Awards & Recognitions
BUAA Distinguished Alumnus BUAA Outstanding Young Graduate BUAA Lydia Moss Bradley Award BUAA Dr. Domenico Volturno Award CIBAC Francis C. Mergen Memorial Award for Public Service Alumni Spotlight Feature Bradley University Centurions
Meet our 2008 BUAA Award Recipients
2008 Outstanding Young Graduate Award
Salvador Tinajero, Jr. ’95
The son of Mexican immigrants, Salvador Tinajero, Jr. was the first in his family to graduate from college. At Bradley, he was a member of the cheerleading squad and the award-winning Speech Team. Upon graduation with a degree in communication, Sal returned to his Santa Ana, California, birthplace to work with physically disabled children. He later became a literacy educator and a U.S. history teacher. In 2000, he won a seat on the Santa Ana Unified School District Board of Directors, becoming the youngest elected official in Orange County, and is now serving his first term as a Santa Ana City Councilman. Sal teaches world history and speech at Fullerton Union High School, having been recruited to start a speech team there in 2001. Under his leadership, that forensics program has grown from fifteen students to more than one hundred thirty, and is consistently ranked among the nation’s very best. Virtually all of his speech and debate students have gone on to college, many earning full scholarships to prominent universities nationwide, including Bradley. In the past six years, twelve of his students have enrolled at Bradley. In 2005, Sal was named Hispanic Magazine’s Teacher of the Year. He received the 2001 Community Builder Award from the Santa Ana Unified School District, the 1999 Giraffe Award for Community Service, and the 1999 Southern California Teacher of the Year Award. In 2007, Sal was named one of the most influential Latinos in Orange County and was awarded the Hometown Hero Award by the Mayor of Fullerton and the City Council. He earned his master of arts in cross cultural education in 2006 from National University. Sal remains a passionate advocate for Bradley, returning to his alma mater every year with more than fifty Fullerton High School speech and debate team members to compete in the George Armstrong Memorial High School Tournament. Sal and his wife, Jennifer, a 1995 Bradley graduate, live in Santa Ana, California with their three children, Salvador, Vincent, and Grace.
2008 Lydia Moss Bradley Award
Glen McCullough ’50 MA ’56
Glen McCullough’s incredible volunteer journey began as an undergraduate student, while serving as manager for the historic men’s basketball teams that included the national runner-up in both the NCAA and NIT tournaments. Later, when Allen Upton ’48 MA ’49 nominated him for the alumni association board, Glen’s service to Bradley really took hold. He helped to bring Holiday on Ice and Herb Albert’s Tijuana Brass to the Field House, and spent many nights selling Bradley rocking chairs in the foyer to benefit alumni programs. But when he volunteered to keep the stats for a men’s basketball game in order to save the university $10 ($5 for each of two statisticians), he couldn’t have known that it would be the beginning of a forty-plus year volunteer career, and that he would become a Bradley athletics institution. Glen has coordinated the game management crew for men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball for more than four decades. He and his small crew of volunteers did such a great job for Bradley that they now manage IHSA, Missouri Valley Conference and NCAA tournaments. They work tirelessly behind the scenes, serving the media and other game officials, providing security for team members and referees, preparing locker rooms, and performing many other duties critical to the success of these events. Glen and his game management crew work nearly fifty events every year for Bradley, contributing more than two hundred volunteer hours annually. He is a longtime member of the Alumni “B” Club Board, has been inducted into the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame (2000) and has received the 1999 Missouri Valley Conference Award of Merit. He is also a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Friends of Basketball Hall of Fame and is a recipient of the 1982 “B” Club Billy Stone Service Award. Glen retired from Caterpillar Inc. as purchasing supervisor. He and his wife, Joan, live in Peoria. They have two grown children, Christopher and Laura.
