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Newsmakers: March 4-10, 2019

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Accounting
BKD LLP promoted 12 individuals at its Springfield office: Lindsay Brown and Clint Caselman to senior tax associates; Sydnie Evgenides to a senior audit associate; Veronica Shultz to senior associate and member of BKD’s national health care, not-for-profit and public sector groups; Jacob Watson to senior marketing associate; Amber Dedmon, Dallas Williams and Brock Wiberg to senior tax associate II; Debra Horn, Hailey Turner and Craig Thornton to senior associate II; and Caulen Leimkuehler to senior audit associate II.

Education
Missouri State University appointed Shawn Wahl as dean of the College of Arts and Letters after he served in the interim role for two years. He is a professor of communication and served as head of the department, 2012-17. Previously, Wahl worked as communication department head at Angelo State University and director of graduate studies at Texas A&M University.

MSU inducted Maya Angelou, Bill Clay Sr., Bill Darr, Emily Geraghty and Doug Pitt into its Missouri Public Affairs Hall of Fame. Angelou is being honored posthumously for her work as an author, poet, historian, songwriter, playwright, dancer, producer, director, singer and civil rights activist. Clay was the state’s first black representative in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1969-2001. Darr is the founder of American Dehydrated Foods/International Dehydrated Foods and the Darr Family Foundation, which has awarded $2.7 million in grant funding to organizations serving at-risk children. Geraghty is a journalist and producer focusing on identity issues for women, members of the LGBT community and minorities. Pitt is a businessman, investor and philanthropist, who founded the Care to Learn nonprofit to provide funding to meet children’s immediate needs in 33 school districts statewide.

Media
SummitMedia LLC named Bo Jaxon as operations manager for its four stations in Springfield. He is the program director and co-cost for the “KTTS Morning Show,” as well as operations manager for KSPW-FM, KRVI-FM and KSGF-FM.

Nonprofit
The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame added Tara Rayle, Rick Beaman and Steve Kitrel to its board of trustees. Rayle is president of Missouri Equipment Leasing Inc., Beaman is vice president of Hiland Dairy Foods Co. LLC, and Kitrel is regional manager of USA Mortgage/DAS Acquisition Co. LLC.

Politics
Former southwest Missouri Sen. Ron Richard, R-Joplin, was selected for the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Missouri Republican Party. His public service began on Joplin’s City Council in 1990, followed by being elected mayor in 1994. He was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2002 and as speaker in 2009, then served in the state Senate, where he was elected president pro tem in 2015. Richard was the first person in Missouri history to serve as both speaker of the House and president pro tem of the Senate.

Real Estate
The American Institute of Real Estate Professionals honored Amy Molea and Faunlee Harle among the 10 Best Real Estate Agents for Client Satisfaction in Missouri for 2018-19. Recipients are selected based on client and/or peer nominations and independent evaluations. Molea is an agent at Keller Williams Realty of Greater Springfield, and Harle is an agent at Coldwell Banker Vanguard, Realtors.

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