FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—Three Indiana University alumni will receive IU’s Distinguished Alumni Service Award on Oct. 19, during Homecoming weekend on the Bloomington campus. The award is the highest honor bestowed on IU alumni by the university.
IU President Pamela Whitten will present the awards to 2023 honorees Antonia W. Bluher, Brian Trent Shockney, and Karen Schuster Webb, PhD.
Recipients of the award are chosen for service and achievement in their fields, and for significant contributions to the community, state, nation, or university. With the addition of these recipients, IU has honored 358 alumni since the award’s inception in 1953.
The following are brief biographies of each award recipient:
Antonia W. Bluher, BS’83
Antonia W. Bluher, BS’83, enjoyed a 27-year career in math research at the National Security Agency, where she led decades of classified security projects. An advisor to many throughout her career, Bluher extensively supported her NSA colleagues and served as a mentor to undergraduates in the Director’s Summer Program at the NSA.
Although most of her work was classified, Bluher published 80 articles internal to the NSA, and a few of her unclassified papers were published in public mathematical journals. During her time at the NSA, Bluher served as president of the agency’s oldest learned society—the Crypto-Mathematics Institute. She was named the 2015 NSA Researcher of the Year, was twice awarded the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award by President Obama, and was awarded the 2022 Distinguished Presidential Rank Award by President Biden for sustained, extraordinary achievement in government.
Bluher credits IU and Professor Maynard Thompson for the opportunities presented to her as an undergraduate. As an IU student, she was able to study in a National Science Foundation-funded research program and received a Churchill Scholarship to study at Cambridge University. Ever the mentor, she continues to encourage the next generation of young people interested in the field with the advice: “keep your curiosity alive.”
Brian Trent Shockney, BS’90, MHA’94
Brian Trent Shockney, BS’90, MHA’94, is senior vice president of system regional operations for Indiana University Health, where he oversees the academic health center, Riley Children’s Health, and all regional and rural hospitals.
Shockney devotes his time to leadership and mentorship roles across the community, serving on the Indiana Hospital Association’s Board of Directors, as a member of the Association’s Council on Workforce Development, and as a fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. Dedicated to improving the lives of Indiana residents, Shockney has also served with the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation, the Community Foundation boards of Monroe and Cass counties, several community Chamber of Commerce boards, HomeBank Board, the IU Health Foundation Philanthropy Council, and he is past president of the South Central Indiana and Logansport Kiwanis.
He is the recipient of several recognitions and awards, including the American Hospital Association Shirley Ann Monroe Leadership Development Award, Indiana Hospital Association Distinguished Service Award, Indiana Rural Health Association Leadership Award, American College of Healthcare Executives Regent Award, and the IU Kokomo Alumni Hall of Fame.
Shockney and his wife have endowed an IU Foundation scholarship supporting first-generation college students and a Leadership Legacy Fund with the IU Health Foundation that ensures access to annual development opportunities for leaders in south-central Indiana.
Karen Schuster Webb, BA’68, MS’73, PhD’80
Karen Schuster Webb, BA’68, MS’73, PhD’80, brings more than 35 years of executive administration experience to her career in higher education. She is currently the sixth president of Union Institute & University—a private, nationally-accredited, nonprofit university system—and the founder of Union’s Institute for Social Justice.
Webb has dedicated her career to providing equitable access to education and to empowering leaders in higher education. She was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from the IU School of Education and serves on the school’s Dean’s Advisory Board. Among other accolades and awards, Webb was named one of the Top 25 Women in Higher Education and Beyond by Diverse Issues in Higher Education Magazine and was the founding dean of the California School of Education at Alliant International University.
Webb has served as chair of the American Council on Education Women’s Network Executive Council and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the American Council on Education. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Gestalt Center for Organization & Systems Development in Cleveland.
An international lecturer, author, linguist, and a poet, Webb is also a member of the William V.S. Tubman University Foundation Advisory Board (Harper, Liberia) and the Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education.
The IU Alumni Association is a global alumni organization that brings more than 774,000 IU graduates together to support one another and Indiana University throughout their lives.
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