2016 Citations of Merit recognize dedicated alumni and friends, awards recognize top faculty and students

Annually, the Trulaske College of Business hosts Honors Luncheon to recognize students, faculty, alumni and friends for their accomplishments. This year’s event welcomed a packed room at the Reynolds Alumni Center. Below is a list of some of the top awardees:

• Emerging Leaders – Brent Templeton and Elizabeth Triplett
• Alumnus of the Year – José Gutiérrez
• Faculty Member of the Year – Billie Cunningham
• Staff Member of the Year – Shannon Breske
• Delta Sigma Pi Key – Christopher Huetsch
• Student Leadership Awards – Katie Bartlett, Kyle Holtzman, Tyler Becker, Alana Simpson, Cara Hartwig
• Recent Alumni Achievement Awards - Julie Niehaus and Emily Detwiler
• Trulaske College of Business Distinguished Research Achievement Awards – Inder Khurana
• Richard G. Miller Summer Scholars Award - Marsha Richins, Daniel Turban 
• Jeffrey E. Smith Summer Scholars Award - John Howe 
• Trulaske College of Business Summer Scholar Award - Michael O’Doherty, Raynolde Pereira
• Raymond and Mary Ann O’Brien Excellence in Teaching Award – Nate Newton
• Bruce and Pam Walker Outstanding Faculty Service Award – Daryl Smith
• Shelter Insurance Companies Teaching Excellence Award in Marketing – Marsha Richins
• Outstanding Graduate Research Assistant Awards – Habib Islam, Pratik Kothari, Justin Lawrence, Wei Wang
• Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards – Matthew Baugh, Ryan Flugum, Omid Kamran-Disfani, Mark Packard

Additionally, the college awards up to ten Citations of Merit. Nominees for these prestigious awards are selected for their career accomplishments, involvement with the college through board and volunteer activities, student and graduate recruitment or other collaborative programs, and financial support of the college. The Faculty Policy Committee reviews each candidate and then the entire faculty votes on up to ten recipients. Up to two of the awards can be given to friends of the college in the form of Special Citations.

Citation of Merit recipients are recognized publicly at the Trulaske College of Business annual Honors Luncheon. Recently, the following dedicated alumni and friends were honored:

John P. Brase
BS BA ’90, University of Missouri
MBA ’96, St. Louis University
Vice President/General Manager
Procter & Gamble

John is the Vice President of Upstream Innovation for Family Care at Procter & Gamble. In this role, he has responsibility for the future manufacturing platforms of Bounty, Charmin and Puffs as well as managing the global export business for Family Care. John has been with Procter & Gamble for 25 years.

John is actively involved in his church and community in Mason, Ohio. He was one of the volunteer leaders who helped bring a satellite campus of Crossroads Church to Mason, which now has 4,500 weekly attendees. John also was a founder of One City Against Heroin, a faith-based non-profit organization which helps fight opiate addiction in southwest Ohio.

John is a proud alumnus of Mizzou and serves on the Marketing Advisory Board. He established the John Elmer Brase Memorial Scholarship which provides assistance to a top business school student each year. He has served repeatedly as Professor-for-a-Day in Cornell Hall and generously hosts students from the Cornell Leadership Program at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati.

John and his wife, Allison (BS ED ’91), have 3 children. Meghan is a freshman at Mizzou and a proud member of the CLP Program. Max (17) and Jacob (13) are both avid Mizzou fans in the heart of Big 10 Country.

Steven W. Hays, Sr.
BS BA ’80, University of Missouri
Partner-In-Charge of Industry Services Groups
RubinBrown

Steve has more than 35 years of experience providing assurance, tax and consulting services to clients in privately owned entrepreneurial businesses including home builders, life sciences, mortgage banking, transportation and other professional services. 

He is a 1980 graduate of Mizzou and holds a BS BA degree with an emphasis in the areas of accountancy and finance.

Steve is Partner-In-Charge of RubinBrown’s twelve Industry Services Groups. He has been involved as a board member or leader of several civic organizations including the St. Louis Zoo, St. Joseph’s Academy, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and Powered by Hope. 

Steve is a dedicated alumnus of the University of Missouri. He is a member of the School of Accountancy Advisory Board, Mizzou Alumni Association Governing Board and is a past president of the Mizzou Tiger Club – St. Louis. As part of his service to the Trulaske College of Business, Steve has cultivated a strong relationship between RubinBrown and Mizzou, improving the recruitment of MU students with the company and aiding in the establishment of the RubinBrown Faculty Scholar.

