The Butler University Alumni Association is recognizing the achievements of eight alumni and one University instructor as part of the 2021 Alumni Awards. The nine individuals receiving this year’s awards have demonstrated extraordinary professional achievements, generous service to the University, and unwavering commitment to their communities.
Award honorees will be recognized at a special Alumni Recognition Ceremony on Friday, September 10, during Butler’s annual Homecoming festivities. This year’s program will also honor Alumni Award recipients who were recognized in 2020 but did not have the opportunity to attend an in-person ceremony.
This year’s recipients are:
- Butler Medal: Max B. Schumacher ’54
- Butler Service Medal: Marvin L. Recht
- Robert Todd Duncan Alumni Achievement Award: Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D. ’76
- Katharine Merrill Graydon Alumni Service Award: Karen Schultz Alter ’85
- Hilton Ultimus Brown Alumni Achievement Award: Dr. Warren G. Morgan, II ’06
- Joseph Irwin Sweeney Alumni Service Award: R. Kyle Inskeep ’12
- Mortar Award: Dennis ’86 and Sheryl ’87 Dye
- Foundation Award: Aaron Wright ’05
Butler Medal: Max B. Schumacher ’54
Max Schumacher ’54 celebrated his 60th season with the Indianapolis Indians baseball team in 2021. He began his baseball career as the team’s ticket manager in 1957 and became the general manager in 1961, a position he held for more than three decades. In 1997, he became chairman of the board. During this time, he oversaw the construction of Victory Field, an $18 million stadium that brought a new ballpark to downtown Indianapolis. Schumacher officially retired in 2016 but continues to serve as chairman emeritus of the team’s board and is a host in his suite during games.
Schumacher’s work has been recognized by a number of professional and community organizations in Indianapolis and across the country. In 1988, he received the John H. Johnson President’s Award from Minor League Baseball, and in 1996, he was voted the American Association’s Executive of the Year following the successful completion of Victory Field. That same year, The Boys and Girls Clubs honored him with their Horatio Alger Award. Schumacher is also a two-time recipient of Indiana’s Sagamore of the Wabash award. He was named to the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. In 2012, he was inducted into the Shortridge High School Hall of Fame and was named an “Indiana Living Legend” by the Indiana Historical Society.
Schumacher and his wife, Judith, are the parents of three sons, Bruce, Brian, and Mark, and one daughter, Karen. They have five grandchildren.
The Butler Medal is the highest honor conferred by the Butler University Alumni Association. It recognizes individuals for a lifetime of distinguished service to either Butler University or their local community, while at the same time achieving a distinguished career in their chosen profession and attaining a regional—or even a national—reputation. Since 1959, this award has recognized individuals who have helped immeasurably toward perpetuating the University as a great educational and cultural institution and have had a profound influence on the course of Butler University.
Butler Service Medal: Marvin L. Recht
Generations of Bulldogs remember Marvin Recht best as an Executive-in-Residence and instructor in the Lacy School of Business. From 1992 to 2017, Recht taught several business classes and was involved in several campus organizations. He provided a “lifetime guarantee” for his courses and encouraged former students to contact him about career-related questions.
Outside the classroom, he served as faculty advisor for Mortar Board and the Student Conduct Board, as well as for the Delta Tau Delta, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Epsilon Pi, and Sigma Chi fraternities. He also served as an academic advisor and career mentor and was a First-Year Student Orientation Guide.
Recht’s distinguished career in business began in 1957. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, he began his career with General Motors. During his time with GM, Recht worked in manufacturing, human resources, and other roles. In 1981, he completed GM’s executive program at the University of Virginia. Two years later, he came to Indianapolis to serve as director of human resources and communications at GM’s Allison Gas Turbine Division (now known as Rolls Royce PLC).
After retiring in 1992, Recht began his role as Executive-in-Residence with the Lacy School of Business. He also established a HR consulting practice and served as a part-time consultant for DBM (now Lee Hecht Harrison), a career transition firm. A dedicated volunteer, he has served as a member of the Boards of Directors of the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indianapolis and The Visiting Nurse Service, as well as a member of the HR Committees of the Board of Directors for the Eiteljorg Museum, and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. He currently serves on the IU Health Foundation’s Patient Feedback Affairs Council. He lives in Carmel and enjoys spending time with his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
The Butler Service Medal, established by the Alumni Association in 2001, is the second-highest honor conferred by the Butler University Alumni Association and is reserved for recognition of emeriti faculty or retired faculty and staff (graduate or non-graduate). The recipient will have achieved a lifetime of distinguished service to Butler University and/or the community. Recipients will have helped to shape the past and future successes of Butler and therefore shown a profound influence.
