Three to be honored at Berea College Summer Reunion June 13-15

Dr. Buelon R. (Pete) Moss of Glasgow, an award-winning agriculture professor, researcher and ag extension expert in the field of dairy production, and a 1960 Berea graduate, will receive Berea’s Distinguished Alumnus Award.  Hilda Roderick, a Berea grad of 1948 who has been active in Berea alumni activities in her home state of Maine, will receive the Alumni Loyalty Award.  The award is given each year to an alumnus who has rendered outstanding service to, and demonstrated loyal interest in, Berea College.  Louisvillian Bill Bowman, whose family foundation provides support for Berea College students, will receive the award of Honorary Alumnus.

All three award recipients will be honored Saturday morning at the Alumni Awards Reception, scheduled for 10 a.m. in Baird Lounge, Alumni Building.  All are welcome to attend.

Dr. Moss is an Adair County native who grew up on livestock farms in Kentucky and Illinois. After graduating from Berea he went on to earn a Ph.D. in Animal Nutrition from the University of Tennessee.  For 34 years, from 1969-1983 at Montana State University then in Alabama at Auburn University from 1983-2003, Moss taught undergraduate and graduate students, conducted research, supervised dairy farms and served as an advisor to the dairy industry as a state Extension Specialist.  He has published more than 150 research papers and more than 200 teaching and extension publications and given more than 1000 research presentations nationally and internationally.   His career also includes work with various university and government agencies, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. industries, to strengthen the dairy industry in Vietnam, China, Thailand, Taiwan and other locations.  His contributions to all of these areas- teaching, extension work and service to the dairy industry -  have been recognized with several awards.  In 1998, he was selected as a Fulbright-JFK Scholar to Thailand.  “Dr. Pete,” as he is called by many, retired from Auburn in 2003.  He lives on his farm in Glasgow with his wife, Sue Barnes Moss, a 1959 Berea alum, but continues part-time to work with Auburn, international assignments and agriculture industries.

Hilda Roderick received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Berea then earned her masters degree in biochemistry from Oklahoma State University.  While raising a family, Roderick worked part-time for many years at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory as a research assistant.  She has been a substitute teacher as well as an active volunteer in a variety of church, community and school organizations.  Her service to Berea College includes coordinating alumni gatherings in Maine for the past 26 years. She and her husband, Dr. Thomas Roderick, live in Bar Harbor.

Honorary Alumnus recipient Bill Bowman is a native of Chattanooga.  His professional career has been as an actuary in the insurance industry.  At the age of 24, the University of North Carolina mathematics graduate became the youngest Fellow of the Society of Actuaries at Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company.  He subsequently joined Capital Holding Corporation (which later became Providian Corporation, then AEGON Insurance Group.)  In 2002, Bowman left full-time employment as Second Vice President and Actuary at AEGON, but remains a part-time consultant.  He has been active for many years as a volunteer church and community organizations and with Berea College.  Bowman first heard about Berea College when he was 12 years old during a family trip.  He has served on the President’s Advisory Council at Berea and his family foundation has supported Berea students for the past 12 years.  He also has helped plan Berea College events and activities in Louisville, where he lives with his wife, Linda.

Summer Reunion, sponsored by Berea’s Alumni Relations Office annually, brings together alumni from throughout out the country for a weekend of celebration, fun, renewing of friendships (and wedding vows in Danforth Chapel) and catching up on what’s new at their alma mater.  Classes celebrating special reunions are:  1936, 1938, 1943, 1948, 1953, 1958, 1963, 1968, 1973 and 1978.

More information and a complete schedule is available at http://www.berea.edu/alumni/summerreunion/default.asp or contact Jacqui Greene, coordinator of Alumni Programs, at 859-985-3108.

Summer Reunion 08 Schedule