The awards highlight the impact of alumni across disciplines and communities and honor leadership in careers, service and philanthropy. In addition to the Alumni Fellow Awards for each of UofL’s schools and colleges, Louisville Alumni will present signature awards recognizing outstanding contributions in areas of inclusive excellence, military service and emerging leadership.

This year’s recipients include:

Alumnus of the Year

• Randall J. Bufford ’81

Bufford, a 1981 UofL College of Business graduate and founder of Trilogy Health Services, is a nationally recognized entrepreneur known for values-based leadership and a people-first approach. A former UofL Trustee and student manager for the 1980 NCAA Championship men’s basketball team, Bufford now leads 0924 Investments and the Bufford Family Foundation, which champions initiatives in health care, education and philanthropy, including scholarship support that is opening doors and changing lives for UofL students.

Alumni Fellows – Schools & Colleges

• College of Arts & Sciences: Elmer Lucille Allen ’02
• College of Business: David Krebs ’75
• School of Dentistry: Julie Watts McKee ’83
• College of ����ֱ�� & Human Development: Felicia Cumings Smith ’96, ’00
• Graduate School: Anees B. Chagpar ’09
• Kent School of Social Work & Family Science: Justin “Jay” Miller ’13
• Brandeis School of Law: Chadwick N. Gardner ’95
• University Libraries: Glenn Bossmeyer ’71, ’74, ’75
• School of Medicine: Steven T. Hester ’92, ’96, ’00
• School of Music: Amy I. Acklin ’98, ’00
• School of Nursing: Cynthia Logsdon
• School of Public Health & Information Sciences: Robin Elise Weiss ’01, ’12, ’15
• J.B. Speed School of Engineering: Peg O’Neil ’91
• Student Affairs Legacy Award: Kelly Hodges ’93, ’01

Signature Award Honorees

• Emerging Leader Award: Eric Wood ’08
• Inclusive Excellence Award: Loay Elbasyouni ’04, ’05
• Military Alumni Award: Al Riggle ’76
• Alumni Ambassador Award: Larry W. Horn Jr. ’08, ’11

“These honorees are leaders, innovators and difference-makers,” said Josh Hawkins, assistant vice president for alumni relations and annual giving. “Each recipient reflects the best of what it means to be a Louisville Cardinal; contributing to their fields, uplifting communities and proudly representing their alma mater.”

The 2025 honorees will be recognized during the annual Wilson Wyatt Alumni Awards ceremony on Oct. 23, as part of UofL’s Homecoming week festivities on the Belknap Campus.

The UofL community and public are encouraged to nominate graduates who deserve to be recognized for their career accomplishments, philanthropic endeavors and contributions to the community. A formal recognition ceremony for all honorees will take place in fall 2024 during Homecoming week on UofL’s Belknap Campus.

“Our annual Alumni Awards celebration is the signature event of our week of Homecoming festivities. These awards recognize distinguished graduates who are exemplary ambassadors for the university and reflect the high standing and character of their alma mater,” said Josh Hawkins, assistant vice president for Alumni Relations and Annual Giving.

In addition to the Alumni Fellow awards designated for each school and college, Louisville Alumni will also present awards for Emerging Leader, Diversity Leadership, Military Alumni, Alumni Ambassador and the Wilson Wyatt Alumnus/a of the Year.��

The Wilson Wyatt Alumnus/a of the Year award personifies the qualities, mission and values of the university. The 2023 Alumnus of the Year was awarded to Steve Trager, executive chair of Republic Bank and Trust Company.

Students, graduates and friends of the university can submit online nominations to the Office of Alumni Relations through Friday, March 1.

Criteria for each award, as well as nomination forms, are available online at . Listings of previous Alumni Awards honorees can also be found on the website. For more information, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 502-852-6186 or visit .

UofL students heard directly from the Focus Brands CEO during a “Focus on Franchising” event hosted by the College of Business in partnership with the Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence. The conversation with Holthouser was followed by an audience Q&A.

Holthouser is responsible for a global portfolio of well-recognized food service and restaurant brands. He leads the parent company of favorites including Auntie Anne’s, Carvel, Cinnabon, Jamba, Moe’s Southwest Grill, McAlister’s Deli, Schlotzsky’s and Seattle’s Best Coffee.

Holthouser earned three UofL degrees and credits his time at UofL for helping shape him into the person he is today. He likened his university experience to a kaleidoscope, with individual encounters, lessons learned and lots of memories that added up.

