Tag: awards & honors

WSU Tech president inducted into aviation Hall of Fame

Sheree Utash ’99, vice president for workforce development at WSU and president of Wichita State University Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology (formerly Wichita Area Technical College), was inducted into the Kansas Aviation Hall of Fame during a high-flying ceremony in Wichita last month.

“A huge congratulations to Sheree on her induction into the 2024 Kansas Aviation Hall of Fame,” says Cindy Hoover, a former Spirit AeroSystems senior executive who is now a Vistage Chair leadership guide and executive mentor. “Sheree is a visionary leader who has played a pivotal role in transforming WSU Tech into Kansas’ largest technical college.” Today, WSU Tech serves over 8,000 students and is the managing partner for the National Center for Aviation Training.

A national figure in technical education and workforce development and policy, Utash — who holds a doctorate in community college leadership from National American University, a master’s degree in liberal studies focusing on communication, education and sociology from Wichita State, and a bachelor’s degree in journalism and marketing from Kansas State — has overseen academic programs in manufacturing, aviation, IT, specialized trades, healthcare and general education.

Her experience in securing and managing grant-funded initiatives includes leadership of the National Aviation Consortium, a $15 million grant project that brought together two-year colleges across five states to work on meeting the aviation industry’s workforce needs.

Utash, who was tapped to be a member of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, has testified before the U.S. Senate’s Commerce Committee on Aviation, advocating for growth in the aviation industry and the critical need for skilled aviation workers. Her civic leadership includes being named Honorary Commander of the McConnell 22nd Refueling Wing in 2018, SkillsUSA Postsecondary Administrator of the Year for Kansas in 2017 and NAACP Wichita Chapter Person of the Year in 2016.

Her induction as a member of the 2024 Class into the Kansas Aviation Hall of Fame was celebrated during a ceremony November 19 at Wichita’s Kansas Aviation Museum. The Hall of Fame was created to preserve the memory of extraordinary citizens of Kansas who have made “contributions to aviation of statewide or national significance.”

Each year, a selection committee considers nominated individuals who must have strong connections to Kansas, either by birth and early life or through career work. The committee consists of members from the Kansas Aviation Museum, the Kansas State Historical Society, the Kansas Department of Transportation (Aviation), and the Wichita Airport Authority.

Utash met all criteria. “I’m continually inspired by the difference she makes for students, the aviation industry and our community,” Hoover says. “I can’t wait to see what she accomplishes next!”

Too Big to Dream Small

Ronald Baker ’15 is a big-time team player, no matter what team he’s on. Today, armed with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, the former Shocker basketball standout and NBA pro is setting up plays as a project manager in sports medicine for the strategy and business development team at Wichita’s Ascension Via Christi.

“The most valuable concepts and skills I learned while at Wichita State were teamwork, communication and networking,” Baker says. “Of course, we use teamwork and communication in sports, but it wasn’t until I joined Ascension Via Christi in 2021 that I truly saw how important these skills are in the business world.” Today, three years into his post-basketball career, Baker focuses on advancing projects for the Via Christi Foundation and Children’s Miracle Network and helping with the medical center’s programs in orthopedics, sports and occupational medicine. He also assists with Via Christi’s sponsorship of WSU athletics.

One of the most popular Shockers to ever wear WSU’s colors on the basketball court, Baker came to WSU from the small, western Kansas town of Scott City (population 3,816), where he played basketball, football and baseball in high school. Aided by a Citizen Potawatomi Nation scholarship, he arrived in Wichita in 2011. One of his first memories of campus was moving into Fairmount Towers. “My parents and two siblings helped me move in,” he says. “They could sense the nervousness I had pouring out of me. When we said our goodbyes, my dad gave me a hug and told me how much fun I was going to have that semester. He said the dorms were one of his favorite things about college. I didn’t know what to expect, but that semester I met two of my closest friends today.”

