2008 Alumni Award Winners

Distinguished Service Award

Carol Keiser-Long is honored for her tireless service to the University of Illinois; the UI College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences; and the UI Alumni Association. A former vocational education teacher, Keiser-Long established an internship program for women in the College of ACES, which has long recognized her for her achievements and generous support. She has served on the boards of numerous organizations, including the ACES Alumni Association and UI Foundation, and from 1999 to 2001 chaired the Board of Directors of the UI Alumni Association, which has honored her with loyalty and spirit awards and named her an Illini Comeback guest. An agribusiness entrepreneur, Keiser-Long is founder and president of both C-ARC Enterprises, with interests in biofuels, alternative feedstocks and agricultural education, and C-BAR Cattle Co. She earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science from the University of Illinois in 1968.

Alumni Humanitarian Award

Betty Burch Mohlenbrock is honored for her mission of helping families achieve intimacy through books. In 1989, she established the Family Literacy Foundation, the forerunner of United Through Reading, an organization that arranges to record and send home DVDs of deployed military parents reading to their children. This program has reached thousands of members of the military at sites throughout the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as incarcerated prisoners in San Diego. A former elementary school teacher and private reading tutor, Mohlenbrock has observed that “research has shown that the single best predictor of success in school is whether a child was read to at home. The second best predictor is if the child sees parents reading.” Mohlenbrock earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Illinois in 1962 and a master’s degree in education in 1964.

Alumni Achievement Award

Doris Kelley Christopher is honored for her success as founder and chair of The Pampered Chef, the premier direct seller of high-quality kitchen tools sold through in-home demonstrations. A leader and active member of the Direct Selling Association and Direct Selling Education Foundation for more than two decades, she has lent her business acumen to numerous boards, including America’s Second Harvest, The Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois, and the University of Illinois Foundation. Christopher’s many awards and honors include the Association of Corporate Growth’s “ACG Chicago 2007 Lifetime Achievement” award and induction into the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans. The author of two books, she has generously supported the Family Resiliency Program in the UI College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, where she received an undergraduate degree in home economics in 1967.

Freeman A. Hrabowski III is honored for his dedication to improving minority participation and performance in science and math education. The president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, he has been sought as a consultant by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and universities and school systems nationally, and serves on the boards of such organizations as the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. His many honors include the U.S. Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring and election to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. A child leader in the U.S. civil rights movement and the co-author of two books, he earned a master’s degree at the University of Illinois in mathematics in 1971 and a doctoral degree in education at the U of I four years later at the age of 24.

Sheila C. Johnson is honored for her philanthropic efforts and achievements in business. A founding partner of Black Entertainment Television, she is an ambassador for the humanitarian organization CARE and a dedicated supporter of organizations that help children and young adults explore their creativity. Johnson oversees luxury properties as CEO of Salamander Hospitality, LLC, and is the only woman to have a stake in three professional sports teams – the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the NHL’s Washington Capitals. A film producer and accomplished violinist, Johnson chairs the board of governors of Parsons The New School for Design in New York and serves on the boards of numerous art- and education-related groups, including the University of Illinois Foundation. She earned a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Illinois in 1970.