“I’ve always had this love of all things international. By the time I left Louisville, I had my [bachelor’s] degrees in German and French and my master’s in political science. Louisville became my springboard to the international school,” Holthouser said.

Holthouser’s energy and vision set the tone for the culture of Focus Brands’ 6,000 locations worldwide. He creates innovative and customer-focused solutions to grow and reinvigorate brands, improve loyalty, create cost savings and drive revenue and unit growth.

“The beauty of this job is there’s never one day like the next, and I love that diversity,” Holthouser said.

Prior to his work at Focus Brands, Holthouser served as a senior executive at Hilton Hotels, where he was responsible for a $36 billion international portfolio of 15 leading hotel brands. He covered more than 5,000 locations across 105 countries and directed worldwide brand marketing, product and brand development, owner relations and the 75 million-member Hilton Honors guest loyalty program.

“I think what is most gratifying to me is when I think back to the number of people I’ve promoted and the number of people I’ve hired and who’ve gone on to do bigger and better things,” he said. “And you’ve helped them financially and given their families different lives and given them different optionalities and opportunities, right? That’s kind of cool.”

Though his Atlanta-based work keeps him quite busy, Holthouser does find time to relax with a good book. A modern-day Renaissance man, Holthouser loves to travel and is fluent in German and conversant in French. He also is a trained pianist with several recordings to his credit.

“[College] is the one time in your life where you really get to explore and play,” he said. “That’s the other thing that Louisville gave me — it gave this little Kentucky boy a lot of exposure to the world.”

For more information on Holthouser, check out the �� or .

The 2021 alumni board class is:

• Ahmed Awadallah ’11, ’12
• Wilson Chan ’90
• Ben Donlon ’12, ’16
• DeShara Doub ’10, ’18
• Goetz Kloecker ’02

“We have worked with our alumni network to diversify our board so that it better represents the vast experience of our alumni family worldwide,” said Josh Hawkins, assistant vice president for alumni relations. “Each of these new board members brings outstanding perspective, insight and determination to help us make this university and our alumni family stronger.” ����

The Board of Directors is a representative group of the Louisville Alumni network, serving as their voice to the university and advising the office of alumni relations regarding the implementation of organized initiatives and programs.

The new board terms begin July 1, with a new Board Chair position filled by Amy Farnsworth ’92, ’95. The new executive committee will consist of Farnsworth, Tommy Nolan ’03, Will Baumgardner ’10, Dwayne Compton ’07 and Rosalyn Carothers ’85, ’90. The Louisville Alumni board of directors also recognizes the retirement of six members: Doug Kemper ’86, Barbara Nichols ’67, Norb Paulin ’70, Lowell Katz ’68, ’72, ’76, Kelly Hodges ’93, ’01, and Shellie Branson ’84, ’86.

Incoming board members

Ahmed Awadallah ’11, ’12
Awadallah is a two-time graduate from the Speed School of Engineering. An 11-year veteran of Yum! Brands, he is Director of Operations for Pizza Hut Express and Pizza Hut company-owned restaurants. Beyond his strong involvement in the Dallas community and serving as the UofL Dallas chapter alumni leader, Awadallah is an active participant in multiple non-profit boards and sports philanthropic causes. He founded AFWB Camps with fellow UofL alumni Breno Giacomini and Gary Barnidge, an organization that outreaches to underprivileged communities around the world bringing free football and leadership camps. He also is actively involved with MEP Sports, a non-profit that helps marginalized international students to get scholarships opportunities to study in the United States and play basketball.

Wilson Chan ’90
Chan is a graduate of the Speed School of Engineering and has served in numerous volunteer roles with the university since graduating. He is heavily involved with the Cincinnati UofL alumni chapter and continues to volunteer his time with the Speed School. Chan is the sales executive for Veritas Technologies for Healthcare and Public Sector where he focuses on enterprise data management, data protection and digital compliance across customers’ private, public and hybrid cloud implementation. He has been in technology sales, and formerly pre-sales engineering, for over 25 years.

Ben Donlon ’12, ’16
Donlon is a two-time graduate, earning his bachelor’s in finance, actuarial mathematics and computer engineering from the College of Arts and Sciences and his MBA from the College of Business. Donlon is the chief analytics officer for Metro United Way in Louisville where he is responsible for using higher-level data techniques to analyze financial and outcome data that informs decision-making. As an undergraduate, he received multiple awards, including “Who’s Who Among Students,” 2012 University of Louisville Volunteer of the Year, Southeastern Greek Man of the Year and the top undergraduate in his national fraternity.

