2016 Alumni Merit Awards & Family Heritage Award
The Baldwin Wallace Alumni Merit Award honors outstanding alumni and honorary alumni for their achievements and service in their profession, their community, and their alma mater at Alumni Celebration each year. You may read more about this year's honorees below. Click here to read more about this year's Family Heritage Award recipients.
Dr. Laura K. Simpson Bosworth '67 earned a B.A. in history from Baldwin Wallace before earning a M.S. in counseling & guidance (1975) and a Ph.D. in adult education/program evaluation (1988) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Kris is the Smith Endowed Chair in substance abuse education and a Professor in the College of Education at the University of Arizona, where she previously served as the head of the Educational Leadership Department. Kris pioneered the development of computer games and simulations to teach adolescents skills to prevent drug use, violence, and pregnancy. Today, her work focuses on the role of school culture and climate as a buffer for individual risk factors for risk-taking behavior. Kris has been celebrated with numerous awards throughout her career, including the BW Outstanding Educator Award in 2006.
Kim Dell-Wagner ’88 graduated from Baldwin Wallace with a B.A. in speech communications with a minor in business/marketing. She has worked at the special events management firm of C.K. Newcomb & Associates, the largest producer of air shows in the United States, since 1992. Kim currently serves as the executive director of the Cleveland National Air Show, which has been regularly recognized as one of the most prestigious in the nation, including recognition as "Air Show of the Year" in 1992. Kim also played a vital role in executing the historic 2003 Dayton Air Show, the largest in the country that year and a pinnacle of Dayton's year-long Centennial of Flight Celebration. Kim has developed many procedures now considered best practices within the industry and implemented a work-training program for local college students and recent graduates that provides valuable event management experience.
Dr. Don Swegan ’47 attended Baldwin Wallace as a student through the Navy V-12 program, which also sent him to the College of Wooster and Harvard. He lettered in football, basketball, and baseball at all three schools. Don earned his M.S. at The Ohio State University and completed his Ph.D. at Penn State University while he served as Assistant Basketball Coach. Don returned to BW in 1960 as head basketball coach, assistant to Coach Lee Tressel in football, and chairman of the Health and Physical Education Department. He went on to serve BW in several additional roles, including as Dean of Student Affairs (1968-69) and as vice president for development (1971 -1975). After retiring in 1990 from his role as Director of University Development and Associate Vice President for Health Sciences Development at the University of South Florida, Don returned to BW for 10 more years as Special Assistant to the Vice President for Advancement.
James C. Ulchaker ’87 completed a B.S. in biology and chemistry at Baldwin Wallace and received his M.D. from Case Western Reserve University Medical School in 1991. He was appointed to the Urology staff at the Cleveland Clinic in 1997, where he specializes in treatement of benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostate cancer, and bladder cancer. James co-authored Office Urology: The Clinician's Guide (2000) and was named one of America's Best Doctors in 2007. He has assumed leadership roles in numerous professional associations and was named the 2011-12 Gallagher Health Policy Scholar, only the fifth urologist to receive this prestigous position that affords the opportunity to engage in national-level seminars and meetings on health policy. James was a member of the baseball team and Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity while at BW.
2016 Family Heritage Award
Baldwin Wallace recognizes and honors those distinguished families who, throughout generations, have provided many years of faithful and loyal service to Baldwin Wallace University. One family is honored annually at Alumni Celebration.
The Merkle, Bassett, Bomgardner, Meyer, Hughes, Amy Family includes twenty-six BW graduates and Emeriti Staff members:
*A.Oren Merkle '29
*William Bassett '32
*Mildred Merkle '33
*Jeannette Wahl '37
*Ruth Meyer '38
*Virginia Bomgardner '39
*Homer Bomgardner '40
Dorothy Bomgardner Abbott '46
Henry Merkle '50
*Margaret Rudy Merkle '51
Edward Merkle '51
*Vera Lamb Merkle '52
Barbara Lesmer Hughes '62 (Emeriti Staff)
*John T. "Jack" Amy (Emeriti Staff)
Charles Merkle '76
*Phyllis Bassett '77
Kim Meyer '79
Gail Kulcsar Meyer '83
Patricia Lesmer Amy (Emeriti Staff)
Laura Seese Lewchenko '84
Geoffrey Hughes '89
Jonathan Amy '89
Douglas Amy '90 '93 MBA
Holly Hughes Long '90 '96 MAEd
Rochele Meyer Miller '97
Brian Michael Miller '98
Their legacy began in 1925 and is maintained by strong connections with the University today. We appreciate their ongoing commitment to the Baldwin Wallace University community.