alumni Class Notes 52nd Annual Alumni Awards


Tis year’s recipients of the Alumni Association’s Annual Awards are notable for their commitment to making the world a beter place for others. Tey are teachers, business professionals, community volunteers and visionary leaders. On May 11, they will officially join more than 300 extraordinary individuals who represent the best of EMU. Read on for more about this year’s honorees and how their mentors, colleagues, professors and fellow alumni describe them.


Suzie Staley-Schlot (BS01, MA04) Ypsilanti, Mich. Young Alumni Award “As a counselor, mentor, teacher and confidant of at-risk youth, Suzie Staley-Schlot has no equal,” a nominator wrote. Staley-Schlot is the director of the youth membership program at Te Henry Ford


and was a Governor’s Service Award Finalist in 2007 and 2010. Another nominator noted that she “has a remarkable ability to hold at-risk youth accountable for their actions in a way that leads to constructive growth and learning.” She has donated her time to many other organizations, including the Red Wagon Project, the Westland Public Library and the Westland Youth Assistance Program.


John Rutherford (MA95) Rochester Hills, Mich. Alumni Achievement Award John Rutherford is a language arts teacher and theatre director at Birmingham Groves High School. He was selected as the 2011 Creative Writing Teacher of the Year by the Michigan Council for Teachers of English, and has been inducted into the


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Michigan Educational Teatre Hall of Fame. Nominators called him a “tireless and dedicated professional who seeks to enhance Michigan’s theatre, forensics and debate experience for students” and “one of the premier theatre directors in the state.” Rutherford won the Governor’s Award for Arts and Culture in 2007.


Kirk Profit (BS75) Ann Arbor, Mich. Distinguished Alumni Award Kirk Profit is the owner/ director of Governmental Consultant Services, Inc., a Lansing lobbying and consulting firm with a client list that includes the University of Michigan, Washtenaw Community College,


Consumers Energy, the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Detroit Zoo. He served in the State of Michigan House of Representatives from 1988-98, representing the eastern part of Washtenaw County, and chaired the House Tax Policy Commitee and the House Commitee on Higher Education. A nominator calls him “well-respected” and says that while EMU is not a client, Profit is “always looking out for Eastern Michigan University’s best interests.”


Annmarie Simonson (BS82) San Antonio, Texas Distinguished Alumni Award Annmarie Simonson, an atorney, is vice president of enterprise litigation for USAA, a Fortune 500 financial services company that provides products for military members, veterans, and their families. Described as “an outstanding speaker


and brilliant lawyer” and “a person who ‘wows’ an audience from courtrooms to boardrooms,” Simonson cultivated her


Photograph by Michael Andaloro


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