The UNO
Alumni Association issued its Outstanding Service Awards during the
organization's Board of Directors Annual Meeting Tuesday, Dec. 13.
Outstanding
Service Awards honor faculty, staff, alumni or friends who have shown
continuous, outstanding service to the Alumni Association and/or university.
Ninety-five OSAs have been issued since the award's institution in 1974.
Receiving 2005 Outstanding Service Awards were Jim Czyz, John Wilson and Stephen
Bodner.
Jim Czyz and John Wilson
Jim Czyz
and John Wilson have been instrumental in the success
of the Association's annual Chancellor's Scholarship Swing. Held last September
for the 25th
consecutive year, the Swing raised $50,000 for student scholarships. Since the
UNO Alumni Association began hosting the tournament 10 years ago, more than
$300,000 has been raised for scholarships.
Both UNO graduates, Czyz ('71) and
Wilson ('78) chaired the committee that oversaw the tournament's
organization. Their efforts included securing financial support from
numerous businesses via hole sponsorships and prize donations, organizing the
tournament schedule and recruiting participants to golf.
"It's been said that if you want a
job done, give it to a busy person," said Sheila King, director of Alumni
Programming and Activities. "And though Jim and John have busy professional and
personal lives, both have generously applied their invaluable time and
expertise to making the Swing a continued success.
"Their leadership has been
absolutely essential to this event. I admire their willingness to give back to
their alma mater."
Czyz and Wilson joined the Swing
committee in 2000. Their co-chairmanship ended in 2005, but both will continue
to assist the committee in advisory capacities. Czyz is president
of Cummins Central Power. Wilson is president of Durham Resources
Stephen Bodner was chairman of the
Association's Board of Directors in 2004. He was the 80th graduate to lead the
organization since 1913.
During Bodner's tenure as chairman the
Association:
• Began plans for the 2005 expansion
and renovation to the William H. and Dorothy Thompson Alumni Center;
• Raised $442,883 in unrestricted
donations, a 3-percent increase over unrestricted donations contributed in
2003, and attracted 5,287 unrestricted donors, a 5-percent jump from 2003;
• Offered a record-50 UNO Alumni Legacy
Scholarships to first-year students who are children of UNO graduates;
• Expanded the UNO Alum magazine into a 48-page publication with additional
content provided by UNO's colleges.
Bodner was a member of the UNO Alumni
Association Board of Directors for 10 years, joining the organization in 1996.
A 1975 UNO graduate with a BSBA, he is senior vice
president, commercial banking, for U.S. Bank.
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