The Distinguished Alumni Awards
This award recognizes graduates whose achievements, strength of character, and citizenship serve as
role models to inspire and challenge today’s youth.
Dr. Ken Rowland
Urbana High School
Class of 1972
Dr. Ken Rowland
Dr. Kendrith Rowland, a 1972 Urbana high school graduate attended Laurence University and later earned his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago. After residency and oncology fellowships at Rush Medical, he chose to return to Champaign-Urbana to begin his professional work. He notes his positive childhood experiences in CU helped draw him back to East Central Illinois. “It was the closeness of the community that made people accountable to each other. It was a good place to be as a kid, and raise a family.” Dr. Rowland has made his mark by initiating a widely acclaimed clinical cancer research program. Through his initial and ongoing efforts, the National Cancer Institute Grant at Carle Health has brought state-of-the-art clinical cancer trials and research to East Central Illinois for the last 22 years. Rowland notes, “none of this would have been possible without a very educated community acknowledging the status quo is not acceptable, and progress through participation in research improves the outlook of future generations.” His nominator notes, “Dr. Rowland has been involved in designing breast cancer clinical trials that have advanced breast cancer care across the world. He is also an accomplished author, co-author of more than 90 publications in peer-reviewed medical journals. As a skilled practitioner, his name is synonymous for great cancer care in the area.” Dr. Rowland currently serves as Director of Cancer Research at Carle Health.
Dr. Ken Rowland
Nichole Millage
Centennial High School
Class of 1995
Nichole Millage
Nichole Millage, a 1995 graduate of Centennial High School, has travelled the world representing Centennial, Champaign-Urbana, and the USA as a 4-time Paralympian. After losing her leg just below the knee when she was 21 in a boating accident, Nichole says she “discovered” sitting volleyball while volunteering at a camp for children with disabilities in 2004. A former middle hitter on the Charger volleyball team, Nichole eventually accepted an opportunity to train with the US Paralympic Sitting Volleyball in Edmund, Oklahoma. She completed her undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Central Oklahoma while competing and traveling across the globe. Before retiring from competition in 2021, Nichole competed in four Paralympics (Beijing, London, Rio, and Tokyo) winning two gold and two silver medals for Team USA. She continues to serve as an athlete representative on the United States Olympic Committee and currently works at the City of Champaign as an Environmental Sustainability Specialist in the Public Works Department. “Growing up in Champaign (Kenwood, Jefferson, Centennial) I was grateful for the recreational volleyball and softball programs at the Champaign Park district. I practically lived at Sholem pool. Before my accident, I took a lot of things for granted. My accident helped me see the bigger picture and has provided me with so many unimaginable opportunities.”
Sue Grey
Avra Jain
Central High School
Class of 1979
Avra Jain
Twin sisters, Avra Jain and Anna Jain Bakst are 1979 graduates of Champaign Central High School. Together, they were crowned State Doubles Champions in the 1978 IHSA Girls Tennis Championships. Both attended Purdue University, majoring in industrial engineering before taking two very different paths to their successful careers. Anna moved to New York and began a 25-year career managing and cultivating business for American fashion houses such as Kate Spade, Michael Kors and Donna Karan. “Launching and building the Michael Kors Accessories and Footwear business into a global accessible luxury brand was an incredible team effort,” says Jain Bakst. A Stanford MBA graduate, Anna currently serves on the board of Modern Meadow “an American biotechnology company that uses biofabrication to create sustainable materials for the wellness of people and the planet. Most recently, Jain Bakst co-founded WE-AR4, a New York based fashion brand focused on immediate sustainable impact by creating new life for materials that would otherwise become waste.” Despite all this acclaim, Anna says her proudest personal moment, “Helping win 2nd place in the IHSA State Team Tennis Championship along with winning the State Doubles title with my sister!”
After college, Avra Jain also moved to New York, where she worked in finance, specializing in trading on Wall Street for 15 years. As a hobby, she began developing her interest in renewing and revitalizing neglected real estate properties. While renovating a 100,000 square foot warehouse in North Tribeca in the late 1990’s she helped produce Dark Days, a documentary that won 3 Sundance Film awards about homelessness in New York City. In 1999, Avra moved to Miami and quickly became one of the most prolific real estate developers along the Biscayne Corridor. She received national recognition for her substantial investment in the adaptive reuse and repurposing of previously abandoned or underutilized historic properties; including the Vagabond Motel. Her current adaptive reuse project involves developing a music centric entertainment neighborhood called Factory Town on a 6-acre 1940’s mattress factory. Ms. Jain says, “Factory Town is a 5-10-year project that represents all I have learned personally and professionally. It will be a mixed-use entertainment district that brings together community with sustainable best practices grounded in historical relevance.” Avra agrees with her sister that placing 2nd in the IHSA State Tennis Championship and winning the doubles title with her sister Anna is “one of my proudest personal achievements.”