He and his wife, Kathy, live in Des Peres, Missouri and are the parents of three children: Steven (BS Acc, MAcc ’15); Laura, who is currently a senior at Mizzou; and Kelsey. Steve and Kathy are proud members of the Davenport Society.

Mark A. Kiehl
BS BA ’83, University of Missouri
MBA ’85, University of Missouri
Executive Director – Outsourcing Management, Systems Integrator Solutions
AT&T

Mark is the Executive Director – Outsourcing Management in the Systems Integrator Solutions organization at AT&T. He is responsible for delivering managed services across the globe to customers who outsource their network to the company. He leads teams throughout the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific.

Mark has been with AT&T for 30 years. During this time, he has held various positions in network, sales and customer care. Mark earned an MBA with an emphasis in Management Information Systems from Mizzou in 1985. While working at AT&T, Mark continued his education at Carnegie Mellon University in the Information Networking Institute (Computer Science).

Today, Mark serves as a dedicated member of the Vasey Academy Advisory Board for the Trulaske College of Business. He and Julie (MBA ’85), his wife of 30 years, are members of the Davenport Society. Together, they established the Mark and Julia Kiehl Scholars Program which provides access to important financial aid for business students with a focus on improving diversity and inclusion. 

Mark and Julie live in Kirkwood, Missouri where they volunteer with Meals on Wheels, Foster and Adoptive Care and the Ronald McDonald House. They have two children, Andy (BS Acc, MAcc ’11) and Kelly (BA ’14).

Bret D. Kimes
BS BA ’86, University of Missouri
MBA ’88, St. Louis University
General Partner (retired)
Edward Jones

Bret is a retired General Partner of Edward Jones. During his career with the company, he was responsible for the firm’s investment banking and tax-exempt trading areas. Additionally, he served as President of Community Investment Partners, a venture capital subsidiary.

Bret began his career in the public sector serving as the Assistant Director to the Missouri Health and Educational Facilities Authority. After MOHEFA, he moved into the investment banking field and served in senior banker roles at A.G. Edwards & Sons and The Fortune Group. In 1999, Bret joined the investment banking department at Edward Jones.

Throughout his 27-year career in financial services, Bret remained active at Mizzou. He recruited students for both internships and full-time positions, was a founding member of the Finance Advisory Board and was an initial contributor to the Edward Jones Alumni Scholarship fund. Bret has served as the Keynote Speaker for the college’s leadership conference, jointly taught an upper level finance class, and is a proud member of the Davenport Society.

Bret and his wife, Angie (BS BA ’87), have four sons: Kevin, Peter, Mick and Mark. They live in Webster Groves, Missouri. Mick will be a freshman Tiger this fall.

Jack B. Lay
BS BA ’76, University of Missouri
Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Reinsurance Group of America

For more than 20 years, Jack has been Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (RGA), a Fortune 500 company in St. Louis. During his tenure, RGA has grown to become one of the top five life reinsurers in the world and currently operates through subsidiaries and branch offices in 26 countries. Earlier in his career, Jack was a partner in the financial services practice at KPMG in St. Louis where he primarily served clients in the banking industry.

Jack is a member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer of Provident, Inc., a counseling and community-support organization that has aided the underserved in the St. Louis community for more than 150 years. He is also a member of the United Way of St. Louis’ Alexis de Tocqueville Society.

For more than a decade, Jack has served as a dedicated member of the School of Accountancy Advisory Board. During his service, he helped establish the Nikolai Teaching Scholar position, among other key initiatives. He supports MU as a member of the Mizzou Alumni Association and the college as a member of the Davenport Society.

Jack and his wife, Debbie, have two grown children and reside in St. Louis.

Brett L. Lewis
BS ACC ’84, University of Missouri
Managing Partner, Great Plains Market Territory
Grant Thornton LLP

After starting his career with Coopers & Lybrand in St. Louis, Brett has now spent approximately 26 years in various roles within Grant Thornton in Dallas, Denver and Kansas City. His duties have included serving as the Denver Professional Standards Partner, the Denver Office Managing Partner, and the Kansas City Office Managing Partner. Currently, he oversees operations in a seven-state area including the Minneapolis, Omaha, St. Louis, Kansas City and Wichita offices. In addition to his various leadership positions, Brett is an audit partner serving public and large private companies in a variety of industries.