From that point on, Baker’s story as a WSU student-athlete has become part of Shocker basketball history and resonates with fans far and wide. A walk-on redshirt freshman, he was joined on the WSU team by fellow guard Fred VanVleet ’16 in 2012. By the time Baker and VanVleet were seniors on the Shocker squad, they had played in four NCAA Tournaments, including a storied run to the Final Four in 2013, and contributed to Wichita State’s winning three Missouri Valley Conference titles. In 2013-2014, they were key to the Shockers’ record-setting streak of 35 wins before losing an epic battle to Kentucky for a 35-1 season. They had become the highest profile duo of WSU All-American guards – ever.

“You could probably guess that my favorite memories as a college student took place on the basketball court. A day doesn’t go by where I don’t reflect back and truly miss playing with my WSU teammates,” Baker says. “Something I love more than our team’s success was sharing it with my friends and family. Seeing others who you truly care about be a part of your college experience — that’s a memory Wichita State provided, and I will always cherish.”

Baker played in the NBA Summer League to showcase his talents and signed with the New York Knicks for the 2016-2017 season, inking a two-year deal with the team that August. He spent three seasons in the NBA, playing for the Knicks and later for the Washington Wizards. He says his most satisfying accomplishment as a pro player “was getting my first NBA start in Madison Square Garden for the New York Knicks.”

Playing pro ball in the Big Apple was a big leap from growing up playing sports in the rural environs of western Kansas, Baker points out. Before he moved with his family to Scott City when he was in middle school, he lived on his family farm in Utica (population 158), a town where classes typically totaled not more than 10 students. “I was born and raised in Utica,” he says. “My grandparents still reside there and continue to farm and raise cattle.”

Now fully ensconced in a career outside of basketball, Baker says the most rewarding part of working at Ascension Via Christi is knowing that he is working with a genuine group who serve and care for their community. He values time spent with his wife, Olivia, and their daughter, Scottie, attending yoga, playing pool, golfing and spoiling their two dogs, Daizy and Sunday.

When asked about future hopes and dreams, the 2024 WSU Young Alumni Award recipient answers: “When I daydream about myself, I think of being successful within the Wichita community, raising a beautiful family and making the city better than we found it.” He adds, “This award brings to mind my parents, all my role models, coaches, professors and current peers. It simply shows that I have been fortunate enough to be surrounded by high character and service-minded people throughout my life.”

Opportunity begets opportunity

Junetta Everett ’79 has been guided by her personal ethics of hard work, service and commitment to diversity throughout her life, including a storied career of more than four decades in dentistry. The WSU alumna practiced as a dental hygienist before accepting a position at Delta Dental of Kansas (DDKS), the state’s largest dental insurance agency, where she worked for 33 years, including a 27-year tenure as the company’s vice president of professional relations.

Everett obtained her associate degree from Butler County Community College before enrolling in Wichita State’s dental hygiene program. She recalls a disturbing moment of prejudice from a professor in the program who advised her to reconsider her career path, lest her clients feel uncomfortable with having a person of color as their dental hygienist. “That moment has stayed with me and shaped my professional journey,” Everett said of the encounter. “It sparked my interest in diversity and showed me the importance of creating opportunities for others.”

In 1979 she graduated from Wichita State’s dental hygiene program: the first African American at her alma mater and in the state of Kansas to do so.

During her time at Wichita State, she helped raise awareness for issues faced by individuals with similar life experiences as her.

“I remember sharing with my class that, because I lacked the opportunity to go to a dentist often, I had never even heard of a dental hygienist prior to speaking with a WSU advisor,” she said. “My topic was selected for presentation at a table clinic in Los Angeles, where we were able to explain the role and importance of a hygienist.”

That same commitment to diversity has guided her throughout her career. As vice president of professional relations at DDKS, she not only oversaw – amongst many other initiatives – network development, dental insurance training, and implementing policies across local and national scales, but she also worked to introduce high schoolers to her field.

“I began recruiting more minorities and men to the female-dominated profession, in part by speaking to high school students about the WSU program and career possibilities in dental hygiene,” Everett said. “And I am pleased to know that 2023 was one of the most diverse classes in Wichita State’s dental hygiene program.”

Everett calls higher education a “life-changing opportunity,” and, in 2013, she established a scholarship to support dental hygiene students at Wichita State. She calls the gift one of her most satisfying achievements in her professional career.

