active and engaged member of the college's board of trustees, demonstrating exemplary leadership as vice chair of the advancement committee. Many of our students owe their SNC experiences in great measure to Miriam; she and Jim consistently fund scholarships through annual giving.