DeShara Doub ’10, ’18
Doub is a two-time graduate, earning her bachelor’s in communication, with a minor in Pan African Studies from the College of Arts and Sciences and a master’s in social work with a specialization in couple and family therapy from the Kent School. She is the founder and chief executive officer of Vision of Promise LLC, a Louisville-based counseling and consulting agency. Doub has been an active alumni volunteer with the Kent School alumni council and the African American alumni council and is a member of the Black Alumni Summit planning committee.

Goetz Kloecker ’02
Kloecker graduated with a master’s in public health and completed his medical residency at UofL in 2003. Kloecker served as tenured professor on UofL’s faculty until 2020, when he started at St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Northern Kentucky. His professional goal is to improve the lives of patients with lung cancer and he cofounded a chapter of the lung cancer alliance in Kentucky, receiving the Kentucky Colonel award for his health-promoting community services. In addition, he initiated lung cancer screening at UofL and started immunotherapy as a breakthrough treatment for lung cancer in Kentucky.

Continuing her passion for helping people realize their educational dreams, Clark recalls the 1999 day that Jenny Sawyer in admissions told her she was getting what Clark described as her then-dream job of admissions counselor to recruit minority students to UofL. She discussed her growth through many UofL roles as student and staff member in a Q&A with Louisville Alumni:

Degrees: Bachelor of science in music education (1993) from University of Arkansas; master of educational psychology with an emphasis in college student personnel (2001) from University of Louisville; PhD in leadership in higher education (anticipated 2022) from Bellarmine University.

Current Occupation: Vice president for student services at Simmons College of Kentucky; owner of Phyllis Clark Consulting; owner of Essence Promotions; founder of EMERGE Institute for Women & Girls.

How has your UofL experience shaped your career or community involvement? I am thrilled to acknowledge that I served 17 years at the University of Louisville in capacities that fueled my professional growth and augmented my personal and professional development. The opportunities I received and the relationships I formed with beautiful colleagues and cohort members, (many of whom I still know and love to this day), coupled with my graduate school experiences have positioned me for the service to which I have been called at Simmons College of Kentucky, the nation’s 107th historically Black college and university.

I distinctly remember the hug Jenny Sawyer, the executive director of undergraduate admissions, shared with me on a warm August afternoon of 1999 after telling me that I was the candidate of choice for the position for which I applied and that I’d be working to also recruit minority students to the university. This was my first professional position at UofL as an admissions counselor and was my absolute dream job after concluding my service as orchestra teacher for seven schools in Jefferson County.

Although my roles changed throughout my tenure on campus, I was always afforded the opportunity to sharpen my skillset and increase my higher education knowledge base in and out of the classroom through a variety of professional development activities, educational badges, trainings, and asset-mapping and building. I’ll never forget being able to sharpen my speaking and presentation skills through sharing information about UofL through our weekly campus visit programs, open houses or representing the university at community and/or faith-based events. Being encouraged and given the space to create innovative programs and services for students through Diversity Recruitment and the Cultural Center stretched me to the max but I loved all of it. I just recently learned that many of the programs my team and I created in the early-to-mid ‘90s remain active in some form today.

What is most memorable for me is that UofL provided me the opportunity to work in critical positions that permitted me to assist in the personal and professional development and persistence of Black students. You might know them collectively as the Porter Scholars and the Martin Luther King Scholars. These scholarship student groups represent the best and the brightest from the local area, region and state. Helping young minoritized men and women realize their educational dreams remains my passion, in this, my 26th year of service to the education profession.

The graduate and professional experiences I received at UofL have shaped who I am today and I am better for it. All of my “learning moments” helped to preserve and prepare me for the service, coaching and entrepreneurial endeavors with which I am engaged today and I am eternally grateful.

To read the entire Q&A, click .��

earned her education master’s degree in college student personnel at UofL before pursuing her doctorate at Kent State, where she has served in many roles including Student Multicultural Center director on her way to becoming the Ohio school’s top student advocate.

She talked about her Louisville educational experience and her reign as 2008 Kentucky Derby Festival queen in a discussion with Louisville Alumni about UofL’s impact on her life.

How has your UofL experience shaped your career or community involvement?