“As a student at Wichita State University, the environment I was in challenged me to engage with peers from other backgrounds, teaching me how to approach problems from different perspectives,” she said. “Those experiences were invaluable and inspired me to impact the program.”

Although retired from DDKS, the alumna remains deeply connected to the health of the Wichita community and serves on several boards, including the Kansas Health Foundation, Wesley Hospital, Equity Bank, Wichita State University and the WSU Foundation and Alumni Engagement. She was also appointed as the first person of color to hold the board chair for the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce in 2020. In between her many board engagements, she enjoys visiting her five sons and 11 grandchildren with her husband, Victor Everett ’79, a physical education alumnus and former Shocker track star.

“When we can, we still enjoy recounting stories with people from our college years,” she said. “Stories like my friends wondering about my sudden interest in track and field.”

For her dentistry career spanning more than four decades and its indelible impact within the community, Everett will be honored with the 2024 Alumni Achievement Award at the WSU Foundation and Alumni Engagement’s annual Heritage Gala.

“Receiving this award is profoundly meaningful to me, as it symbolizes not only my personal achievements but also the invaluable influence of those who have guided and inspired me throughout my journey,” the honoree said. “It motivates me to continue my commitment to serving the community and the university, and supporting others in their educational endeavors.”

Everett and her fellow 2024 Alumni Award recipients will be honored at the Heritage Gala on Tuesday, October 29. Buy your tickets to celebrate Wichita State’s changemakers and their achievements.

Seeing a difference in the world

Diana Ho ’16 remembers how the world changed when she put on a pair of glasses for the first time in third grade. She looked around the optometry office, amazed by the sudden clarity of the room’s detail, from the intricacies of the grain in the wood trim to the definition of the leaves on the tree outside the window.

In that moment, she knew she wanted to be an optometrist.

Today, Ho practices optometry at Adventure Dental and Vision, a pediatric clinic in Wichita, and also serves as clinical director for the Special Olympics Opening Eyes program, conducting vision screenings for athletes across Kansas.

“I consider my ability to practice optometry daily as my most satisfying achievement,” said the alumna. “Each day, I have the privilege of providing first-time glasses to help kids excel in school and sports, guiding patients to a greater understanding of their visual or systemic issues, and diagnosing and treating ocular diseases.”

But Ho’s path to her current role was not always paved. In addition to many lessons learned in the classroom, she sees grit and persistence as some of the most valuable concepts from her time as a biology student at Wichita State. As a part-time student with no professional credentials, she recalls the roadblock of securing experience in optometry.

“I called numerous offices until I finally found one willing to take a chance on me,” Ho said. “Coincidentally, the very office where I put on my first pair of glasses became my workplace when they hired me on as an optometric technician.”

In 2016, Ho graduated from Wichita State University with a bachelor’s degree in biology and minors in chemistry and sociology. From there, she attended the Rosenberg School of Optometry at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, graduating with her doctorate in 2020.

A passionate advocate for eye health, Ho uses her education to promote vision wellness in communities across the state and around the world, from glasses donation drives to events for the visually impaired. The optometrist has served as a translator at the Kansas Health Department’s Asian Wellness Day, providing free eye screenings to underserved community members. She also traveled to Patna, India, where she provided vision screenings and glasses to more than 1,100 schoolchildren and helped to raise money for Unite for Sight, a nonprofit creating more equitable access to eye health care services.

In addition to her many volunteer engagements, Dr. Ho has been invited as a guest speaker to high schools in the Wichita community where she connects students to vision care resources and educates them on the importance of eye health to the overall health of the body.

For her relentless health advocacy and service, both within the Wichita community and well beyond, Dr. Diana Ho is the 2024 Social Impact Alumni Award honoree.

“As a child of immigrants, this award represents the American Dream that my parents have worked so hard to achieve,” she said. “They dedicated themselves to creating a better life for me, and now I have the privilege of using my talents to extend that care to my patients.”

Join us as we honor our 2024 Alumni Award recipients at the second annual Heritage Gala on Tuesday, October 29. Learn more about this event and purchase your tickets to celebrate the changemakers at Wichita State.

