The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes alumni who serve the Metro Chicago community, who have made outstanding contributions in their chosen fields, and support in the advancement of Michigan State University.
2012 Distinguished Alumni
The MSU Alumni Club of Metro Chicago is proud to honor two tremendous Spartans – Roger (class of ’61) and Mary Anne (class of ’64) – as our 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award Winners. Making a difference where they are and wherever they go, and the Herrings are the perfect embodiment of Spartan values and hard work.
As an undergrad, Roger played catcher for the Spartan baseball team. His dual passions for America’s Pastime and Michigan State University are the driving force behind his efforts to create a baseball scholarship gift with MSU. In addition to charitable gifts to the University, Mary Anne and Roger have been extremely active locally, through their support of SpartyBall, the Chicago Spartan Charity Golf Outing and college recruitment fairs across the Chicagoland area.
After a successful career in the medical device industry, Roger is the Director/Owner of HandMRecruiting, a firm that specializes in physician recruitment. Mary Anne runs a flourishing interior design business, Robins Egg Blue, and was an Education and Interior Design double major at Michigan State. Neither have any intentions on slowing down or retiring anytime soon. Roger and Mary Anne have three children and three grandchildren. Their son, Roger Jr., owns Socca Restaurant near Clark and Belmont.
This year’s award is brought to you by Paulson Wealth Management, an SEC registered investment advisory firm that specializes in providing investment management, wealth planning, and philanthropic services to business leaders, their families, endowments and foundations.
Past Winners
2011 Distinguished Alumni – Harrison and Katie Kennicott
Harrison “Red” (Class of ’59) and Katie Kennicot (Class of ’58) are two bright examples of the hardworking excellence that Michigan State University seeks to imbue into each of its graduates. Red is the Chairman of the Board for Kennicott Bros. – a wholesale floral company – and was inducted into the National Floral Hall of Fame by the Society of American Florists in 2010. The Kennicotts have been extremely generous to the University and have demonstrated support locally through events like SpartyBall and the club’s annual Chicago Cubs baseball outings.
Katie has been instrumental in helping forge relationships in support of the MSU/Chicago urban teaching interships and was a mentor to a Chicago Public School student who recently received an academic scholarship to Benedictine University near Chicago.
The Kennicots have five grown children and many grandchildren, one of which attends MSU and is enrolled in the Honors College. The couple celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 2009.
2010 Distinguished Alumnus – Bruce Leech
Bruce Leech (BA Finance ’78), founded CrossCom National in 1981 to install and service telecommunications and data systems for large national retailers. He grew the company over 25 years to be one of the leading IT services firms for retailers. He also developed an office in the United Kingdom and supported both retailers in the U.S. and U.K. Bruce largely divested CrossCom in 2004, but continues to serve on its Board of Directors.
Bruce’s current venture, Evolve, assists business owners to understand the intricacies involved in succession planning and selling one’s business. Evolve is a membership organization for business owners to enhance company’s value, harvest their wealth and live a balanced life. Additionally, his business and community activities include partnership in BTA Enterprises, a consulting firm focused on the development of leadership, strategy, sales and marketing for mid-sized companies, and several global and local charitable organizations. Bruce is Chairman of the Board for Solidarity Bridge, a mission program to Bolivia, and a member of the Vision Council of World Vision in Chicago.
An active Michigan State University alumnus, Bruce serves on the Broad School’s Alumni Association Board of Directors. Bruce is also a member of the advisory board for MSU-CIBER (Center for International Business Education and Research) and is Co-Chairman of the Marketing Leadership Advisory Board at MSU, working to develop entrepreneurship programs for MSU students. Locally, he serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board at the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center at DePaul University.
Bruce lives in Winnetka and has three children, Bryant, Todd and Adrianne. All have been regular visitors to E. Lansing over the years for football and basketball games. He also has a lake home in Northern Michigan, where he will celebrate 30 years in a row of Super Bowl weekends with his MSU friends, some traditions continue. Bruce also enjoys skiing, running, squash, sailing and is a private pilot.
2009 – All Present and Past Board Members of the MSU Alumni Club of Metro Chicago
2008 – Jeannie Warrington James and Edward R. James
The romance between Jeannie and Ed started on a blind date at the 1956 Rose Bowl. Ed’s class was the only one to go to two Rose Bowl games in 4 years. Jeannie entered Michigan State in 1953, when she and her family lived in Bethesda MD. Jeannie would go on to graduate from MSU with honors in Textiles, Clothing and Related Art in March of 1957. Meanwhile Ed, an Evanston native, graduated from MSU in June of 1956, with a BS in Economics. After graduation, Ed entered the Army and served 6 months on active duty. Two weeks after his discharge from active duty, Jeannie and Ed were married.