2008 Distinguished Alumnus Award
The Honorable Ray LaHood ’71
First elected in 1994, Congressman Ray LaHood is serving his seventh and final term representing the 18th District of Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives. He serves with distinction on the House Appropriations Committee, overseeing federal discretionary spending. Among his many achievements, Ray is a leader in the promotion of ethanol and has supported policies which are allowing unprecedented expansion of ethanol production in Illinois. He is viewed as a leading proponent for preserving the Illinois River, has supported efforts to enhance the Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge in Mason County, expand the Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge in Fulton County, and create the Hennepin-Hopper Lakes backwater restoration project. He has worked to secure funds to improve local highways, and has been a proponent for improving local airports. By example, Ray has served as a leader in efforts to establish a higher level of civility, decorum, and bipartisanship in the House of Representatives. He co-founded the biennial Congressional Bipartisan Retreat and, because of his reputation for fairness, has spent more hours chairing contentious debates in the House than any other member. Locally, his greatest collaborative achievements include the establishment of a federal health clinic in Peoria, the creation of the Peoria/NEXT Innovation Center, and moving forward with the construction of the Peoria Riverfront Museum. In 1999, Ray was named one of Capitol Hill’s 50 Most Effective Legislators by Congressional Quarterly. He is also the recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the Chamber of Commerce’s Spirit of Enterprise Award, and the Illinois Farm Bureau’s Charles B. Shuman Distinguished Service Award. Ray has been significantly involved with local philanthropic activities including the Salvation Army, United Way, and St. Jude Children’s Hospital. In addition, Ray is an active and committed Bradley alumnus. A longtime donor and strong advocate for his alma mater in Congress, Ray is also past president of the Bradley University Alumni Association, and former member of the Bradley Board of Trustees. Ray and his wife Kathy, also a Bradley graduate, reside in Peoria. They have four grown children, Darin, Amy, Sam and Sara.
The Distinguished Alumnus Award. The Bradley University Alumni Association adopted the Distinguished Alumni Award program in the spring of 1952 to recognize those alumni who bring highest distinction to themselves, their community and to Bradley University. BUAA Distinguished Alumni are automatically inducted into the University’s Centurion Society. This award is presented at the annual Founder’s Day Luncheon. Click here to print out a nomination form, or complete an online nomination here.
The Outstanding Young Graduate Award. The Outstanding Young Graduate Award was created in 1980 by the Bradley University Alumni Association to recognize a graduate (40 years old or younger) who has gained early and exceptional professional or civic achievement in addition to continuing his/her University involvement. This award is presented at the annual Founder’s Day Luncheon. Click here out a nomination form, or complete an online nomination here.
The Lydia Moss Bradley Award. The BUAA established this award in 1985 to honor outstanding service to Bradley University in the tradition of our founder. Recipients of this award are not required to be Bradley graduates. This award is presented at the annual Founder’s Day Luncheon. Click here to print out a nomination form, or complete an online nomination here.
The Dr. Domenico Volturno Award. The Volturno Award is presented to that outstanding senior student who values service to humanity. Applications are reviewed by the BUAA Awards Committee along with Dr. Volturno’s widow, Mrs. Betty Volturno ’65, and the award is presented at the Senior Reception each May. Students, faculty and staff are asked to submit nominations for this award. Request more information at bualum@bradley.edu
The Francis C. Mergen Memorial Award for Public Service. The Central Illinois Bradley Alumni Chapter (CIBAC) selects and presents this award in recognition of a Bradley faculty or staff member who has distinguished him or herself in the area of public service. This award is presented at the Annual Founder’s Day Convocation.
Alumni Spotlight. Each month, the BUAA Awards Committee selects and features a special alumnus/a or alumni organization to spotlight on the BUAA web site. The criteria for these spotlights is simply that the alumnus/a is doing something interesting or unique that may be of interest to other alumni. Do you know someone who has a unique career? Whose community involvement is making a special impact? Whose hobby or avocation is particularly unique or unusual? Submit a suggested Alumni Spotlight or view Archives.
Bradley University Centurions. The Centurion Society was created by the Board of Trustees on the occasion of the Universit;y’s 85th anniversary to honor outstanding Bradley alumni for their career achievements in business, public life, and the professions. Centurions are individuals of special talent and attainment who have become national or international leaders in their field. Charter members of the Centurion Society were all recipients of the BUAA Distinguished Alumnus/a Award, one of Bradley’s highest alumni honors. Since 1982, other distinguished alumni recipients have been selected for membership.