Wichita State alumna is national finalist for Service to America Medal

Last year, Shannon Rebolledo ’01/02 was one of three team leaders on the U.S. Department of Labor’s investigation into illegal child labor practices at 13 meat slaughterhouses across eight states, leading to a large civil penalty and a new approach to child labor law enforcement. This month, the Wichita State graduate is among the finalists for a 2024 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal.

In February 2023, Rebolledo, regional enforcement coordinator in the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, was one of three leading investigators who discovered child labor violations that involved 102 children, ages 13 to 17. The children were illegally performing sanitation work involving the operation of dangerous machinery at meat-packing facilities in Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Tennessee and Texas. The shocking findings, which received international media attention – including coverage in the NY Times, Washington Post and a segment on CBS News’ 60 Minutes – prompted the launch of a national initiative to more effectively deal with exploitative child labor practices.

“I will never forget the faces of these kids whose lives and safety were in danger working under such horrendous conditions,” Rebolledo says. Despite the U.S.’s Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which prohibits minors from working in hazardous occupations, Rebolledo, along with Nancy Alcantara and Justin Uphold, who all work out of the Labor Department’s regional office based in Chicago, uncovered several instances of children suffering injuries while employed by the cleaning company that serviced the meat-packing plants. The child-labor violations resulted in the food sanitation contractor paying $1.5 million in penalties.

For their development of a broad investigative strategy to combat illegal child labor practices and obtain nationwide compliance in child labor laws, Rebolledo, Alcantara and Uphold are finalists for a Service to America Medal, part of an awards program run by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service. Collectively known as the “Sammies,” the service awards honor excellence and innovation in federal service. Rebolledo and her colleagues are finalists in the Safety, Security and International Affairs Category.

All finalists are also eligible for the People’s Choice Award, with members of the public encouraged to vote for the winner online. The People’s Choice selection is based solely on the total number of votes each finalist receives and is separate from the selection of the category award winners. Winners will be announced in September.

Rebolledo, who holds both master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Spanish language and literature from Wichita State and has also completed post graduate studies in Spanish at Texas Tech University, is a Wichita resident. She has worked for the Department of Labor for just over 19 years, starting in 2005 as a wage hour investigator.

Shocker alumna passes on the Miss Kansas crown

Miss Kansas 2023 Courtney Wages ’21 passed on her crown to Alexis Smith on June 8 at the 2024 Miss Kansas competition in Pratt. Wages, who hails from Oklahoma, extended her gratitude to all her many supporters, saying, “Kansas, thank you for choosing me. I have fallen in love with your sunsets, farmlands, but most of all, the people. I know I can always click my heels home.”

The Wichita State performing arts graduate was crowned Miss Kansas a year ago on June 10 and went on to represent the state in the 96th Miss America scholarship competition in Orlando, Florida, where she earned a place in the Top 11. As Miss Kansas, she made appearances across the state during her year-of-service in bringing awareness to her platform of One Vision is Not the Only Vision.

“Earning the crown was never merely a goal but a catalyst for personal growth,” says Wages, who before taking up the mantle of Miss Kansas served as community outreach manager at Wichita-based Envision, a nonprofit that provides vision rehabilitation services. “As a nonprofit advocate, choreographer, community servant and newly published author, I am steadfast in my belief that the best is yet to come.” Her new book Penelope Has Powers, categorized as juvenile fiction and published just this past month, follows the incredible journey of Penelope, a 6-year-old girl who is blind but has developed extraordinary powers through her other senses.

Wages’ own journey, which started off in Midwest City, Oklahoma, has taken a few competitive twists and pageant turns — quite literally as she’s an accomplished dancer and dance instructor with two Best Talent awards from previous Miss Kansas pageant years. Tap is her special power, says Justin Noel Hall ’14/19, who has worked with Wages on her dance performances for the past four years now. “I’m so proud of the work I’ve been able to do with her,” he says. “I’ve gotten to underscore and spotlight her talent for tap and help the country see the magnanimous force she is, right up to her last week as Miss K.”

So what’s next for this immediate past Miss Kansas? For one thing, she’s already collecting more honors and accolades — most recently on June 17 when she was crowned with the Best Choreography award for her work in Legally Blonde: The Musical, which was staged and performed at Wichita’s Roxy’s Downtown in May.