Lou Liay Spirit Award for Extraordinary Alumni Service

Each year, the University of Illinois Alumni Association bestows the Lou Liay Spirit Award upon UI alumni who have consistently demonstrated extraordinary loyalty, commitment, dedication and service to the Alumni Association and related groups. The award, established in 1997, is named after Lou Liay, edm ’62, executive director of the UIAA from 1983 to 1998.

2011 Recipient

Alan L. Puzey This year at Homecoming, the honor will go to Alan L. Puzey ’74 aces, whose loyalty has been demonstrated not only by direct service to the campus but also through his involvement with professional organizations that interact closely with the U of I. Currently representing the University on the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching, a national grass-roots organization, he is a past chair of the Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research, the Illinois Soybean Association and the National Soybean Checkoff Board, and a board member of the American Soybean Association. Puzey has hosted UI presidents, Urbana campus chancellors and provosts, and College of ACES deans at gatherings in his home with key Illinois agricultural leaders and has testified at government hearings to promote the importance of food and agricultural research funding and its impact on the University and the community. A frequent speaker at ACES events, he has served on numerous College of ACES committees and advisory boards, most recently becoming a member of the ACES Alumni Board of Directors. Puzey is a life member of the UI Alumni Association, a Chancellor’s Circle donor and I-Fund supporter. Congratulations to Alan Puzey for his tireless advocacy and dedicated volunteer service.