Willis, Winters Receive Carl Sandburg College Alumni Awards
Aaron Frey
Thursday, May 17, 2018 8:15 PM
Campus News
Galesburg, IL
Carl Sandburg College honored the 2018 recipients of its Distinguished Alumnus Award and Outstanding Young Alumnus Award during the College’s 50th annual Commencement on Thursday night at Galesburg High School.
Craig Willis ’90 received the Distinguished Alumnus Award, and Krista Winters ’06 received the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award.
Raised on a corn and soybean farm outside Monmouth, Willis is the former president of the ethanol business in Archer Daniels Midland Company’s corn-processing business unit. Willis spent more than 25 years with ADM, the largest producer of ethanol in the United States.
Willis served in other roles during his career with ADM, including as vice president of ethanol and as commercial manager of several large oilseed crush plants in the U.S. He also managed origination and transportation assets within ADM’s agricultural services business unit.
After earning his associate degree from Sandburg in 1990, Willis transferred to the University of Illinois, where is graduated with a bachelor’s in agricultural economics in 1992.
Winters has been a biology professor at Spoon River College in Canton since 2011, teaching microbiology, anatomy and physiology; and general biology. She also teaches part-time at Sandburg.
Winters began her college career as a nontraditional student at Sandburg in 2003. She initially worked toward a degree in nursing but soon realized she wanted to teach. She earned her associate degree from Sandburg in 2006, then transferred to Western Illinois University, where she earned her bachelor’s in science in 2008 and a master’s in biology in 2010.
Before starting at Sandburg, Winters did not believe she was college material. She had dropped out of high school after her junior year with a 1.9 GPA, but she credits the faculty at Sandburg for giving her the confidence to succeed. That helped drive her to enter the teaching field and work toward her master’s, allowing her to teach students at the community college level and inspire the same confidence in them.
CARL SANDBURG COLLEGE DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS AWARD RECIPIENTS
2018 — Craig Willis
2017 — Dr. Karmen Hopkins
2016 — Robert Mason
2015 — Dr. Judy Glaser
2014 — Judge Thomas Keith
2013 — Jim Purlee
2012 — Susan Swartwout
2011 — Cynthia Kitchen
2010 — Cynthia Kiffer
2009 — Joshua D. Gibb
2008 — Brenda Stewart Clevidence
2007 — Bonni Smith-Skripps
2006 — Sandra Gavin
2005 — Tara Miller
2004 — Dave Burns
2003 — Dr. Lori Sundberg
2002 — Christine Baumgardner
2001 — Lannie Cation
2000 — Sharon Graham
1999 — Linda Foster
1998 — Victor Miller
1997 — Betty Thal
1996 — Rose Stockman
1995 — Larry Schwartz
1994— Daniel Baker
1993 — Ann Murdock
1992 — Jan Lundeen
1991 — No award given
1990 — Louis Gamage & Mary Louderman
1989 — Janice Champion
1988 — Donna Medina
1987 — Gerald Strom Jr.
1986 — John Delawder III
1985 — Russell Orwig
1984 — Daniel Bailey
1983 — Jerry Latherow
1982 — F. Dale Cozad
1981 — Maren Kay Carlson
1980 — Daniel Baker
1979 — William Campbell
CARL SANDBURG COLLEGE OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNUS AWARD RECIPIENTS
2018 — Krista Winters
2017 — Matthew Wolford
2016 — Elvith Santoyo-McNaught
2015 — Travis Nesby
2014 — Trevor Davies
2013 — Naomi Wai
2012 — Ashley Swick