KU News Release

Couples from Ottawa and Salina earn awards for volunteer work with KU

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas and the KU Alumni Association honored couples from Ottawa and Salina with Mildred Clodfelter Alumni Awards for their longtime efforts on behalf of the university.

Mike Davis, senior vice president of the Alumni Association, will present Charles and Margy Dewell Porter of Ottawa with the award in recognition of their committed support of the Kansas Honors Program during a 6:30 p.m. dinner and awards program tonight at the Holy Angels School in Garnett.

Bob and Sharron Hamilton of Salina received their awards for volunteer work with the Kansas Honors Program. Kevin Corbett, president of the Alumni Association, presented the Hamiltons with the award Oct. 4.

The Kansas Honors Program, sponsored by the Alumni Association and KU Endowment, has recognized the top 10 percent of high school seniors in each Kansas county since 1971 and will recognize its 100,000th student this year.

Forty-five seniors from high schools in Anderson and Franklin counties will help honor the Porters. Charles received his liberal arts degree from KU in 1975. He owns the Porter-Spears & Bundy Insurance Agency in Ottawa. Margy Porter earned her degree in education from KU in 1977.

The Porters are life members of the Alumni Association and have devoted more than 30 years to the Kansas Honors Program. They also help make the case for higher education to Kansas lawmakers as Jayhawks for Higher Education.

In recent years they have helped identify legacy students for the KU Office of Admissions and Scholarships; two of their three daughters are fourth-generation Jayhawks. Their daughter Sarah graduated from the KU School of Business in 2003, and their daughter Anne received her biology degree in 2000. She recently received a three-year oncology fellowship from the KU Medical Center.

Eighty-seven seniors from high schools in Ellsworth, Lincoln, Ottawa and Saline counties joined in honoring the Hamiltons. Bob earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from KU in 1961. The Hamiltons were longtime residents of Lincoln before retiring in Salina. Bob spent his career in banking, retiring as the senior vice president of the Bank of Tescott Saline Valley, having previously served as president of the Saline Valley Bank. Sharron worked as a secretary in the Lincoln Unified School District.

The Hamiltons, who are life members of the Alumni Association, have devoted more than 25 years to the Kansas Honors Program in Lincoln and Ottawa counties. They currently serve on the board of the Alumni Association’s North Central alumni chapter in Kansas and volunteer for Jayhawks for Higher Education.

Over the years they also have written letters to prospective KU students in Lincoln, Ottawa and Ellsworth counties; served on the Greater University Fund Advisory Board for KU Endowment; and helped host the Saline County back to school picnic for new and returning KU students. They are longtime members of the Williams Educational Fund for Kansas Athletics and have had season football tickets for more than 35 years. They also have helped provide uniforms for the KU Spirit Squad.

The Mildred Clodfelter Alumni Award, created in 1986 by the Alumni Association, honors volunteers who serve as KU ambassadors in their home communities. The award is named for Clodfelter, who received a bachelor’s degree from KU in 1941 and worked at KU for 47 years, 42 of them at the Alumni Association. Clodfelter, known to countless Jayhawks nationwide, retired in 1986 and passed away in 2005.

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The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.