presented during Homecoming & Family Weekend Chapel - November 7, 2008
Click here to view cumulative list of Alumni Awards
Please scroll down to view all four award recipient profiles.
Nominations for Alumni Awards must be received by the Office of Alumni
Relations by February 20th to be considered for that year's awards.
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Consideration for awarding Alumnus of the Year is based on “personal achievement which has brought honor and distinction to the University and exemplifies the Christian ideals of the University.” For 2008 this honor has been bestowed on Dana Jean Freeborn, class of 1982. As stated in her nomination, “Dana Freeborn exemplifies what it means for our alumni to pursue spiritual and intellectual development ‘centered firmly in the Person of Jesus Christ.’”
Dana is daughter of 1958 alumni, Dr. E. Dee and Vi (Jahn) Freeborn, and sister of E. Daniel Freeborn, NNC class of 1996. She graduated from NNC with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics seeking a career in computers. After a summer traveling as goalie with NNC’s nationally ranked women’s field hockey team doing sports evangelism in New Zealand, Australia, and the Fiji Islands, she took her first position at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, as a computer analyst I. Twenty-five years later Dana is still with JPL and has worked her way through the ranks as programmer/analyst, system designer, design engineer, and presently group supervisor. The focus of her group is providing data management solutions for science missions, enterprise applications and archive systems at a low cost with low risk. Dana is also currently the Cognizant Design Engineer of the Ground Data System Process Control System for the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO), an Earth orbiting mission sponsored by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) Program scheduled to launch in December 2008. A fellow software engineer and co-worker says this of Dana, “Technologies and methods change over time, but Dana has managed to keep current and remain on the forefront of science data management system development.” She is described by another as a “dedicated worker and an inspiring leader” who is “brilliant but never flaunts her accomplishments.”
At the same time Dana provides strong leadership in her workplace, she is also an important leader in her church. Her pastor, T. Scott Daniels, says this of Dana’s leadership on the church board, “Dana has been a consistent and steady voice of grace and wisdom.” She is described as a “quintessential layman and faithful friend” who continues to be involved with worship and the arts in her church, even playing flute in the church orchestra.
A friend who would ascribe faithfulness as the theme of Dana’s life also says this, “It is obvious Dana knows who she is in Christ.” Dana Freeborn truly embodies the mission of Northwest Nazarene University.
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The Professional Achievement award is meant to honor an alumnus whose distinguished record of achievement in their profession has thus brought honor and recognition to the University. For 2008 that alumnus is Randall A. Peterman, class of 1973.
Randy Peterman is a partner in the Boise, Idaho, law office of Moffatt Thomas Barrett Rock & Fields specializing in bankruptcy, loan workouts, commercial litigation lender liability defense, and agricultural lending. He is a fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute. He is an active member and former president of the Idaho State Bar Commerical Law and Bankruptcy Section. He is also active in the Corporate and Business Section of the Idaho State Bar and acted as president of that section in 2000-2001. Randy has been selected among the Best Lawyers in America for over a decade, has been recognized by Super Lawyer Magazine, and has been selected by Chambers USA as one of America’s leading lawyers for business.
Randy grew up in a Nazarene parsonage, the son of Don and Ruth Peterman, class of 1947. He attended NNC as a President’s Scholar, graduating summa cum laude in 1973. He completed his law degree at the University of Washington in 1976, where he was editor of the Washington Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. He commenced his practice by acting as a law clerk in 1977 for the Honorable Gerald F. Schroder, who is now a retired Idaho Supreme Court Justice.
Outside of his professional practice, Randy serves on the NNU Board of Trustees and on the board of directors for Hands of Hope, Inc. Additionally, Randy and Linda are both passionate about and heavily involved in the development of the Nazarene Trinity Pines Camp and Conference Center in Cascade, Idaho. Randy teaches business ethics for the NNU MBA program as an adjunct professor and also serves as outside general counsel for the University.
Randy and his wife Linda (Blankenship), NNU class of 1977, have three sons, Reed, Drew, and Kyle. The Peterman’s are active members of the Eagle Church of the Nazarene.