My experiences at the University of Louisville and the city of Louisville, Kentucky, changed my life. I began my career at UofL pursuing my master’s in a field that I loved. I also had the opportunity to meet Dean Mardis and talk to him about his journey to deanship as it was something I was interested in. I appreciated how he showed up as the dean, and that has stuck with me throughout my career. I also had a chance to connect with fantastic faculty, colleagues, classmates and students who I stay in touch with to this day.

I also had the once-in-a-lifetime experience to be the queen of the Kentucky Derby Festival. It was an honor to sit in that seat as the second Black woman to hold that title. I was able to build relationships with the princesses and the Fillies (group that presents the Derby Ball) during that time. Those experiences stick with me to this day.

What program or initiative at UofL would you like to encourage support of?

In the work that I do, and the experiences that I see students go through, I would be remiss not to encourage support of the Louis and Louise W. Weisser Bornwasser Student Emergency Fund. These are very difficult times that our students are experiencing and support to this fund can make a significant impact in the lives of those who are facing challenges.

To read the entire Q&A with Louisville Alumni, check .

Scott, who graduated with a degree in finance from the��, was working as a global executive in the renewable energy industry. Shackled by society’s expectations, the need to please everyone, and the habit of putting her own needs last, she reached a point where it all became too much.��

“I had built such a barrier around my emotions and my heart based on experiences I had in my life,” said Scott. “It was such a burden on my heart, and I got to a place where I finally said I’m quitting my job and giving away most of my things.”

After packing up what belongings she had left and saying goodbye to her stressful lifestyle in Nashville, Scott said hello to the remote jungle of Costa Rica.

Scott’s time at UofL was her first experience of facing the unknown, and the diverse group of people she met allowed her to expand her worldview. The lessons she learned and the people she encountered as a student at UofL served her well as she spent three months in a new country.

Living off the grid in a secluded area – miles off the paved road with no cell phone reception for miles – allowed her to experience the powerful and rewarding feeling of getting in sync with nature as she once had during her childhood.

“As a child, I had lots of animals and loved them and felt very connected to them,” said Scott, who grew up in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. “Experiencing that reconnection, but this time with wild animals, was empowering, fascinating and inspiring.”

Between several encounters with scorpions and bats, Scott’s rekindled connection with nature and wildlife during her time in Costa Rica taught her important life lessons of taking risks and letting go of things she couldn’t control.

“I don’t want any person to feel like what others think is more important than who they authentically are and the power they have in their own right.

“One of the things I learned from bats is that they can’t fly from the ground. They have to be willing to just let go and risk falling,” she said. “That’s how we are in life – sometimes we just have to take that risk.”

During her experience, she discovered the art of journaling and found strength in getting her thoughts and feelings out on paper. Although becoming an author was never the intention, Scott was inspired to share her story with the world of how she went from burnout to reigniting her life.��

“I had a wonderful Business Communications course at UofL that gave us very practical tips on writing everything from thank you letters and resumes to getting thoughts down in a concise way,” Scott said. “Those learnings carried over into writing articles, journal publications, blog entries, and of course the book.”

Her book, Trust Your Animal Instincts, is about reconnecting to your intuition and recharging to stay positive in your own life. While people don’t have to go through exactly what she felt, Scott shares her tips and tricks for recognizing signs that lead to burnout, tapping into your personal power, and rediscovering your purpose.“What inspired me to write the book was allowing myself to feel emotions for the first time in decades,” she explained. “I don’t want any person to feel like what others think is more important than who they authentically are and the power they have in their own right.”

After returning from Costa Rica rejuvenated with a new outlook on life, Scott embarked on a different career path she is passionate about. More importantly, she has adapted the valuable lessons acquired in the jungle to fit her everyday life.

“The way I’ve changed the most is if I thought someone was on a path that was destructive or negative before, I’d try to convince them otherwise,” she said. “Now, I’ve learned to redirect their energy and put a shield up to let it flow around me rather than letting it hit me. It has made me stay a lot more positive because I don’t take on negativity.”

Scott recognizes the challenge that comes with trying to completely tune out negativity, but she encourages everyone to realize how the things we do every day create ripples around us. By focusing too much on the negative things surrounding us, it pulls away from our positive energy.

“The feelings that will lift you up are love and compassion,” she said. “If you feel good about it in your heart, and if you feel passionate that you might be helping yourself and others, then I say jump off the diving board and make some ripples.”

