UNO Alumni Association issues 2003 Outstanding Service Awards

(OMAHA, NE) � The UNO Alumni Association issued four of its Outstanding Service Awards during the organization's annual Chairman of the Board Dinner Sept. 12. The dinner is held in appreciation of the efforts of the 27-member UNO Alumni Association Board of Directors.

The Association also bestowed its inaugural Outstanding Nebraska Legislator Award on State Senator Roger Wehrbein at the dinner. For more on that award click here.

Both awards were presented by Association Chairman of the Board Kevin Naylor, who hosted the dinner aboard the Union Pacific Railroad Dinner Train. Naylor is assistant vice president of human resources planning at Union Pacific.

Outstanding Service Awards honor faculty, staff, alumni or friends who have shown continuous, outstanding service to the Alumni Association and/or university. Receiving 2003 Outstanding Service Awards were Michael Markey, George Sinos and Kevin Vanourney, and Don Winters. (Pictured above, from left: Winters, Markey, Sinos, Naylor, Outstanding Nebraska Legislator Award recipient and State Senator Roger Wehrbein, Vanourney).

Michael Markey

Michael Markey is managing director of the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival (NSF), a non-profit, professional theatre company based in Omaha. Markey, who has a BS (1982) and an MA (1988) from UNO in dramatic art, has been with NFS since 1990.

The festival produces two plays each summer in its Shakespeare on the Green series. The performances are held adjacent to UNO's campus at Elmwood Park and are free and open to the public. It is one of the top draws to the UNO campus each year, more than 35,000 people attending each season's productions.

Markey additionally has been instrumental in recent years helping the Association host an alumni night at the production, preceded by a picnic. A founding member of Omaha's Circle Theatre, Markey has numerous professional acting and directing credits on stage and in film.

George Sinos and Kevin Vanourney

George Sinos and Kevin Vanourney played instrumental roles in the extensive redesign of the Alumni Association's website, www.unoalumni.org. Both are UNO graduates and both work at Omaha Public Power District.

Sinos graduated in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in electronic technology. He is OPPD's IT manager overseeing software engineering for OPPD's Energy Services Group, which works directly with customers. Sinos heads teams supporting the Customer Information System, OPPD's website and the company's internal corporate intranet.

Vanourney graduated in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in management information systems and will receive an MBA from UNO in December. He is a programmer/analyst with OPPD's Energy Services Group. He designs and programs web applications for management and employees in various OPPD divisions and departments.

Sinos and Vanourney devoted considerable time, discussion and effort during the Association's redesign of its website, which was published in May 2003. The pair provided input into the site's restructured mapping, its functionality, design and layout. Vanourney provided additional assistance by creating a mock site that the Association provided to its eventual web provider, thus saving the Association considerable expense.

Don Winters

Don Winters is past chairman of the Association's Board of Directors. During his tenure as chairman the Association raised $50,000 at the annual Chancellor's Scholarship Swing golf outing. Winters has been active on the committee organizing the Swing, the Association's biggest single fund-raiser each year. The event helps raise money to provide UNO Alumni Legacy Scholarships to children of UNO graduates.

Winters also oversaw creation of the Chancellor's ConAgra Foods Scholarship, a $3,250 award presented this year at the Swing to freshman Justin Ptacnik.

Winters is a 1969 UNO graduate with a bachelor's degree in accounting. He is director of employee benefits at ConAgra Foods. He has been a member of the UNO Alumni Association Board of Directors since 1998.

An Outstanding Service Award was presented earlier this year to Jim Leslie, president and CEO of the Alumni Association, in honor of his 30 years in that capacity. The award was presented June 6 at the Association's Founders' Day Luncheon celebrating the organization's 90-year anniversary.

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