KU present 3 “Millie” awards to Kansas volunteers in February

The Kansas Alumni Association and the University of Kansas will honor three graduates for longtime volunteer efforts on behalf of their alma mater. The three will receive Mildred Clodfelter Alumni Awards, named for a stalwart former staff member of the Alumni Association.

The three alumni are: John C. Adams, Larned; Geneen Hall Love, Garden City; and Lizabeth Beckett Ballard, Haviland. All are volunteers with the Kansas Honors Program (KHP). Since 1971 the program, sponsored by the Alumni Association and the KU Endowment Association, has recognized the top 10 percent of high school seniors in each Kansas county.

Adams will be honored at a KHP dinner Feb. 10 at the Columbus Club, Scenic Drive,in Larned.

Love will receive her award Feb. 16 at the Southwind Country Club, South Star Route, in Garden City.

Ballard will be honored Feb. 23 at the Knights of Columbus, 800 West Frontview, in Dodge City.

Adams, who earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from KU in 1958 and a master's degree in social work from KU in 1964. He retired in 1996 from a 38-year career in social work at Larned State Hospital, where he served as director of the hospital's social services department for 30 years. During his tenure at the hospital, he also was acting superintendent of both Norton State and Larned State hospitals. Most recently, he has returned to working half time in the Larned hospital's social services department.
Adams’ record of volunteer service matches the 33-year history of the Kansas Honors Program. He has coordinated the local event for his three-county area since 1971. He also has chaired the Pawnee County alumni chapter.

Love earned her KU bachelor’s degree in art history in 1981. She is a longtime Garden City business owner; her ventures have included Wheatfields on Main and Serendipity. As a life member of the Alumni Association, she coordinated the Finney County KHP from 1986 to 2003. She also belongs to the Williams Educational Fund, which raises scholarships for KU student-athletes, and she has coordinated the Garden City alumni booster page for KU Athletics programs. She also has supported the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences as a donor.

Ballard, who earned her KU master’s degree in education in 1977, has taught English and journalism in Kansas public high schools for 30 years. She currently teaches in Haviland, where she has coordinated the annual KHP ceremony since 1986. She and her husband, Chris, a 1974 KU graduate with a bachelor’s degree in education, are life members of the Alumni Association and members of the Williams Educational Fund, which raises scholarship fund for KU student-athletes.

The Mildred Clodfelter Alumni Award, created in 1986 by the Alumni Association, honors volunteers who serve as KU ambassadors in their home communities. The award is named for Clodfelter, who received a bachelor's degree in 1941 from KU and worked at KU for 47 years, 42 of them at the Alumni Association. Clodfelter, known to countless Jayhawks nationwide, retired in 1986 and currently lives in Lawrence.