When one looks across the landscape of NNU’s impact around the world and into the faces of those whose lives of service have left a lasting imprint, Ralph and Lynn Neil’s influence would be hard to miss. Honored this year for their distinguished service, words used to describe this couple include kind, generous, creative, and highly intelligent. Though both Ralph and Lynn are officially “retired” they continue to live lives of service making a difference literally around the world.
NNU’s influence on Ralph and Lynn began early on, for Lynn at age 12 when her father, Dr. John Riley, began his tenure as President of then NNC, and for them both as students graduating in 1961. For eighteen years, they served in successful pastorates in Washington and Oregon. Their ministry was marked by strong preaching, effective servant leadership, and a deep love for missions. In 1981, the Neil’s came back to NNC to teach, Ralph in the Department of Philosophy and Religion and Lynn in the English Department. Both Ralph and Lynn served their disciplines as Department Chairs and Ralph ultimately as the Dean of the School of Theology and Christian Ministries. During their years of leadership among the faculty, Ralph and Lynn cultivated a strong sense of community. A current faculty member testifies to Ralph’s investment in their lives, “I will always remember Ralph as a tireless advocate. He welcomed my family to Nampa in a very pastoral way and encouraged me personally in my studies and teaching.”
The resumes and list of accomplishments for this couple is long and broad. Lynn is a writer with several published articles and has used her journalism expertise to help others develop their own skills through workshops. More recently Lynn has been involved with Africa Nazarene University and Brazil Nazarene University in consulting and writing projects for accreditation and education programs. Since retiring, Lynn and Ralph have continued to teach around the world, putting their touch in some way on nearly every Nazarene College and University setting. Their love for missions and for the global church has been evident not just in teaching, but in years of involvement in work and witness trips.
The Neil’s commitment to the international church has helped NNU expand its mission and its influence. As they have pastored and taught and encouraged and resourced students and leaders and parishioners, the ripple effect of that investment will be evident for years to come. Their life and ministry together has exemplified a pastor’s love and care for people, and a strong sense of calling and mission that has both blessed and benefitted NNU.
The stated criteria for selection as the Leon Doane Young Alumnus is demonstrated leadership, Christian character, professional endeavors, and support of their alma mater in an individual graduated within the last fifteen years. For 2008 this award, though singular, goes to a couple who truly functions as a team, Brian -00- and Nichole (Rumbaugh) -96- Bohner.
Brian and Nichole met at NNU where Brian honed his entrepreneurial skills with a major in Business Administration and Nichole completed a degree in Fashion Merchandising. Brian had a dream of building his own business and brought that dream to reality shortly after graduation when he and Nichole purchased PC Maintenance, a small sweeping and parking lot maintenance company Brian had worked for in high school. In five short years, Brian and Nichole have worked tirelessly together to build this small local business into a thriving multi-state operation through the development of a unique business model designed to perform parking lot maintenance for “Big Box” entities on a regional basis. From a letter recommending the Bohner’s for this award, “They are a very good example of a young couple who found each other at NNU, came together and are demonstrating in a very competitive business what a Christ-centered education can do if you apply it.”
Brian and Nichole have not hesitated to “give back” to their alma mater, including a significant gift to a business department scholarship within a year or so of graduating. For the past three years they have made it a priority to keep NNU’s parking lots patched, coated, and striped at no cost to NNU. The cost savings to the University is a minimum of $20,000 annually. They have also spoken to NNU entrepreneurship classes emphasizing business ethics, loyalty to customers, suppliers, and employees, and transferring Godly principals to business practices. Away from campus, Brian and Nichole are parents to two small children, Analynn and Andrew. They also teach a 5th grade boys Caravan class and are active in support of Crusader athletics.
Both Brian and Nichole are quick to acknowledge that they owe their success to Christian parents, their church (Boise First Nazarene), their NNU education and training, and strong mentors including Dick VanSchyndel, one of Brian’s professors in NNU’s School of Business. VanSchyndel says, “I consider Brian and Nichole to be a wonderful representation of our current and past business students. This is the payback for being a professor at NNU, watching former students excel in the world of business and more importantly, be Christian ambassadors to the community as a whole.”