Each year, the Missouri State University Alumni Association honors a group of distinguished alumni and former university faculty and staff in an awards ceremony.
The event celebrates their professional accomplishments, civic achievements, volunteer impact and more, which bring recognition to the university. Their leadership roles and impact on their communities are among the hallmarks of these alumni and friends from around the globe.
The 2025 Bears of Distinction Dinner and Awards Banquet will take place at 6 p.m., April 26 in the Christopher S. Bond Learning Center, located at the William H. Darr Agricultural Center in Springfield.
The event is open to the public. Tickets are $40 per person or $320 for a table of eight. Attendees can RSVP online or by calling 417-836-5654.
The 2025 Bears of Distinction award recipients
Lifetime Achievement Award: Tess Harper ’72
Harper is an Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated film and television actor. She has won five industry awards including the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding performance by a Cast for “No Country for Old Men.” At Missouri State, she performed in three seasons of Tent Theatre.. She is a longtime supporter of National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Services, including as the voice of Laura Ingalls Wilder on “American Masters”. She has acted continuously in films and television from the 1980s to now.
Outstanding Alumna: Nancy (Appelquist) Allen ’78
Allen is a former faculty member and a three-time New York Times bestselling author. Allen went to law school and was one of the first women to practice criminal law in southwest Missouri. She became assistant Missouri attorney general and has co-authored five books with James Patterson.
Outstanding Young Alumna Callie Carroll-Swafford ’13, ’19
Carroll-Swafford is vice president of business development and shareholder relations officer at OMB Bank and a current Springfield City Council member. She is heavily involved in the community as chair of The Network, Champions Committed to Kids and is a Missouri State Board of Trustees member.
Alumni Award for Excellence in Public Affairs: Dr. Karla (Lamar) Eslinger ’92, ’99
Eslinger is the current Missouri Commissioner of Education but has held numerous roles during her more than 30 years working in education. Eslinger was an elected official as well, representing District 155 in the Missouri House of Representatives from 2019-21. And she most recently represented District 33 in the Missouri Senate from 2021-24.
Volunteer Group of the Year: Forvis Mazars
Forvis Mazars is one of the largest public accounting firms in the United States and has a decades-long history of backing the Bears. In the College of Business, the firm has contributed significantly to an endowed fund to support the School of Accountancy and students are taught financial market strategies in the Forvis Mazars Financial Trading Lab. Forvis Mazars is represented on COB’s Executive Advisory Committee and the BearsWIN Advisory Committee, as well as on advisory boards across the COB. Of its roughly 6,000 employees, more than 250 are MSU alumni.
Award of Appreciation: Tina (Chasteen) Stillwell ’72, ’80 and Mark Stillwell
The Stillwells have dedicated more than three decades to Missouri State and stayed involved after their retirements in 2008. During her 34 years at MSU, Tina held roles as a publications assistant, assistant director of information services and director of news services. She also served as corporate support manager with Ozarks Public Broadcasting. Mark boosted Bears athletics as Missouri State’s first full-time sports information director and assistant athletics director. Both are trustees of the MSU Foundation and the pair belong to a select group who have donated to the foundation every year since it started in 1981.
Bear of Excellence Award: Robert Boehmler ’77
Boehmler is a retired executive vice president and loan manager for Arvest Bank and a part-time consultant with the Walton Family Foundation. He started his banking career as a part-time teller in college. He and his wife, Jeanne, established the Jeanne M. Prochaska Boehmler Special Education Scholarship Fund.
Bear of Excellence Award: Matt Crutcher ’98
Crutcher is an agriculture education instructor for Fair Grove R-10 School District. He and his wife, Amanda, own Crutcher Cattle Company, a purebred cattle operation and a videography company for online cattle sales.
Bear of Excellence Award: Amanda (McGee) Hedgpeth ’05, ’07
Hedgpeth is executive vice president and chief operating officer at CoxHealth. She oversees hospital operations for the six-hospital system, as well as strategic planning, information technology, marketing and consumer experience.
Bear of Excellence Award: Andrew Hedgpeth ’05, ’09
Hedgpeth is chief human resources officer at CoxHealth where he oversees human resources for a workforce of more than 14,000 people. He was a leader in the creation of the Alliance for Healthcare Education, a public-private partnership among CoxHealth, Missouri State, Ozarks Tech and Springfield Public Schools.
Bear of Excellence Award: Stacie Henderson Capece Minutolo ’95
Minutolo is chief marketing officer for Americas Tod’s Group. She is also co-founder of Fashion Tech Connects, which is dedicated to increasing the number of women of color in fashion. She has spent more than 15 years working for global luxury fashion brands, including Versace, Ferragamo and Tod’s Group as a marketing and e-commerce expert.
Bear of Excellence Award: Dr. Caleb Masterson ’06, ’08
Masterson is owner/CEO of ENT Center of Northwest Alabama; owner of Breathe and Brew coffee shop; and owner/CEO of My Allergy Score LLC. He is a board-certified otolaryngologist and facial plastic surgeon. In addition to his own practice, Masterson trains future physicians as an adjunct professor at the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Bear of Excellence Award: Dr. Jacob Swett ’12
Swett is executive director at Blueprint Biosecurity. The nonprofit he founded tries to prevent pandemics using technological and policy interventions. Swett has contributed to more than 70 articles and patents and authored op-eds for the New York Times and STAT News
Nominate a recipient for 2026
The Alumni Association invites nominations of worthy MSU graduates or former faculty and staff members to be Bears of Distinction. Submit a nomination online.