Robert Todd Duncan Alumni Achievement Award: Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D. ’76
Craig A. Anderson is a Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences in the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University. He is a past-president of the International Society for Research on Aggression. He currently is the editor-in-chief for the journal Aggressive Behavior. He also serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Psychology of Violence, and the Journal of Adolescence.
He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1980 and served on the faculties of Rice University, Ohio State University, and the University of Missouri—Columbia before joining Iowa State University as Chair of the Department of Psychology in 1999. He has been awarded Fellow status by the Association for Psychological Science, the Society of Experimental Social Psychologists, the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, and the American Psychological Association, among others. Anderson’s 270+ publications span a wide range of areas, including judgment and decision making; depression, loneliness, and shyness; personality theory and measurement; attribution theory; and human aggression.
Anderson is one of the most widely cited scholars in social psychology, in textbooks and in the psychological science literature in general. Since the 1990s, much of his work has focused on the development of a General Aggression Model (GAM), designed to integrate insights from clinical, cognitive, developmental, personality, and social psychology; it also incorporates biological processes. He has testified before the US Senate at a hearing on the impact of interactive violence on children in 2000. Additionally, he has consulted with numerous state governments and NGOs in Canada, Australia, Japan, and Romania.
The Robert Todd Duncan Award recognizes a graduate who is established in their career, and whose personal and/or professional accomplishment brings honor and distinction to the University, and individual attainment and/or contributions for the betterment of society. This award honors the spirit and accomplishments of Robert Duncan, a 1925 graduate, noted opera singer, and educator who in 1945, became the first African American to sing with a major white opera company, the New York City Opera Company.
Katharine Merrill Graydon Alumni Service Award: Karen Schultz Alter ’85
Karen Schultz Alter ’85 has provided strategic direction and senior-level counsel on advertising, branding, and marketing for an array of clients for three decades. Alter is CEO of Borshoff, where she oversees the agency’s strategic direction, business management, talent development and recruitment, and key initiatives. She is a past president of the American Advertising Federation/Indianapolis and is accredited by the International Association of Business Communicators. Alter was also named an IBJ Woman of Influence in 2019.
A passionate advocate for the arts, Alter serves as co-chair of Start with Art and is a board member for the Arts Council of Indianapolis. Alter is also a founding member of the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art. She is also a member of the Engagement Committee for the Women’s Fund of Central Indiana and the children’s program leader for Bible Study Fellowship International.
Alter received her bachelor’s degree from Butler University and her master’s degree from Indiana University. She is an active member of the Butler University Alumni Association and will return to the University as an adjunct professor in the College of Communication in the fall of 2021.
The Katharine Merrill Graydon Alumni Service Award recognizes a graduate who is established in their career, and who has displayed and recognizes a long-term commitment of outstanding service to the University. The recipients of this award have provided demonstrable service to the University to assist in perpetuating Butler as a great educational and cultural institution. This award honors the memory of Katharine Graydon, who graduated from Butler in 1878 and was a Professor of English Literature at the University from 1907 to 1930, receiving an honorary doctorate of literature in 1928. Graydon served as the Alumni Secretary and Editor of the Alumnal Quarterly from its first edition in 1922 until her retirement in 1929, when she was named Professor Emerita.
Hilton Ultimus Brown Alumni Achievement Award: Dr. Warren G. Morgan, II ’06
Dr. Warren G. Morgan II ’06 is the chief academic officer for Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS). Named to the position in 2020, Morgan is responsible for building teacher capacity and supporting school personnel and administrators in responding to students’ academic needs.
Before returning to Indianapolis, Morgan served as executive director of Teach For America (TFA) – St. Louis, where supported a network of more than 600 TFA teachers and alumni who worked with more than 20,000 students. He also worked as a prestigious White House Fellow during the Obama administration. He began his education career teaching secondary science in St. Louis through TFA, and went on to serve as a high school principal in Chicago and as an academic superintendent in Cleveland.
Morgan received his bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Butler University, where he served as student body president. He went on to earn a master’s degree in Educational Administration from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a doctorate in Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is an active member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.
The Hilton Ultimus Brown Alumni Achievement Award honors a recent graduate whose personal and/or professional accomplishment brings honor and distinction to the University, and individual attainment and/or contributions for the betterment of society. Hilton U. Brown gave a lifetime of service to his career and Butler University, including serving on the Board of Trustees for 71 years. He was an award-winning newspaper journalist and Managing Editor at the Indianapolis News for more than seven decades.
