Rising Professional Award

The Rising Professional Award honors significant contributions made by a graduate in the early stages of his or her career. Recipients have demonstrated significant professional accomplishments in the areas of design, business, human behavior, teacher education, or health sciences.

Here is a list of our latest recipients.

Aaron Norton '09, '14
Associate Professor and Program Director
Marriage and Family Therapy Program, Texas Woman's University
Crossroads, TX

Mario Garcia III '18
Board Member
Shawnee Mission School District Board of Education
Shawnee, KS

Landon Warmund '18
Financial Planner
Reliant Financial Services
Kansas City, MO

Kaitlin Chichester '15
Co-Founder & Designer
Flowspace Design
Lawrence, KS

Abby Hanzlicek '16
Physician
Locum Tenens
Hope, KS

Xiaoyu Su '12, '14, '18
Research Professional
University of Chicago Medicine
Chicago, IL

Chris Omni '19
Provost Postdoctoral Scholar and Adjunct Professor
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL

Christina Zemencik '21
Owner
Cake Loft, LLC
Olathe, KS

Barrett Scroggs '18
Assistant Director of Academic Affairs
Penn State Mont Alto
Mont Alto, PA

Shelby Page '15
Manager, Interior Design
Textron Aviation
Wichita, KS

Garrick Batley '19
Director of Financial Planning & Partner/Co-owner
IPI Wealth Management
Quincy, IL

Danielle Drake '13
Partner
Parks & Drake Attorneys at the Lake
Lake Ozark, MO

Kate Mielitz '18


Tumwater, WA

Samuel Wilcox '11, '14
Physician
Saint Luke's Health System
Iola, KS

Andrea Brundis '13
Manager, Interior Design
PGAV Architects
Westwood, KS

Jamie Ball '10
Pediatrician and Physician
Mosaic Life Care
St. Joseph, MO

Anthony Garcia '11, '14
Partner & Dentist
Kremers, Forbes and Associates
Lenexa, KS

Past Recipients

2023: Sarah Asebedo, Sarah Corn, Todd Crane, Krystal Collier, Sam Emerson, Mari Erb, Amber Grisamore, Larissa Holt, Jill Joyce, Sarah Kuborn, Arianna Levin, Erika Smith-Marek, Roxanne Martens, Katy Oestman, Madison Parker, Austin Stock, Sarah Truman, Wally Walstrom

2022: Kristen Buchman, Grace Burghart, Cole Foster, Sydney Hall, Joseph Lightner, Marc Lindstrom, Alyssa Mix, Tiffany Oppelt, Tonya Ricklefs, Brenna Shields, Derek Tharp, and Lauren Koepp Tines

2020: Ryan Baldwin, Brian Bollinger, Sara Bonnes, Lacey Boven, Klaire Brumbaugh, Brooke Cull, Monica Ebert, Staci Gann, Amy Guerich, Teagan Hamblin, Janet Holden, Clark Holdsworth, Clara Valadares Kientz, Corey Miller, Uyen Thuy Xuan Phan, Heath Rath, and Kelby Stehl

2019: C.J. Aducci, Jamie Bosse, Robert T. Davis III, Meghann Day, Cody Derby, Trent Jones, Mitchell Keating, Audrey Koehn, Katrina Marshall, Laura McCabe, Michael Minnis, Kale Monk, Monica Nelson, Kristen Brunkow O'Shea, Pratik Patel, Jake Quigley, and Kara Schmidt-Robben