Dianne Massock Messina-Stanley
Anna Jain Bakst
Central High School
Class of 1979
Anna Bakst (Jain)
Twin sisters, Avra Jain and Anna Jain Bakst are 1979 graduates of Champaign Central High School. Together, they were crowned State Doubles Champions in the 1978 IHSA Girls Tennis Championships. Both attended Purdue University, majoring in industrial engineering before taking two very different paths to their successful careers. Anna moved to New York and began a 25-year career managing and cultivating business for American fashion houses such as Kate Spade, Michael Kors and Donna Karan. “Launching and building the Michael Kors Accessories and Footwear business into a global accessible luxury brand was an incredible team effort,” says Jain Bakst. A Stanford MBA graduate, Anna currently serves on the board of Modern Meadow “an American biotechnology company that uses biofabrication to create sustainable materials for the wellness of people and the planet. Most recently, Jain Bakst co-founded WE-AR4, a New York based fashion brand focused on immediate sustainable impact by creating new life for materials that would otherwise become waste.” Despite all this acclaim, Anna says her proudest personal moment, “Helping win 2nd place in the IHSA State Team Tennis Championship along with winning the State Doubles title with my sister!”
After college, Avra Jain also moved to New York, where she worked in finance, specializing in trading on Wall Street for 15 years. As a hobby, she began developing her interest in renewing and revitalizing neglected real estate properties. While renovating a 100,000 square foot warehouse in North Tribeca in the late 1990’s she helped produce Dark Days, a documentary that won 3 Sundance Film awards about homelessness in New York City. In 1999, Avra moved to Miami and quickly became one of the most prolific real estate developers along the Biscayne Corridor. She received national recognition for her substantial investment in the adaptive reuse and repurposing of previously abandoned or underutilized historic properties; including the Vagabond Motel. Her current adaptive reuse project involves developing a music centric entertainment neighborhood called Factory Town on a 6-acre 1940’s mattress factory. Ms. Jain says, “Factory Town is a 5-10-year project that represents all I have learned personally and professionally. It will be a mixed-use entertainment district that brings together community with sustainable best practices grounded in historical relevance.” Avra agrees with her sister that placing 2nd in the IHSA State Tennis Championship and winning the doubles title with her sister Anna is “one of my proudest personal achievements.”
Dianne Massock Messina-Stanley
Local Business Community Impact
Ragle Dental Labs
Jerry Ragle
Urbana High School
Class of 1972
Jerry Ragle
Ragle Dental Labs, founded in 1979 by Urbana High School graduate Jerry Ragle, will be awarded the Local Business Community Impact Award. This award recognizes a local business owner with their business located in Champaign Unit 4 or Urbana District 116 boundaries, who graduated from high school no less than ten (10) years prior to that nomination year and has demonstrated an impact on the community and/or our public schools through their commitment to philanthropy, service, and volunteerism, or by employing local high school graduates. Jerry Ragle has been the owner at Ragle Dental Labs for 40 years. His successful family business has employed numerous Urbana High School graduates, and in 2004, the Champaign Chamber of Commerce named Ragle Dental Labs their Small Business of the Year. As a member and executive officer for the Urbana Alumni Association (UAA) for over 20 years, Jerry managed UAA financials which included fundraising for alumni and student honorary bricks at the Urbana High School athletic complex, and for Greg Chew Memorial auditorium chairs in the UHS theater. His nominator notes, “in 2018, Jerry coordinated UAA’s efforts to provide IDEA Store gift certificates to EVERY Urbana School District teacher. This was a win-win for the Urbana teachers and for the solid financial beginnings of the new IDEA Store. Through his business and volunteer activities Jerry has always been an ardent supporter of our public schools.”
Seth Fein
The Local Business Community Impact Award
These recipients have demonstrated an impact on the community through their commitment to philanthropy, service, and volunteerism, or employing local high school graduates.
The Local Hero Award
This award recognizes graduates who have demonstrated their commitment to benefiting the Champaign-Urbana community through their volunteer time and efforts.
Local Hero
Kanittha Fay
Kanittha Fay
Kanittha Fay will be honored with the Local Hero Award which recognizes individuals who have demonstrated their commitment to benefiting the Champaign-Urbana school community and/or public schools through their volunteer time and efforts. Local Hero recipients volunteer activities must occur within the district boundaries of Unit 4 and District 116. A native of Thailand, Kanittha moved to the states, to attend the University of Illinois where she graduated in 1999. While raising her daughter in the Urbana schools, Kanittha jumped in with both feet to serve and support the Urbana community and District 116. She volunteers on the Urbana High School PTSA Executive team which has created initiatives including Teach for Urbana, a teacher and staff appreciation program, and a Student Ambassador Program, promoting budding leaders in Urbana schools. Kanittha is a board member for the League of Women Voters of Champaign County, a committee member of the Mayoral Recognition Program, member of Urbana Parks advisory committee, and co-founder of We Love Urbana community building initiative. Her nominator says “Kanittha has used her expertise in voter education and civic engagement to support student led voter education events and brought attention to Champaign County’s first HBCU college fair at Urbana High School. She believes schools are the heart of the community and always helps to build bridges between people and organizations.”
Amariah Hays
Thank you to Tori Beach for our 2022 Distinguished Alumni videos.
Join us for the Distinguished Alumni Reception
Friday, April 14th at the I Hotel (Heritage Room)
Reservations are only available in advance:
