The purpose of the Distinguished Alumni Award is to recognize the achievements of Michigan State Alumni that serve who Metro Chicago community, increase the awareness in the local community of Michigan State University alumni and their accomplishments and promote the Michigan State University Alumni Club of Metro Chicago and its activities. The Distinguished Alumni Award is presented to alumni who have made outstanding contributions in their chosen fields, service in local community affairs or support in the advancement of Michigan State University. The Distinguished Alumni must be graduates of a degree program of Michigan State University. The award recipients will represent diverse fields of accomplishment, and representation of all the colleges will be considered as part of the selection process.

2009 - To Be Announced

Past Winners

2008 - Jeannie Warrington James and Edward R. James

Jeannie was born in Minneapolis, MN in 1936.  When she entered Michigan State in 1953, she and her family lived in Bethesda MD.  Jeannie graduated from MSU with honors in Textiles, Clothing and Related Art in March of 1957.  Ed was born in Evanston in 1934 and graduated from MSU in June of 1956, with a BS in Economics.  After graduation, Ed entered the Army as a 2nd Lt. and served 6 months on active duty.  Two weeks after his discharge from active duty,  Jeannie and Ed were married on May 11, 1957 in Northminster Presbyterian Church, Evanston, IL.

The romance between Jeannie and Ed started on a blind date at the 1956 Rose Bowl.  Ed’s class was the only one to go to two Rose Bowl games in 4 years.

Jeannie immediately immersed herself into the community while she was having their four children and during the span of several years, became president of  the Young Women’s Club of Evanston, the Junior League of Evanston and North Shore, the Evanston Hospital Auxiliary, Chairman Ravinia Women’s Festival  Board and The  Chicago Foundation for Education.

Ed worked with his father for one year before his death in 1958.  The company was then run with his brother Ken and himself until Ed’s two sons; Jerry and Warren joined the company and they formed Edward R. James Partners, LLC, Glenview, IL. Over the years, Ed has been involved in large-scale planned unit residential communities, golf course and resort communities, empty nester and high rise condominiums in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota.

Ed is a past Trustee of the Urban Land Institute, a Governor of the Urban Land Foundation, Member of Lambda Alpha International Honorary Professional Land Economics Fraternity and a member of the National and Chicago Home Builders Associations and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Urban Land Institute of Chicago.

Ed has been President of the Western Golf Association, Chairman of the Evans Scholars Foundation, Chairman of the Michigan State University Foundation,   President of Indian Hill County Club and President of  the Board of Trustees of his church.  Ed is currently a Chicago and National Trustee of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago and America and a member of the Executive Committee of the Presbyterian Homes.

Jeannie and Ed have lived in Winnetka, IL for the last 35 years.  They raised four children, Jerry, married to Kitty, Catherine, married to Ed King, Warren, married to Amy and Ann, married to David Harvey, all of whom live in Winnetka or Wilmette.  Jeannie and Ed have 15 grandchildren ranging in age from 18 month twins to 26 years old.

2007 Stu Reed

The Michigan State University Alumni Club of Metro Chicago was pleased to announce Stu Reed as the second annual recipient of the 2007 Metro Chicago Distinguished Alumni Award. Mr. Reed’s impressive career accomplishments with IBM and Motorola, his outstanding work in his field and his service to the Chicagoland community made him the evident selection as our premiere distinguished alumnus. A 1983 graduate of the Broad School’s supply chain management program (MLM at the time) at MSU, Reed also earned a master’s degree in management in 1991 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a Sloan Fellow. Mr. Reed played a strong role in establishing an on-demand supply chain lab and the new Center for Leadership in the Digital Enterprise within the Broad School. As one of the founding member of Michigan State University’s Center for Leadership of the Digital Enterprise Board of Directors, he has been in East Lansing over the past few years helping to strategize CLODE’s future. While he has been in town for the board meetings, taking a leadership role in attracting major corporations to be part of CLODE research efforts, he has also speaking to Broad School students about supply chain issues. Stu Reed is executive vice president of Motorola's integrated supply chain organization, which includes all manufacturing facilities, procurement, customer fulfillment centers and strategic sourcing. Reed joined Motorola in April 2005 with a mission to transform the company's supply chain into a competitive advantage. Prior to that, he spent more than 20 years at the IBM Corporation, capping his career there as Vice President of Worldwide Manufacturing for IBM's integrated supply chain. In this role, he was responsible for all hardware and software manufacturing and engineering for the $96.5 billion company. Reed served as a key thought leader and implementer among the team of senior executives who transformed IBM's supply chain operations over five years. Prior to this role, Reed was Vice President of Systems and Software Products, with responsibility for manufacturing operations for the company's systems and software groups. Before his roles in IBM operations, Reed served as Vice President of Strategy, Process and Information Technology. He led the development of strategy, processes and systems to support IBM's newly formed integrated supply chain organization, which was set up with line ownership of all supply chains in IBM. Stu is married to wife Renee and they have two children Michael (11) and Kelsey (9). He coaches his children’s soccer teams and has been known to take in a basketball game when he is back in East Lansing.

2006 Chuck Goudie

Chuck Goudie's reputation for being one of Chicago's toughest investigative reporters spans more than two decades. He has been the chief investigative reporter for ABC 7 News since 1990, often breaking major news stories before other media. He joined ABC 7 as a news reporter in 1980.  Goudie's compelling and hard-hitting investigative reporting not only wins major awards but gets results. For example, in 1998 it was Goudie who first exposed the "Licenses-for-Bribes" investigation, revealing Illinois commercial drivers' licenses being sold to hundreds of unqualified truckers. His groundbreaking investigation prompted the FBI to go undercover, leading to dozens of federal corruption indictments all the way up to former Governor George Ryan. In 2004, his six-month investigation documenting misconduct, accidents and negligence by top members of the Illinois State Police unit that guards Governor Blagojevich, resulted in the governor ordering a thorough state police overhaul. His 1993 investigation of sexual abuse allegations against the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin resulted in the cardinal's accuser withdrawing charges. Other important investigations have shut down a business catering to illegal drug use and a shady, unregistered charity in Chicago.  Previously, Goudie served at WSOC-TV, the ABC affiliate in Charlotte, N.C., where he was a main sports anchor (1978-80) and general assignment reporter (1977-78). He gained early television experience at the age of 12, when he won a regular role on two weekly children's shows on WXYZ-TV in Detroit, Mich. (1968-72).  Goudie has won many of broadcasting's top honors, including a National Emmy Award in 2004 for exposing how government agencies and chemical companies were unprotected against a deadly terrorist attack.  In 1998, Goudie was honored with the national Edward R. Murrow Award for Continuous Television News Reporting. He has also received numerous reporting awards from the Associated Press; Emmy awards from the Chicago Television Academy; Peter Lisagor Awards from the Society for Professional Journalists and Herman Kogan awards from the Chicago Bar Association. Goudie has investigated and reported news stories from four continents; from New York's "Ground Zero"; war zones in the Middle East, the Arabian Sea and the Balkans; and from behind the walls of the Vatican. A member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Goudie is a regular speaker at their international conference. He won a Chicago/Midwest Father of the Year Award from the Father of the Year Council in 1992. In addition to his broadcast work, Goudie writes a weekly column for the Daily Herald, the third largest daily paper in metro Chicago.
     Born in suburban Detroit, Michigan, Goudie holds a B.A. degree in Telecommunications and Political Science from Michigan State University. He is married to Teri Goudie, a former ABC 7 news producer and now a media consultant and crisis trainer. They have five children.