Alumni Association Announces New Awards

The NCU alumni association is pleased to announce the creation of two new alumni awards, aimed at recognizing alumni who have distinguished themselves after graduating. The awards, the Young Alumni Leadership Award and the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, will be presented annually during Homecoming Reunion weekend with the inaugural presentation scheduled for Saturday, February 20, 2010.

Bruce Hanna '96 has been selected as the 2010 Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award recipient.

Hanna is currently serving his third term as the State Representative for House District 7, which includes parts of Southern Lane and Northern Douglas Counties.  He was elected by his colleagues as the House Republican Leader in 2007 and continues in that role today. He currently serves on the House Interim Rules Committee and continues his work with Legislative Administration.

Hanna became an active and successful businessman at a young age when he established a Dairy Queen franchise in Pleasant Hill, Ore. His success caught the attention of Coca-Cola, which accepted him into their USA Management Candidate Program.  After training with the company for one year, Hanna returned to Oregon to become the sales manager at Coca-Cola Bottling of Roseburg. 

Taking his knowledge of the industry, Hanna built a soft drink distribution system and established a new company.  By expanding on his system and ultimately purchasing three more bottling companies, he built Siskiyou Beverages, which became a successful company as well. In 1990, Hanna sold Siskiyou Beverages and purchased the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Roseburg - of which he currently serves as President and CEO - and its sister company, Automatic Vending Service.  

In addition to his legislative and professional duties, Hanna is also on the board of directors for Advantage Dental, the C. Giles Hunt Foundation, and the Community Cancer Center. He is on the board of trustees for NCU and he is a member of the Roseburg Executive Association and the Roseburg Area Chamber of Commerce. 

Hanna is a 1996 graduate of the nontraditional, adult studies program. He and his wife, Teresa, live in Roseburg, Ore.

Mindy Knight Lockard '98 has been selected as the recipient of the Young Alumni Leadership Award.

After receiving her communications degree in 1998, Lockard attended the Protocol School of Washington. From there she combined her passion for the civil side of etiquette with the polished details it requires to create a career in etiquette consulting and training.

Lockard is the founder of ManneroftheMonth.com magazine, a monthly publication that teaches manners and etiquette to everyday users as well as industry professionals. She also produces a daily blog around the art of Gracious Living. She is the president of the Mindy Lockard brand, which includes seminars and training materials, stationery, and industry coaching. Lockard teaches formal etiquette courses for people of all ages and provides valuable corporate training for schools, government agencies, and private companies. She writes for Crane & Co.'s The Crane Insider as well as Stationery Trends magazine's column "What's Write." She is also the online etiquette consultant at GartnerStudios.com and works as a freelance contributor for several other publications and Web sites.

In addition to running her growing etiquette business, Lockard has been a member of the Junior League of Eugene for the past eight years, having served as League president in 2007-2008 and is a three-year member of the board of directors for Sacred Heart Medical Center Foundation.

She and her husband, Ty a 1996 graduate, live in Eugene, Ore.

For more information on the Alumni awards, click here.