The Elon Alumni Association will honor five distinguished graduates of the university with this year’s association awards during a brunch at 10 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 4 in the Alumni Center, located in Johnston Hall on campus.
Raymond L. Beck of Cary, N.C., will receive the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award. A 1975 Elon graduate with a bachelor’s degree in history, Beck has worked as a historian at the North Carolina Capitol in Raleigh since 1977. Beck has spearheaded a restoration of the capitol’s interior, doing extensive research to return the building to its original appearance. He has located countless artifacts, paintings and pieces of furniture from the building that were thought to be lost, restoring them to their original condition.
Beck is an active member of the community, serving as vice president of the Wake County Historical Society from 2002 to 2004 and on the board of the Raleigh City Museum from 1993 to 1996. He currently serves on the boards of the Leonidas L. Polk House Foundation and the Raleigh Heritage Trail. He has been a loyal Elon supporter, serving as president of the National Alumni Executive Board from 2001 to 2003. Beck, who received Elon’s Young Alumnus of the Year Award in 1983, currently serves as president of Elon’s Triangle Alumni chapter.
Ed Welch of Greensboro, N.C., will receive the Alumni Service Award, presented to an alumnus or alumna who has given extraordinary service to their local community. Welch graduated from Elon in 1959 by attending night classes while working full-time as a telephone lineman with Southern Bell. Welch served in the U.S. Army, retiring as a colonel after tours of duty in Korea, Japan and Vietnam. After his military career, Welch returned to Southern Bell and received several promotions, retiring as a district manager.
Welch has been a Red Cross volunteer for more than 50 years. He serves on the board of the Greensboro Red Cross Chapter and chairs its Blood Services committee, personally recruiting more than 16,000 blood donors since 2002. In 2004, the Red Cross created the Ed Welch Award in his honor, which is presented to the outstanding blood services volunteer in four southern states. Welch also assisted with Red Cross relief efforts during Hurricane Fran in 1996, Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Welch also serves on several committees at Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro and has traveled to Russia and Thailand on church mission trips to assist orphanages. He grows and gives away flowers as a hobby, delivers Meals on Wheels and builds wheelchair ramps for the handicapped.
Bill and Mary Ruth, both 1966 Elon graduates, will receive the Service to Church and Society Award. Since 2003, they have served as long-term volunteers with Partners in Service, a program administered by the United Church of Christ. They have served at a school in New Mexico, the Blowing Rock Conference Center in western North Carolina and at a learning center for Heifer Project International in Arkansas. Their current assignment is at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta. They maintain their residence in Stoney Creek, N.C.
Bill Ruth served in the Air Force before a 22-year career with Travelers Insurance Co. He has also taught adult literacy courses at Alamance Community College and managed a computer teaching lab for employees of Burlington Industries.
Mary Ruth served as director of alumni and parent relations at Elon from 1995 to 2002. She previously worked in mission and stewardship for the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ. She has also directed an emergency night shelter and soup kitchen for Allied Churches of Alamance County, N.C.
Josh Felix of Atlanta will be honored with the Distinguished Young Alumnus Award. Felix graduated from Elon in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in event/sports management. Since 2003, Felix has served as president and CEO of Oak Publications, which publishes Chicago Hospital News and Atlanta Hospital News. The monthly health care newspapers have a circulation of more than 36,000 subscribers in each city.
Felix also serves as a consultant for Frontier Management Group, a global event management and talent representation company. He served as vice president of business development at Frontier from 2003 to 2005, coordinating special events including the Capri Triathlon Series and the Track & Field Championships of the Americas.
Felix serves on national industry and charitable boards, including the Georgia Association of Health Care Executives. He donates his time to civic groups, including Junior Achievement, Gateway Green, Big Brothers and Big Sisters and the Chicago and Atlanta chapters of the Jaycees.
Tickets for the brunch are $10 each and can be purchased by calling (336) 278-7421.
The Alumni Association promotes active participation in university events by its approximately 25,000 members. The association is governed by a national executive board, which is composed of 60 members who each serve three-year terms.
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