Alumni earn Association's highest honor for KU service

The Alumni Association's annual fall tribute to University service will occur Sept. 24, when the Association and its Board of Directors honor this year's winners of the Fred Ellsworth Medallion. The three alumni are Clay Blair, b'65, EdD'69, Olathe; David Dillon, b'73, Cincinnati; and Michael Shinn, e'66, Shaker Heights, Ohio.

Created in 1975, the Ellsworth medallion honors longtime Association leader Fred Ellsworth, c'22, who was known as "Mr. KU." He retired in 1963. Each year, a committee of representatives from the Chancellor's Office and the Alumni, Endowment and Athletics associations meets to choose the recipients from nominations submitted by KU alumni and friends.

Clay Blair

Blair is a residential and commercial real estate developer in Johnson County and owner of Clay Blair Services Corp. He also co-owns First Watch Restaurants, a nationwide chain.

As a University donor, Blair helped establish KU's Edwards Campus in Overland Park in the early 1990s, when the Clay Blair Family Foundation provided the land at 126th Street and Quivira Road that would become home to KU's thriving suburban Kansas City home. He is a former member of the Edwards Campus Advisory Board. Blair is a Campaign Kansas Leadership donor and a Chancellors Club member.

Blair also served KU as a member of the School of Education Advisory Board, and became an advocate for higher education statewide as a member of the Kansas Board of Regents, which he chaired for two years, retiring in 2003. He currently chairs the state's Research Enhancement Corp., which oversees construction of the KU Life Science Research Laboratories on West Campus in Lawrence, the new biomedical facility at KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., and research structures at Kansas State and Wichita State universities. In August Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, g'80, appointed Blair to the state's new Kansas Biosciences Authority.

As an Alumni Association life member, Blair has participated in Kansas City chapter events. He and his wife, Janet, were honorary co-chairs of Rock Chalk Ball 2001 and they have been benefactors of the ball, an annual Kansas City event that draws 1,000 alumni.

David Dillon

Dillon is chairman of the board and CEO of The Kroger Co. in Cincinnati. After earning his law degree from Southern Methodist University, he joined the Dillon Companies in Hutchinson in 1976, working for the King Soopers division in Denver. He worked at various positions in the companies, ultimately returning to Hutchinson and becoming vice president of Dillon Companies in 1983 and president in 1986. He was named executive vice president of The Kroger Co. in 1990 and was elected president and chief operating officer in 1995. He became chairman and CEO in July, succeeding Joseph A. Pichler, assoc., former KU dean of business.

For the KU Endowment Association, Dillon is a trustee and former chair of the Greater University Fund Advisory Board, on which he served from 1984 to 1989. From 1988 to 1992, he served on the Campaign Kansas National Council and Steering Committee, and was a Special Gift donor. Dillon currently serves on the School of Business Board of Advisors.

He and his wife, Dee, are life members of the Alumni Association, members of the Chancellors Club, and longtime participants in alumni and athletics activities in Hutchinson and throughout the nation. As a student he led the campus as student body president.

Michael Shinn

Shinn, a certified financial planner and a personal finance columnist for African-American newspapers, retired in 1998 after successful career with GE. After graduating from KU, he began working in GE's miniature lamp department in Cleveland and held various engineering and management
positions until 1976, when he joined Ford Motor Co. He served in three
managerial roles at Ford before returning to GE in 1979 as a program manager. He oversaw the development of entry-level recruiting programs for various GE businesses in the western United States and Asia. He received his MBA from Case Western Reserve University in 1972.

For KU, Shinn has served on the School of Engineering Advisory Board and established the Mike Shinn Engineering Scholarships for minority students at KU. He is a KU First major donor and a member of the Chancellors Club and the Elizabeth Watkins Society. An Alumni Association life member, he served on the national Board of Directors from 1978 to 1983, co-chairing the Black Alumni Committee and helping establish Career Days for black students.

As a student, Shinn received a dean's award for outstanding achievement and was an Academic All-American as co-captain of the football team. He also was selected to the All Big Eight team and served on the Civil Rights Council on campus.