Distinguished Leaders
With more than 1,600 distinguished Leadership Kansas alumni and counting, many agree — graduates of the program leave better educated, energized and equipped to shoulder important leadership responsibilities in their careers and their communities.
Past program participants include:
- U.S. Senator Jerry Moran
- U.S. Congressman Kevin Yoder
- C.Q. Chandler IV, president, Intrust Bank
- Sandy Praeger, Kansas Insurance Commissioner
- John Rolfe, president and CEO, Wichita Convention and Visitors Bureau
- Deborah Rose, brigadier general, Kansas Air National Guard
- David Dillion, CEO, The Kroger Company
- Dave Murfin, entrepreneur
- And many other notable Kansas leaders
Alumnus of the Year Award Recipients
1994 David Dillon
1995 Bill Graves
1996 Shirley Martin-Smith
1997 Jeff Turner
1998 Carla Stovall
1999 Dave Lindstrom
2000 Gene Argo
2001 John Rolfe
2002 Andy Tompkins
2003 Jerry Moran
2004 Sheryl Dick
2005 Ron Thornburgh
2006 Roger Fingland
2007 Sandy Praeger
2008 Barbara Carswell & Lon Frahm
2009 Mike O’Neal
2010 J. Russell Jennings
2011 David Adkins
2012 Kent Beisner
2013 Barbara Ballard
2014 Brad Stratton
2015 Kevin Yoder
2016 Dave Murfin
2017 Matt Allen
2018 John Federico
2019 Brigadier Gen. Deborah S. Rose
2020 Jenifer Sanderson
2021 Stan Rasmussen
2023 Marlou Wegener
2024 Marty Vanier
2025 Paula Landoll-Smith
Class Distinguished Leaders
2005 Fred Jones
2006 Scott Heidner
2007 Brenda McCants
2008 Travis Murphy
2009 Wayne Bell
2010 Mary Hammond
2011 Daron Hall
2012 Clint Robinson
2013 Chris Tymeson
2014 Becky Gray
2015 David Wilson
2016 Elizabeth Ablah
2017 Trey Cocking
2018 Suzanne Lane
2019 Katie Whisman
2020 Lindsey Douglas
2021 Marshaun Butler
2022 Lashawn Taylor
2023 Debra Adams
2024 Sarah Wasinger