UNIVERSITY TO HONOR WILFERTH WITH VANDIVER SHOW ME STATE AWARD

Cape Girardeau businesswoman and civic leader Judy Wilferth will receive the Vandiver Show Me State Award Saturday at Southeast Missouri State University.

Wilferth will receive the award during the University's commencement exercises at 2 p.m. in the Show Me Center.

"Her extraordinary contributions to Southeast Missouri State University, the region and the State of Missouri epitomize the `Show Me' nickname around which the award is based," said Dr. Dale Nitzschke, president of Southeast Missouri State University.

"Whether called upon by the University for service or for financial contributions, as exemplified during the recent Inaugural Ambassador program, Judy always responds in a positive way," he said. "Her presence, along with her husband Rock, is felt as she regularly attends lectures, seminars, and fine arts and athletic events."

Wilferth is the second to receive the award. Members of the Bootheel Education Center Advisory Committee were the first recipients of the award last May.

The award, conferred by the Board of Regents, recognizes leaders in various fields and citizens whose achievements have made commendable contributions to the University, the region and the state.

The award is open to both individuals and corporations and is named for Willard Duncan Vandiver, the fifth president of Southeast, who coined the "show me" phrase, now the state's nickname.

"Willard Vandiver could not have known in 1899 when he challenged, `I am from Missouri. You have to show me,' that nearly a century later, in 1997, there would be someone like Judy Wilferth, who, indeed, has shown repeatedly her support, commitment, service and friendship to Southeast Missouri State University, the region and the state of Missouri," Nitzschke said.

Don Dickerson, president of the University's Board of Regents, said, "Judy Wilferth is a very worthy recipient for this award. I believe the fact that she is the first individual recipient of the award is clear recognition by the Board of Regents of her many years of outstanding service to the University and the University Foundation."

Wilferth received her bachelor's degree in French and English from Southeast and immediately began her active involvement with the University by serving on the National Alumni Council from 1984 to 1986 and the College of Business Dean's Advisory Council from 1989 to 1994.

In 1989, she was instrumental in the formation of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce University Relations Committee, creating a forum in which representatives from the community and the University could discuss related issues and concerns openly and a context from which initiatives could be launched.

Wilferth first served the Southeast Missouri University Foundation as a member of its founding board of directors from 1983 to 1989. In 1990, during her second term, she was appointed chairperson of the Board, the only woman to hold that position. She served as chair for two years, during which the Foundation launched the "A New Vision of Excellence" capital campaign and the Horizon Club, the Foundation's planned giving organization.

In October 1994, Wilferth was named "Friend of the University" by the Southeast Missouri University Foundation. This award, the highest honor bestowed by the Foundation, recognizes those who support and are closely associated with the mission, purposes, plans, and programs of the University.

Wilferth has been active in numerous civic roles. She has served as chair of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and of the Parks Development Foundation; president of the Cape West Merchants' Association; secretary of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Foundation; vice president of the St. Francis Medical Center Foundation Board; and a member of the Cape Retirement Community Executive Board, the Chateau Girardeau Foundation Board of Directors, the Vision 2000 Steering Committee; the Metro Business College Advisory Board, the Southeast Missouri Marketing and Small Business Advisory Council and the Task Force of City Charter Form of Government.

In 1996, she was named to the St. Francis Medical Center Board. She previously co-chaired the Salvation Army's Capital Fund Drive, which resulted in the construction of the new building on South Sprigg and she chaired the Chamber of Commerce Retail Steering Committee and participated in the Missouri Governor's Small Business Advisory Council. In 1997, she received the Woman of Achievement Award from the Zonta Club and in 1991 she received the St. Francis Medical Center Womancare Award.

Wilferth has been a part of the business scene in Cape Girardeau and the region since 1973. Currently, she owns and manages The Crossroads, a retail shopping center in Cape Girardeau. In the Center, she operates Children's Bazaar, Boys' Corner and Sandy's.