Successful alumni to speak at Southeast next week

~ The event, called Alumni Monday, will be held six times a year over the fall and spring semesters.

Sixteen graduates of Southeast Missouri State University will return to campus Monday to tell students about their careers in an event billed as Alumni Monday.

The goal of Alumni Monday is to provide students an opportunity to learn from successful Southeast graduates, school officials said.

Alumni Monday will be held six times a year over the fall and spring semesters, with different alumni invited to speak to various classes.

As part of the first Alumni Monday, the Harrison College of Business will hold an Executive Forum in which two St. Louis business executives will speak.

It will start at noon in Dempster Hall's Glenn Auditorium.

The speakers will be Linda Decker, a 1987 Southeast graduate and now vice president of public relations and special events marketing for Macy's Midwest, and Barry Cooper, a 1981 Southeast graduate and now chief financial officer of Laclede Gas Co.

Rex Rust, co-president of Rust Communications, will moderate the discussion.

The event is free and open to the public.

Decker and Cooper will be among the graduates speaking to various Southeast classes Monday morning prior to the forum.

Other participants include Jim Sturm, a teacher in the Clayton School District and a 1975 graduate; Russell Grammer, a Cape Girardeau School District teacher and 1998 graduate; Ann Mirgeaux, a 1979 graduate and owner of Interim Health Care; Joan Gohn, a 1969 graduate and retired speech therapist; Shawn Grindstaff, a 1989 alumnus and environmental protection lawyer; Anne Bowman, a 2002 graduate and software engineer with the Boeing Co.; Paul Albers, a 2001 alumnus and an engineer/scientists with the Boeing Co.

Also participating will be Dr. L. Taylor Bahn, a 1973 graduate and periodontist; Dr. Harold Hager, a 1954 graduate and retired mathematics professor; Tara Griggs, a 2004 graduate and residence hall director at Southeast; Mike Pobst, a 1977 graduate and president of Alliance Bank of Sikeston, Mo.; Kent Puchbauer, a 1975 alumnus who is market manager with Montgomery Bank in Jackson; Tim Simmers, a 1982 graduate and director of operations for Spartech Polycom; and Dr. John Freeze, a 1975 graduate and dentist.

Jane Stacy, director of alumni services and development, came up with the idea of Alumni Monday after business students told her how much they enjoyed listening to a Memphis businessman who had spoken to their class.

"Students said it was wonderful to have somebody who lives in the real world," Stacy said.

"I went back to the alumni board and said this is something we should do across the campus," she said.

"Sometimes you just have an eye opener," said Stacy.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123