Distinguished Service Award

The Distinguished Service Award was established in 1972 to recognize alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the University of Illinois who have consistently demonstrated extraordinary commitment, dedication and service for the advancement of the institution.

2010 Recipients

Janet Turney Mulvaney ’58 ACES and Merle L. Mulvaney ’58 ACES are honored for their tireless efforts to forge lasting connections for the University of Illinois in the nation’s capital. The Mulvaneys, who met as undergraduates at the UI College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES), devoted two decades of leadership service to the Illinois Alumni Club of Greater Washington, D.C., helping build this organization into a powerhouse model for alumni groups across the country. Jan dedicated six years of service to the UI Alumni Association’s Board of Directors and the UIAA Campus Alumni Advisory Board, chairing the membership committees of both organizations. In this capacity, she played a key role in shepherding the Association’s transition to the Universal Membership Model, which recognizes all UI alumni as members. Extending a hand of fellowship to alumni from all three campuses, the Mulvaneys have demonstrated their exemplary Illinois loyalty as advocates, mentors, donors and true friends of the institution.  Both earned bachelor’s degrees from the College of ACES in 1958, Jan in home economics and Merle in general agriculture. 

Previous Recipients