Alumni & Friends

Hall of Honor and Distinguished Service Recipients Honored on Founders' Day

Every Founders' Day, the University President bestows Distinguished Service awards upon individuals who have made significant contributions to the University. Such gifts are not just limited to financial support, but just as important, to the sharing of knowledge, volunteerism, sponsorships, donations of tangible pieces, and the like. Three people will receive this distinguished acknowledgement this year.

The Founders' Day Banquet seems a most appropriate occasion to induct individuals into the Institution's Hall of Honor, reserved for individuals who have played an important role in the founding or development of the University and whose service and leadership have included being a splendid ambassador for SUU. This year, the Hall of Honor will receive Anne Leavitt and Harold Hiskey.

ANNE OKERLUND LEAVITT first became acquainted with SUU in 1949 when she traveled from her hometown of Loa, Utah, to study English and Spanish; she graduated with honors. She married the 1950-51 student body president, Dixie Leavitt, who has since served for 18 years as a state senator. The couple raised six sons. Anne is the mother of Michael O. Leavitt, governor of the State of Utah, and also an SUU alum.

Anne has made an indelible impact on SUU, her community, and the state of Utah. She has functioned in a wide variety of local civic-betterment and religious projects, demonstrating inspiring leadership.

One of her major contributions is her comprehensive history of SUU titled, Southern Utah University: A Heritage History, the First Hundred Years. The 500-plus-page profile of the Institution, published in 1997, was part of the centennial commemoration of the founding of the University.

Anne has given several years of service on the board of directors of the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Her interest in the arts and the public's access to them has also been manifested through her work with the Utah Endowment for the Humanities. She's offered insight on important issues while working on both the Utah Task Force on Higher Education and the Utah Drug Abuse Task Force. Her broad experience in community service has put her in demand as a public speaker throughout the western United States.

Like the history she wrote on SUU, Anne will remain a prominent figure in the story of SUU, as well as a much cherished individual for what she brings to the Institution, the community, and the state.

HAROLD HISKEY taught economics at SUU for 27 years. Teaching, he emphasizes, is his first love, but it was just one of several major contributions he's made to SUU and Cedar City. He received his bachelor's degree in agriculture economics from BYU, his master's in the same field from USU, as well as his doctorate in economics, also from USU. He started his long and devoted service with SUU and Cedar City in 1970. From 1972-91 he served as the dean of the College of Business, Technology and Communication. When he started in this position, he was also a department chair and the director of vocational programs. For 10 years, beginning in 1981, Harold was the director of the Small Business Development Center. Later, he served as the vice president of regional services, and also as director of the Utah Center for Rural Life.

A highly-respected individual on campus, Harold served on several committees, including two presidential search committees, the chair of the centennial committee and on the '96 NCAA Self-Study Review. Equally regarded with high esteem in the community, Harold was a city councilman for two terms, for which he later received the Cedar City Councilman Outstanding Service Award. He was the president of the Chamber of Commerce, chair of the City Redevelopment Board, and chair of the City's Bicentennial Committee in 1987. In '91, Harold received the Cedar City Chamber of Commerce Total Citizen Award. He received the Rural Utah Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. And last but not least, he was the president of the "Hey Cedars" Square Dance Club, too! He and his wife, Mona (Ellett) have four children and many grandchildren including three sets of twins.

While at SUU, Harold worked to broaden the number of majors, minors and masters programs. He spearheaded an outreach program to Richfield, Kanab and St. George. An innovator in education philosophies and individualized instruction, Harold has been recognized as having the "ability to inspire students to greater effort and encourage them to not just pass, but to excel." He was given the Distinguished Educator's Award in 1989. It is his profound kind of giving-the kind that stretches across the campus and beyond, for which Harold is invited to be inducted into SUU's Hall of Honor.

SUNNY HENDERSON REINHOLD is a native of Utah where she graduated from Olympus High School in Salt Lake City and then the University of Utah with a degree in elementary education. She has always been active in community affairs and says she feels it is important to give service with her time as well as other resources. She has served as an officer in many community organizations including the Junior League of Salt Lake and PTA Council. She has been married to Richard for 37 years; they have four children and seven grandchildren, all of whom live in Utah. Sunny is into her second year of service on the SUU Board of Fellows, serving as vice chairwoman of the SUU Capital Campaign-Northern Region. But even before this appointment, she established herself as one of the Institution's most fervent supporters and fund-raisers. As active promoters and benefactors of our University in Cedar City, Sunny and Richard regularly host fund-raisers and activities for SUU in the northern part of the state.

JEFFREY HATCH has combined a career in marketing and public policy. He is a founder of the "Coalition for Utah's Future" and "Envision Utah." After receiving his bachelor's degree in communication from Stanford University and a dual master's in journalism and business administration at Columbia University, he returned to Utah to join the family media business where his responsibilities covered all aspects of management of newspaper, radio and television broadcasting, and real estate properties. While general manager of KUTV Channel 2 in Salt Lake City, he led the development of two public service campaigns, "Baby Your Baby" and "Check Your Health." In '95, Jeff became the executive director of the Utah Information Technology Association (UITA) Foundation. In '98, he obtained the Murray and Valley Eagle newspapers, and local community news and information was restored under the new flag of Your Green Sheet. Then in 2000, Jeff started consulting in marketing and financial planning.

Jeff served on SUU's Board of Trustees for eight years, on which he significantly contributed to the sales development for the Utah Shakespearean Festival, the successful completion of the Sherratt Library, the Eccles Coliseum and the Sorenson Physical Education Building, and the addition of the new master's degree programs in business administration and fine arts administration. Jeff and his wife Peggy have three children.

HAROLD SHIRLEY was born in Gilmer, Texas, but has lived in Cedar City for more than 30 years. He has given so much to the community, it truly would not be what it is today without his contributions.
After receiving his bachelor's and master's degrees in history and English from BYU, Harold began a 35-year career in education at Cedar City High School where he taught English, journalism, American history, graphics, and a course he developed himself in classical humanities. He also spent several years as the JV football coach, the band director, the chair of the English department and yearbook adviser.

Besides an influential educator, Harold is also known as Mayor Shirley, having just retired from the position after 12 years of service-a period in which the community experienced unprecedented growth. Harold also served eight years as a city councilman.

He has been acknowledged with numerous awards including the Phi Delta Kappa Teacher Award, twice; the Total Citizen award from the Cedar City Chamber of Commerce in 1998, and the state equivalent award that same year; the Superintendent's Award, twice; and the prestigious national Milken Award for excellence in teaching.

In all his endeavors, Harold has remained supportive of, and an integral component of the Institution's progress. In 1991, SUUSA honored him with the President's Award. SUU is indebted and grateful to Harold for his decades of endorsement and care for the issues of SUU, on both the local and state levels.

Harold and his wife Diane proudly acknowledge that eight of their nine children have attended SUU; the ninth is still in high school.