Jeannie immediately immersed herself into the community while she was having their four children and during the span of several years, became president of the Young Women’s Club of Evanston, the Junior League of Evanston and North Shore, the Evanston Hospital Auxiliary, Chairman Ravinia Women’s Festival Board and The Chicago Foundation for Education.
Ed is a past Trustee of the Urban Land Institute, a Governor of the Urban Land Foundation, Member of Lambda Alpha International Honorary Professional Land Economics Fraternity and a member of the National and Chicago Home Builders Associations and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Urban Land Institute of Chicago.
Ed has been President of the Western Golf Association, Chairman of the Evans Scholars Foundation, Chairman of the Michigan State University Foundation, President of Indian Hill County Club and President of the Board of Trustees of his church. Ed is currently a Chicago and National Trustee of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago and America and a member of the Executive Committee of the Presbyterian Homes.
Jeannie and Ed have lived in Winnetka, IL for the last 35 years. They raised four children, Jerry, married to Kitty, Catherine, married to Ed King, Warren, married to Amy and Ann, married to David Harvey, all of whom live in Winnetka or Wilmette. Jeannie and Ed have 15 grandchildren ranging in age from 18 month twins to 26 years old.
2007 – Stu Reed
A 1983 graduate of the Broad School’s supply chain management program (MLM at the time) at MSU, Reed also earned a master’s degree in management in 1991 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a Sloan Fellow. 
Mr. Reed played a strong role in establishing an on-demand supply chain lab and the new Center for Leadership in the Digital Enterprise within the Broad School. As one of the founding member of Michigan State University’s Center for Leadership of the Digital Enterprise Board of Directors, he has spent time in East Lansing over the past few years helping to strategize CLODE’s future. While he has been in town for the board meetings, taking a leadership role in attracting major corporations to be part of CLODE research efforts, he has also speaking to Broad School students about supply chain issues. Reed is the current Senior Vice President and President of Home Services at Sears Holding Company.
Previous to his current position, Reed was executive vice president of Motorola’s integrated supply chain organization, which includes all manufacturing facilities, procurement, customer fulfillment centers and strategic sourcing. Reed joined Motorola in April 2005 with a mission to transform the company’s supply chain into a competitive advantage. Prior to that, he spent more than 20 years at the IBM Corporation, capping his career there as Vice President of Worldwide Manufacturing for IBM’s integrated supply chain. Reed served as a key thought leader and implementer among the team of senior executives who transformed IBM’s supply chain operations over five years.
Stu is married to wife Renee and they have two children, Michael and Kelsey. He coaches his children’s soccer teams and has been known to take in a basketball game when he is back in East Lansing.
2006 – Chuck Goudie
Chuck Goudie’s reputation for being one of Chicago’s toughest investigative reporters spans more than two decades. He has been the chief investigative reporter for ABC 7 News since 1990, often breaking major news stories before other media. He joined ABC 7 as a news reporter in 1980. Goudie’s compelling and hard-hitting investigative reporting not only wins major awards but gets results.
For example, in 1998 it was Goudie who first exposed the “Licenses-for-Bribes” investigation, revealing Illinois commercial drivers’ licenses being sold to hundreds of unqualified truckers. His groundbreaking investigation prompted the FBI to go undercover, leading to dozens of federal corruption indictments all the way up to former Governor George Ryan. In 2004, his six-month investigation documenting misconduct, accidents and negligence by top members of the Illinois State Police unit that guards Governor Blagojevich, resulted in the governor ordering a thorough state police overhaul.
Goudie has won many of broadcasting’s top honors, including a National Emmy Award in 2004 for exposing how government agencies and chemical companies were unprotected against a deadly terrorist attack. In 1998, Goudie was honored with the national Edward R. Murrow Award for Continuous Television News Reporting. He has also received numerous reporting awards from the Associated Press; Emmy awards from the Chicago Television Academy; Peter Lisagor Awards from the Society for Professional Journalists and Herman Kogan awards from the Chicago Bar Association. Goudie has investigated and reported news stories from four continents; from New York’s “Ground Zero”; war zones in the Middle East, the Arabian Sea and the Balkans; and from behind the walls of the Vatican.
Born in suburban Detroit, Michigan, Goudie holds a B.A. degree in Telecommunications and Political Science from Michigan State University. He is married to Teri Goudie, a former ABC 7 news producer and now a media consultant and crisis trainer. They have five children.