Joseph Irwin Sweeney Alumni Service Award: Kyle Inskeep ’12
Kyle Inskeep ’12 is a news anchor with Local 12, a station in Cincinnati. A member of Local 12’s news team since 2018, he anchors the 5:00, 6:00, and 11:00 PM newscasts with Paula Toti.
Inskeep graduated magna cum laude from Butler University with a degree in Electronic Journalism in 2012. That same year, he was selected as the 2012 Tim Russert Fellow for NBC News in Washington D.C. As a researcher for the network’s political unit, he assisted correspondents and field producers and worked with the Meet the Press digital team.
Later, as a morning reporter and fill-in anchor for Fox59 in Indianapolis, Inskeep covered the 2017 Presidential Inauguration, the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, and the sentencing of former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle, among other stories.
A native Hoosier, Inskeep lives in Cincinnati, where he cheers on the Reds and Bengals and enjoys discovering new local restaurants.
The Joseph Irwin Sweeney Alumni Service Award recognizes a recent alumnus who has demonstrated a significant commitment of outstanding service to the University. The award’s recipients have provided demonstrable service to the University to assist in perpetuating Butler as a great educational and cultural institution. The award honors the spirit and example of Joseph Sweeney, a young student with a great deal of potential, whose life was tragically cut short.
Mortar Award: Dennis ’86 and Sheryl ’87 Dye
Dennis Dye ’86 is Executive Vice President – Real Estate at Shiel Sexton. With more than 25 years of experience in development and construction, Dennis strategically develops and grows Shiel Sexton’s development services. Before joining Shiel Sexton, he was a partner at TWG Development, where he focused on the development and financing of market-rate multifamily projects, and also served as Executive Vice president of Development at Browning Investments for 12 years. Dennis began his career at Ernst & Young after he graduated from Butler in 1986. He went on to earn his MBA from Indiana University in 1991.
A dedicated community volunteer, Dennis gives back to the Indianapolis community through leadership positions in various sports-related organizations. He is a member of the Indiana Sports Corporation, chair of the Horizon League Basketball Tournament Local Organizing Committee, and a board member for the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship. Dennis is also a board member of the Indiana Golf Foundation and serves on the membership and golf committees at Meridian Hills Country Club.
Sheryl Dye ’87 is a middle school Latin teacher at Lumen Christi Catholic School in Indianapolis. A teacher since 2005, she previously worked as a children’s therapist and is a longtime community advocate.
After receiving degrees in Psychology and Sociology from Butler, Sheryl went on to earn a master’s degree in Social Work at IUPUI. She worked as a children’s therapist at Midtown Mental Health Center, presented workshops about treatments for young survivors of abuse, and also served as an expert witness in court cases. Following the birth of her second child, Sheryl left the workforce to raise her children. During this time, she became active in the community as a founding member and president of the Julian Center Guild. She also discovered a passion for teaching and earned her teaching license through the Transition to Teaching program at Ball State University. She began teaching in 2005 at St. Maria Goretti Catholic School in Westfield, where she remained until 2013. Sheryl is the chair of the St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church Capital Campaign Committee and is a coordinator for Sidewalk Advocates for Life – Indianapolis.
Dennis and Sheryl married in 1989 and have two daughters, Abby Laine ’15 and Valerie Williams. The couple celebrated the arrival of their first grandchild, Caroline, earlier this year.
The Mortar Award, created in 1995, honors one person or couple each year who personifies the Butler spirit by demonstrating great vision, leadership, and generosity to Butler University.
Foundation Award: Aaron Wright ’05
Aaron Wright ’05 is a manager and accountant for the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s Division of Enforcement and Investigations in Washington, DC. A certified public accountant, Wright has been with the PCAOB since 2019. Prior to joining the organization, he worked at Deloitte & Touche LLP in a variety of roles from 2005 to 2019.
In his spare time, Wright enjoys giving back to Butler and his local community. He has been a member of Butler’s LGBT Alumni Association since 2008 and previously served as president of the association. He also volunteered with BEST Kids, Inc. from 2016 to 2020, where he served on the Board of Directors and aided in fundraising opportunities.
The Foundation Award, created in 2011, honors one person or couple (age 40 and younger) each year who personifies the Butler spirit by demonstrating leadership and generosity to Butler University.