UA National Alumni Association Names Distinguished Alumni for 2015

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama National Alumni Association recently named the recipients of its top awards.

The 2015 Distinguished Alumna Award winner is Nancy Richeson Siniard, of Huntsville, and the 2015 Distinguished Alumnus Award winner is Pat Whetstone, of Tuscaloosa.

Siniard is a native of Russellville and earned a bachelor’s and master’s in communication from UA in 1978.  For the past 25 years, she has worked as a managing partner for TotalCom in Huntsville. She has one son, Bart, who practices law in Huntsville.

Whetstone, originally from Greenville, received an economics degree in 1967 from UA. Whetstone was director of alumni affairs for 20 years, retiring in spring 2011. He and his wife, Joyce, live in Tuscaloosa and have two daughters, Peyton Hatfield and Paige Biddle, and one son, Stephen Whetstone.

Selection for the Distinguished Alumni Award is based on loyalty and service to the University and the National Alumni Association; character and personal life; professional achievement or success in chosen endeavor; and community service on local, state or national level.

The recipients of the 2015 Alumni Student Award are Allison Murray Montgomery from Talladega and Michael Raddatz from Austin, Texas.

The 2015 Alumni Outstanding Senior Award winners are:  Paula Elizabeth Adams, Athens; Kevyn Armstrong-Wright, Auburn;Braxton E. Billings, Deatsville; Brian Carpenter Goodell, Plattsburgh, New York; Hannah McBrayer, Birmingham, Ricardo Avery Montgomery, Harker Heights, Texas; Laura Lee Smith, Jackson, Mississippi; Kimberly Triplett, Saint Johns, Florida; David Alexander Wallace, Brentwood, Tennessee; and Peterson Wellford, Memphis, Tennessee.