For nearly 10 years, Brett has enthusiastically served on the School of Accountancy Advisory Board. He connects Grant Thornton to Mizzou by bringing members of his leadership team to campus and spearheading recruitment efforts with his company. He also has team-taught in the graduate level course Contemporary Issues in Professional Accounting, Audit, and Tax. Brett and his wife, Mary Ann (BS Ed ’87, University of Missouri-St. Louis), are members of the Davenport Society and the Mizzou Alumni Association.

Brett, Mary Ann, daughters Natalie (BS, Sports Management ’13) and Hannah (BS Ed ’15), and son Andrew (BS Acc, MAcc ’14) form a complete Mizzou family that eats, breathes and sleeps all things Mizzou.

Susan M. Smith
BS BA ’81, University of Missouri
MBA ’87, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Principal
Susan M. Smith Advisory Services, LLC

Susan is Principal for Susan M. Smith Advisory Services, LLC, an independent commercial real estate appraisal review firm. She has made her career in real estate lending and appraisal with previous positions including Senior Vice President, Commercial Real Estate at Centerline Capital Group; Principal for the Fairbrook Company; Managing Director & Chief Underwriting Officer at Principal Commercial Advisors and Staff Appraiser for David Craig and Company. 

In 1981, Susan earned a bachelor of science in business administration with an emphasis in finance from the University of Missouri followed by an MBA from the University of Missouri–Kansas City. She is a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. 

Today, she continues her commitment to the Trulaske College of Business as a dedicated member of the Finance Advisory Board. In that role, she has helped organize Finance Advisory Board Day as part of the college’s professional development activities.

Susan and her husband Brian joined the Davenport Society during the college’s Centennial Celebration year. 

Susan served on the City Council of Fairway, Kansas from 1999 to 2007. She has volunteered with SHARE, an organization which encourages student volunteerism. Her professional designations include MAI (Appraisal Institute), AI-GRS (Appraisal Institute), CCIM (Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute), and MRICS (Member Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors).

Rachel A. Tobin
BS BA ’82, University of MissouriMBA ’85, University of Missouri
Senior Vice President
Bank of America

Rachel Tobin, Senior Vice President, is the Credit Products Executive for Bank of America Merrill Lynch Dealer Financial Services. In this role, she leads a team that structures and sells credit solutions to Auto and Specialty Banking clients in the United States. Previously, Rachel served as a Commercial Products manager for the Western United States and the Senior Risk Manager for DFS Commercial Specialty business. 

Rachel is a 25-year banking veteran with experience in commercial and asset based lending. She began her career at InterFirst Bank of Dallas in the Professional Development Program. She has held various roles in credit and risk management in St. Louis, Dallas, Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Atlanta. 

Rachel is a proud graduate of the University of Missouri with a BS BA and MBA in finance. She has served as a featured speaker at Mizzou, most recently as the Vaughan Executive in Residence, and has hosted students from the Cornell Leadership Program at her office at Bank of America in Atlanta. Through the years, she has helped secure a strong relationship between Bank of America and Mizzou, helping with student recruitment. 

She currently resides in Alpharetta, Georgia with her husband, Mark (MBA ’85), and daughter, Caroline. Rachel and Mark are members of the Davenport Society. Additionally, Rachel has served on the board of the March of Dimes and the Greater Atlanta Girl Scouts Committee.

SPECIAL CITATION OF MERIT

Robert L. Griggs, Jr. 
BS AGR ’77, University of Missouri 
CEO/President
Trinity Products, Incorporated

Robert has dedicated his career to the steel and fabrications industry. After graduating from Mizzou in 1977, he worked in sales for a steel distributor before starting Trinity Products, a steel pipe distribution business, in 1979. From small beginnings, Trinity Products grew to a company that now boasts $89 million in revenue for 2015. 

Robert has served his industry as President and Treasurer of the National Association of Steel Pipe Distributors (NASPD). He also is involved with the Committee of Pipe & Tube Import (CPTI) which lobbies Congress on pipe and steel-related issues. 

Because of the impact Mizzou has had on his life and career, Robert supports the students in the Trulaske College of Business so they can have the opportunity to learn and grow as he did. Robert has been a dedicated supporter of the Entrepreneurship Alliance (EA), inviting students to tour his company’s facilities and presenting as the Keynote Speaker at the 2013 graduation banquet. In giving back to Mizzou Athletics, the College of Engineering and the EA, Robert helps today’s students reach success in their own careers.

A true son of Missouri, Robert made this state his home after graduation. He and his wife, Shelly, have two sons: AJ (AB ’09) and Bo (BA ’10). They are proud members of the Davenport Society.