Faculty/Staff Strongest Influence Award
Dr. Matt Shank
 A very popular professor of marketing in the College of Business, Dr. Matt Shank joined the faculty in 1991 and served as chair 1999-2007. He also served as interim director of the MBA program. Prior to his academic career, Shank served as a marketing research manager at Maritz, Inc., one of the top 15 largest marketing research companies in the country.
Shank’s teaching interests include sports marketing, consumer behavior and marketing research. His research interests are in the areas of sports marketing, consumer psychology and marketing education. Currently, Shank is serving as the editor of Sports Marketing Quarterly, one of the premier academic journals in the sport management area.
Outstanding Young Alumnus Award
Todd Duesing
 Never afraid to take challenges, Todd Duesing’s career has been remarkable. He started out at Riverbend Music Center as the operations manager. He promoted, booked, entertained and sometimes was the personal driver for many of the performers. During the summer, his typical week would be 70+ hours. After Riverbend, Duesing moved on to his most challenging role, the production manager for Tall Stacks. Duesing had a hand in every piece of the program. His leadership created a wonderful event for the entire area. Again, it was long days and no vacations, but he knew this was what he had to do to move into his dream job. He is currently the director of the Aronoff Center downtown.
Distinguished Service
Mark J. Jacobs
 Mark Jacobs is an environmental anthropologist who is being honored for developing a conservation park for Northern Kentucky residents to enjoy.
Realizing a lifelong dream, Jacobs created nonprofit Wildlife Conservation Kentucky in 2000 to address the natural resource conservation issues in the area. Within a year he had acquired an ecologically and geologically significant property in western Boone County called Split Rock, and by November he had opened Split Rock Conservation Park. He marked the fifth anniversary of WCK in 2007. In five years, Jacobs has saved a part of Kentucky’s history and turned 165 acres into an amazing outdoor lab to educate future Kentuckians on how to preserve our environment and revel in our unique history. In the short time that Split Rock has been in existence, Jacobs has been restoring the 165-acre park back to its native condition by implementing a program to remove nonnative invasive plant species and establishing approximately 40 acres of native grasses.
Outstanding Alumna Award
Linda S. Allen
College of Business
 From advising her sorority to volunteering at her church to a successful career at Procter & Gamble, Linda Allen has been an example of leadership for the community and NKU students.
Over the past 26 years Allen achieved career success and represented NKU well at a Procter & Gamble, most recently serving as finance director for corporate acquisitions. There she has led financial planning and management for one of the area’s Fortune 500 firms. While these accomplishments are remarkable, her volunteer efforts here at NKU and in the community are where she has truly excelled. Allen also served as the regional collegiate coordinator for Delta Zeta.
Outstanding Alumnus Award
Michael Anstead, M.D.
College of Arts and Sciences
 Michael Anstead, M.D., is being honored for his efforts to fight chronic lung disease.
“Being a physician is a great privilege,” Anstead said. “What could be better than a job where they pay you to help others and learn and understand everything you can about how the human body functions in health and disease? I really enjoy caring for children and adults with lung problems and was recognized as one of best doctors in my specialty in 2007.”
“NKU could not have been a better experience for me. In nearly every class, there were professors who really wanted to teach and always had their door open if you had a question. I owe a debt to many of the teachers at NKU who were very important during these formative years.”
After NKU, Anstead attended medical school at the University of Kentucky and later completed a residency in combined internal medicine and pediatrics and a fellowship in pulmonary and critical-care medicine at UK. He remained at UK as faculty in the department of pediatrics. His primary interest in medicine has been cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is the most common life-shortening lung disease in the U.S., and patients with cystic fibrosis suffer from chronic lung infection that progressively damages their lungs.
Outstanding Alumna Award
Jane H. Herms
College of Education and Human Services
 Jane Herms is a social work professional with more than 20 years’ experience working with children and families. Herms received her bachelor’s degree in mental health and human services from NKU and her Master of Social Work from UK. She currently serves as executive director of the Family Nurturing Center, an agency dedicated to ending the cycle of child abuse. Prior career highlights include leadership positions with Brighton Center, Redwood and Clermont County Community Services as well as adjunct faculty positions with NKU and The Institute for Adolescent Development.
Herms serves as board chair for the Leadership Council of Human Services Executives, a nonprofit focused on developing leadership capacity, increasing the resource base of agencies and serving as the collective voice for human services. She also is a member of the board of directors and executive committee for United Way of Greater Cincinnati and an advisory board member of the Northern Kentucky Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation. She is a graduate of Leadership Northern Kentucky, a founding member of Legacy and an active member of St. Mary parish.
Herms and her husband, Tony, live in Alexandria, Ky., with their three children, Nathan, Ava and Carter.
Outstanding Alumna Award
Kim Dinsey-Read
School of Nursing and Health Professions
 Kim Dinsey-Read has been a lecturer and assistant professor of nursing at NKU since 2007, teaching community health nursing, healthcare research and mental health nursing. Dinsey-Read is the grant coordinator for the internationally recognized Northern Kentucky Nursing Research Collaborative and serves as a member of the St. Elizabeth Medical Center Research Council. Dinsey-Read is also co-director of a university-community partnership grant titled Coalition for the Prevention and Treatment of Lead-Poisoned Children in Northern Kentucky. Prior to coming to NKU, she was the lead case manager of Northern Kentucky independent health department, where she developed and expanded a program to prevent and manage lead poisoning in Northern Kentucky’s children. Dinsey-Read also has experience in medical-surgical nursing, psychiatric nursing, psycho-geriatrics and forensic psychiatry.
Outstanding Alumnus Award
Richard M. Rothfuss
Chase College of Law
 Richard M. Rothfuss is the CEO of Lerner, Sampson & Rothfuss, a law firm focusing its practice in the areas of real estate, creditors’ rights and commercial litigation. Rothfuss was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1977, the Kentucky bar in 1978 and the Florida bar in 1980. He is a graduate of University of Kentucky (B.A., ’72) and the Northern Kentucky University Chase College of Law (J.D., ’77). He is also a member of the Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky and American Bar Associations. In addition to his practice, Rothfuss is a frequent lecturer to various groups on a wide variety of real estate, bankruptcy, creditors’ rights and general mortgage banking issues. His firm is both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac designated counsel for Ohio, counsel to MERS and the recipient of many awards including the Better Housing League’s Civic Award, the Pinnacle Award and the USFN Diamond Excellence Award for 13 consecutive years.
In his personal life, Rothfuss is married to his high-school sweetheart, Cathy, who is an NKU grad and was a member of Northern’s first cheerleading squad.
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