BSC Alumni Awards

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2010 Alumni of the Year


Michael Brown Dr. Michael R. Brown, '82, a native of Scranton, joined the St. Alexius Heart & Lung Clinic in 2000 as a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon. A graduate of the University of North Dakota (UND) School of Medicine, he completed two residencies in general and cardiothoracic surgery in Iowa and Hawaii. He was one of five students chosen nationwide to receive the Young Scientists Training Program scholarship to complete his M.D. and Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology.

Chief and co-investigator of numerous published and abstracted articles, Dr. Brown has high interest in research, completing studies on diabetes, heart and lung disease, surgical interventions and cancer. He is currently involved in two international clinical trials using stents for carotid artery stenosis and medication for people with high risk for coronary bypass grafting.

Dr. Brown was recognized nationally by the American Heart Association for his research in cardiovascular diseases as a finalist for the Melvin L. Marcus Investigator Award in Cardiovascular Science. Named assistant professor of surgery at UND in 2000, he received the Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award in 2005.

Brown delivered an invited scientific paper at the 19th International Congress on Endovascular Interventions in 2006. A combat veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom I and III, Brown completed two tours of duty with the Army National Guard Medical Corps, retiring in 2007 after 20 years of service. His family includes his wife, Dr. Karen Brown, a neonatologist, and children, Christopher, Alexis, Nicholas and Madison.



Ron Tello In practice 31 years, Dr. Ron Tello, '70, joined Q&R Clinic and Medcenter One, Inc., in 1979 as an internal medicine specialist after his residency at University of North Dakota (UND) associated hospitals in Fargo. Through the years, he has dedicated time and service to the Bismarck-Mandan community far beyond expectations for doctors in private or group practice.

The past 25 years, Dr. Tello has been medical director for four large area businesses, nursing homes in Bismarck and Steele, and the Youth Correctional Center in Mandan. He is Kidder County health officer and just completed 12 years as Burleigh County health officer, Burleigh County coroner, and medical coordinator for the USDA Agriculture Research Service’s health surveillance program in Mandan.

Devoted to medicine and passionately dedicated to his practice and patients, Dr. Tello retains an on-call schedule to maximize his availability, while working collaboratively with his physician partners and institution. He serves on the Medcenter One Foundation's board of directors and chairs its Medical Fund Committee. In 2008, he became chief of staff at Triumph Hospital in Mandan, where he has been a physician since 1999.

Tello has taught at the UND School of Medicine since 1979 and completed additional training in occupational and environmental medicine at University of California. He originated the Occupational Health Services department at Q&R Clinic/Medcenter One and served as its medical director from 1992 to 2008. His family includes his wife, Joyce, and their mutual children, Christina, Deanna, Jason and Jeff.



2010 Rising Star Alumna Award


Amanda Lewis Amanda Lewis, '98, is weekend anchor and reporter for KCCI-TV in Des Moines, Iowa, the city’s No. 1 station. She has continued to advance her journalism career since graduation from Brown Institute in Minneapolis and Drake University in Des Moines.

Her early photography has appeared on CBS’s "Inside Edition" and Animal Planet's "The Planet’s Funniest Animals." As a reporter, she received the HEROES Compassion and Excellence in Journalism Award in 2001 for a series about Iowans living with AIDS.

Lewis started in radio as a night DJ and morning co-host at two local stations while attending BSC. A performer in grade school, she pursued music and theater through high school and college, singing in BSC's vocal jazz group and acting in the musicals "Godspell" and "Baby." While in school, Lewis also worked as a donor recruiter for the American Red Cross and raised money for Jerry's Kids.

Today, she sits on the board of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation with the goal of finding a cure for Type 1 diabetes. Her family includes husband Jeff Eckhoff and son Elliot, age 2. They expect their second child in August.

Guests are invited to bring cards or letters of congratulations for our honorees. If you are unable to attend the dinner, you may mail your items: BSC Alumni Office, PO Box 5587, Bismarck, ND 58506-5587. For more information, call (701) 224-5692 or (800) 272-2586. Sponsored by the Board of Directors of the Bismarck State College National Alumni Association, Bismarck State College and BSC Foundation.


Recipients of the Alumni of the Year Award

Since 1978, forty alumni have been named alumni of the year.

2009   Al Jaeger '63
2008   Dr. Cheryl (Senger) Elsbernd, '81 and David Farnsworth, '75
2007   Chuck Suchy '68
2006   Linda Falkman '68
2005   Gary E. Johnson '63
2004   Michael Wickstrom '53
2003   Dr. Charles E. Murry '79
2002   Pat Dirk (1969) and Rich Karlgaard '74
2001   Tim Holtan '74 and Tony Welder '58.
2000   Gerald Skogley '54 and Linda Juhala '62
1999   LaVonn Boehm Steiner '62
1998   Frank Koch '62
1997   Morris Tschider '52 and Irene Boehm Tschider '57
1996   Bert Gerhart '61
1995   Harley Swenson '61
1994   J. Michael McCormack '62
1993   Warren Arman '62
1992   Dalles Krause '53
1991   Barbara Gibbons Evanson '64
1990   Edwin Edlund '41 and Dorothy Mueller Edlund '41
1989   Rod Tjaden '61
1988   Dr. Lawrence Watson '67
1987   U.S. Navy Commander Lee Gurke '66
1986   Patricia Higgins Caudel '51
1985   Dennis Meyer '58
1984   Gordon Weiss '69
1983   Ev Miller '55
1982   Dr. Curtis Juhala '61
1981   Tom Jordan '54
1980   Beulah Hedahl '41
1979   Tom Baker '41
1978   Ted Boutrous '41; Mary Moses Schwichtenberg '43; and, Myron Atkinson '47

Recipients of the Rising Star Award

2006   Alison Fallgatter '94
2007   Ken Bischof '92
2008   Chad Ellingson '91 and Julie Schaff Ellingson '93
2009   Jon Fornshell '93 and Troy Sterling Nies '96 & '04