Tabitha Scott’s book, Trust Your Animal Instincts, is available for purchase on����and you can visit her website��.

Others noticed, too. More than half of this year’s Forty Under 40 list, published by Louisville Business First, are University of Louisville graduates – some with multiple degrees earned here.

The 21 alumni representing many career paths were chosen from more than 500 nominations in the 25^th annual program the publication described as “honoring the region’s up-and-coming young leaders under the age of 40.”��

They are among the 1,000 honored in the quarter-century of the recognition program.

Here are the 21 Cardinals making the 2020 list:

Marea Ingwersen Aspillaga ’05, 08
Whitney Austin ’03, ’09
Lonita Baker ’03, ’06, ’17
Georgia Connally ’15, ’18
Dani Fowles ’09, ’14
Luke Haire ’09
Dr. Jeffrey Howard ’14
Dr. Steven Kniffley Jr, ’08
Elizabeth McCall ’07, ’09
Mo McKnight Howe ’08
Curtis Nelson III ’03, ’06
OJ Oleka ’10
Nimish Patel ’06
Mike Slaton ’06
Dr. Monalisa Tailor ’10
Matt Ward ’12
Cassandra Webb ’12
Lindsay Wehr ’03, ’09
Janna Woodfork ’07
Matthew Yates ’08
Darryl Young Jr. ’12

Check out the complete list of honorees . Business First announced it will run the honorees’ profiles in its Sept. 25 issue.

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Online bios of both Lincoln’s bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon, and Lincoln’s brother-in-law, Benjamin Hardin Helm, say these two Lincoln connections attended UofL’s law school in the mid-1800s.

Lamon was a close friend and self-appointed bodyguard of Lincoln. Born in 1828 in Virginia, he pursued the study of medicine as a teenager but soon abandoned medicine for law. When he was 19, Lamon moved to Illinois and, according to bios, later attended lectures at Louisville’s law school.

An 1850-51 study directory the university’s Law Library purchased from a rare-books dealer provides a clear indication that his claim to Cardinal fame is true.

The directory lists W. H. Lamon of Martinsburg, Virginia, in its “catalog of students in the department since its founding.” In 1851, Lamon was admitted to the Illinois Bar, which also included Lincoln, who became one of Lamon’s fast friends. Lamon, who was described as a burly, boisterous man, chose to act as Lincoln’s bodyguard during his presidency. Because Lincoln sent Lamon on an errand in Richmond, Virginia, Lamon was absent from Ford’s Theatre the night Lincoln was assassinated.

Around the same time Lamon was attending lectures, Helm was also studying law. Lincoln’s brother-in-law was an attorney and a brigadier general for the Confederate Army. Born in 1831 in Bardstown, Kentucky, Helm married Emilie Todd, a half-sister of Mary Todd Lincoln, in 1856. Lincoln offered Helm the position of paymaster for the Union Army, but Helm declined the offer and moved forward with the Confederate Army. Helm died at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863 while commanding the First Kentucky Brigade, commonly know as the Orphan Brigade.

Helm’s history with UofL is a bit murkier than Lamon’s. A 1943 biography, “Ben Hardin Helm, Rebel Brother-in-law of Abraham Lincoln,” says Helm received his law degree in 1853. But according to Kurt Metzmeier, associate director of the law library, Helm is not listed in the 1850-51 catalog of UofL law students. However, this only proves Helm did not attend lectures before November 1850.

According to Metzmeier, during the mid-1800s attending law school was not a requirement to become a lawyer.

“Lawyers of this area typically ‘read law’ under another attorney, which was essentially an apprenticeship,” he said.

Apprentices would then appear before a judge to be quizzed on the law and, if satisfied, the judge would grant them a law license.

“Attending law lectures was an extra bit of polish to the process of reading law, usually undertaken by those who could afford it to show status,” Metzmeier said.

Metzmeier said the only other law school in the region at the time was at Transylvania University and UofL was one of only three or four law schools west of the Appalachians. UofL’s law school was well-respected in the law community during the era, which would have encouraged such prominent men as Lamon and Helm to stop by for a lecture, he added.

And what about Lincoln himself?

“Unlikely,” Metzmeier said. “But with Lincoln’s friend (and future U.S. Attorney General) James Speed on the UofL board of trustees in the early 1850s and on the law faculty from 1856 to 1858, it is at least possible to imagine the lanky Illinois lawyer stretched out in a doorway waiting for his old friend to finish a lecture or some university business.”