Alumni Association to honor five at Awards Banquet

The University of the Ozarks Alumni Association will present honors to five of its distinguished alumni during the 2014 Alumni Weekend Awards Banquet, scheduled for Saturday, April 12.

The annual awards banquet will begin at 12:30 p.m. in the Rogers Conference Center. Tickets are $18 each and can be purchased by calling the Alumni Office at 479-979-1234 or on-line at www.ozarks.edu/Register4AW.

Dr. Danny J. Aquilar ’90, DPM, of Russellville, Ark., will receive the 2014 Alumni Achievement Award; Ivan S. Quant ’98 of Managua, Nicaragua, will receive the 2014 Alumni Merit Award; Catherine "Bitsy" Rogers Bumpers ’47 of Phoenix, Ariz., will be presented with the 2014 Legacy Award; Evan Hoffmeyer ’07 of Indianapolis will receive the 2014 Young Alumni Service Award; and Dr. Rickey Casey ’79 of Hagarville, Ark., will be presented the Faculty Enrichment Award.

Aquilar has owned and operated his own private practice, Aquilar Foot Care Clinic, in Russellville since 2000. He previously served in the U.S. Army in podiatry service. He has been named "Best of the Best" in podiatry by readers in a survey by The Courier of Russellville. He has been active with the U of O Alumni Association and as a volunteer for numerous professional organizations, including the American Board of Podiatric Surgery, the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons and the American Podiatric Medical Association. He and his wife, Jennifer, have two children, Elizabeth and Nathan.

Quant, who earned a degree in marketing from Ozarks, owns and operates several restaurants throughout Nicaragua with his family, including Dominos and Pollo Campero. A Walton International Scholar while at Ozarks, Quant serves on the University’s Board of Trustees. He has also been active in helping the Walton Program in recruiting and organizing mission trips and alumni gatherings. Quant and his wife, Maria, live in Managua, Nicaragua.

Bumpers, who grew up in Clarksville, has had a life-long relationship with her alma mater. After graduating from Ozarks, she worked for the University for several years, including stints in the president’s and admission offices. She married her late husband, Carroll Bumpers, in Munger Chapel. She has been a loyal and faithful supporter of Ozarks for more than 60 years. She has three children, Dr. Paula Bumpers, Donna Bumpers and the late Bruce Bumpers.

Hoffmeyer, who graduated from Ozarks with a degree in communication, is the web content writer at WTHR of Indianapolis. In April 2013, his work was awarded "Best Website," by the Arkansas Press Association. He has served on the University’s Alumni Board and has been a regular guest lecturer for the Radio-Television-Video (RTV) program since graduating from Ozarks. He and his wife, Rachel, married in October of 2012.

Casey is a professor of business and management at Ozarks and is also the advisor for the University’s Alpha & Omega, a student-run Christian service organization. Alpha & Omega has sponsored numerous summer mission trips to Central America since the organization was founded at Ozarks in the mid-1990s. The faculty enrichment award will help Casey and the organization with its mission trip this summer to Guatemala.

For more information on the 2014 Alumni Awards Banquet, please contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 479-979-1234.

Topics: Alumni