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Home Distinguished Alumni Awards Distinguished Alumni Awards Nomination Information

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS NOMINATION INFORMATION

Recognizing Our Alumni Successes

The University of Iowa Distinguished Alumni Awards Committee—which includes members of our Alumni Leadership Council—aims to recognize a broad range of qualified candidates who embody the university’s core values by honoring them with Distinguished Alumni Awards. The committee selects an annual recipient in each of the following categories:

  • The Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award recognizes graduates or former students who demonstrate significant accomplishments in their business or professional lives as well as distinguished service to their university, community, state, or nation.
  • The Distinguished Alumni Service Award recognizes graduates or former students who demonstrate specific and meritorious service to their university, community, state, or nation.
  • The Distinguished Alumni Hickerson Recognition Award recognizes graduates or former students for outstanding contributions to their alma mater. This award is named in honor of the late Loren Hickerson (40BA), the university’s first full-time alumni director and an ardent UI champion.
  • The Distinguished Recent Graduate Award recognizes graduates or former students, age 40 or younger at their time of nomination, for significant accomplishments in their business or professional lives as well as for distinguished service to their university, community, state, or nation.
  • The Distinguished Friend of the University Award recognizes individuals who are not alumni for specific and meritorious service that enhances and advances the university.
  • The Distinguished Faculty Award recognizes retired or former faculty for significant achievements and for specific meritorious service that enhances and advances the university. Nominees need not be alumni.
  • The Distinguished “Forevermore” Staff Award recognizes retired or former staff for significant achievements and for specific meritorious service that enhances and advances the university. Nominees need not be alumni.

NOMINATION FORMAT

Graduates, former students, faculty, staff, and friends of the University of Iowa may make nominations (the Distinguished Alumni Awards Committee reserves the right to reassign nomination categories, if deemed applicable). Nominators should submit the following:

  • Cover letter that states the nomination category, endorses the candidate’s qualifications, and highlights how the nominee embodies the criteria in the given nomination category.

The Awards Committee will review these initial submissions. For those submissions the Committee wishes to advance to the next round, requests will be made for the following additional information (from the initial nominator):

  • Nominee's vita or professional résumé, including a current address.
  • Three or more letters of recommendation from other individuals who support the nomination.
  • Any additional information that would further substantiate the nomination.
  • Previously held positions.
  • Accomplishments.
  • Other awards received from University of Iowa.

Nominators may choose to submit all of this information with the initial cover letter. This is not a guarantee of the nomination moving to the second round.

EXCLUSION FROM ELIGIBILITY

Current members of the University of Iowa Center for Advancement’s board of directors and staff, members of the Alumni Leadership Council, and current full‑time university faculty and staff are not eligible to receive these awards. Individuals currently in a position of elected or appointed office or known to be launching a campaign are also not eligible to receive these awards. All nominees must be living at the time of nomination and cannot have received a University of Iowa Distinguished Alumni Award in the same category in the past. Nominations by active Awards Committee members will not be reviewed until the member’s term has concluded on the committee. The Awards Committee reserves the right to consider and approve exceptions to the exclusions from eligibility.

AWARDS TIMELINE

Nominations for the 2026 awards will open in May 2025 and close on January 31, 2026. The Distinguished Alumni Awards Committee will meet in April 2026 to review all nominations and make the annual selections. Distinguished Alumni Awards will be presented at a special ceremony on the Friday before the University of Iowa's Homecoming (Fall 2026).

Submit an Online Nomination

MAIL NOMINATIONS TO:

The University of Iowa Center for Advancement
Distinguished Alumni Awards
One West Park Road
Iowa City, Iowa 52244

For more information, email Nici Bontrager or call 319-467-3607.

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Building a Brighter Future for Hawkeyes

An Iowa couple establishes a charitable remainder unitrust to earn income now and support Hawkeyes in the future. SUBMITTED PHOTO Kathy and Mark Vant Hul have gotten more involved with Iowa athletics since moving to the Iowa City area, including attending many events. Mark and Kathy Vant Hul have always enjoyed cheering on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Living most of their lives in Alton, Iowa?nearly five hours from Iowa City?meant the Vant Huls didn?t have many opportunities to watch the Hawkeyes in person. ?We were about as far away from Iowa City as you could possibly get and still be in the state,? says Kathy Vant Hul, who lived in northwest Iowa for most of her adult life. ?But we love the Hawkeyes.? Now retired, the high school sweethearts have become more involved and have since found a way to give back that works for them. A Unique Investment Opportunity Nearly 40 years ago, the Vant Huls found themselves in a predicament neither of them expected. The couple had just sold a local grocery store and were looking at ways to invest the proceeds. ?A friend of mine had mentioned investing in farms, so we started to do some research,? says Mark Vant Hul. ?Neither one of us came from farm families, but here we were looking to purchase farmland.? Over the next two decades, the couple bought two farms in southern Minnesota and one in Madison County, Iowa. It proved to be a successful investment?with the income helping fund their two daughters? college degrees and paying for their weddings. ?We?ve been very blessed throughout our lives,? says Kathy Vant Hul. The Next Chapter Retirement brought a lot of change to the Vant Huls. After leaving their respective careers?Mark as a sales manager and representative and Kathy from the local bank?they moved to the Iowa City area to be closer to family. They started attending more Iowa sporting events?specifically football, men?s basketball, and women?s basketball?and befriended other Hawkeye fans, including Larry (85BBA) and Leanne Van Steenhuyse. ?Larry started to get me heavily involved and going to a lot of games,? says Mark Vant Hul. ?We also started to talk about giving back to the university, and Larry introduced me to the idea of creating a charitable remainder trust. They have a charitable remainder trust at Iowa and thought it would be a great opportunity for us, too.? The Vant Huls worked with two executive directors of development from the UI Center for Advancement? Joe Conklin (09BA) and Susan Hagan (90BA, 94JD). They had met Conklin a few years earlier, and with Hagan?s expertise in planned giving, they found the process of creating a charitable remainder unitrust to be very straightforward. ?Susan and Joe were very knowledgeable and outstanding to work with as they helped us develop the trust,? says Mark Vant Hul. A charitable remainder unitrust allows individuals to donate assets to a charity while retaining an income stream for themselves for life or for a specific term of years. After the income beneficiaries pass away or the term ends, the assets are transferred to a designated charity such as the UI Center for Advancement. The Vant Huls donated their Madison County farm to create a charitable remainder unitrust. Their deferred gift will eventually support Iowa football, men?s basketball, and women?s basketball. The Vant Huls also chose to support two health care areas that have touched their lives, Alzheimer?s disease and cancer. For the Vant Huls, they receive a tax deduction now and earn income in retirement?all the while supporting Iowa in the future. ?We?re excited and thankful to do something meaningful and create a legacy at Iowa,? says Mark Vant Hul. SUBMITTED PHOTO Larry Van Steenhuyse, Leanne Van Steenhuyse, Kathy Vant Hul, and Mark Vant Hul at a recent Hawkeye event.

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NOTICE: The University of Iowa Center for Advancement is an operational name for the State University of Iowa Foundation, an independent, Iowa nonprofit corporation organized as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, publicly supported charitable entity that works to advance the University of Iowa. Please review its full disclosure statement.

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