Alumni Awards

Emily Salberg ’08 remembers her senior year at West Sioux High School vividly. She described being recruited for cross country and track at the collegiate level as surreal, and the difference maker in Simpson was a combination of two things. First, the opportunity to attend a liberal arts institution where she could focus heavily on education while also competing as an NCAA athlete. Second, the people. Emily stated that when she visited campus, the professors, coaches, and students made her feel seen and heard in who she was as a person, and that she knew that Simpson was a place where she’d experience infinite growth.

While at Simpson, Emily was a letter winner and team captain in both cross country and track, participated in student government association and was senior class president. She earned the title of homecoming queen from her peers and was president of the Public Relations Student Society of America her senior year, participating in the club for three years.

PRSSA helped shape her career. As a sophomore, Emily attended a conference in New York City where she also got to attend a fashion show. She wondered how she could bring this concept back to Simpson, but for a cause. The Goodwill Fashion Show (which is still a tradition today) was born. Students attending the fashion show bring clothes to donate to those in need, while those on stage adorn thrifted outfits. Emily’s passion for building programs that create positive impact, was also born!

Emily majored in athletic training and multimedia communications, graduating from Simpson in 2009.

Professionally, Emily is co-owner and CEO of Collaborative Events, a woman- owned company that reached profitability in 1 year and tripled growth margins by year 3. She also co-founded and is Chief Operations Officer of What She Said, a trusted referral app for all women and non-binary and the businesses they run, use and love. What She Said was selected for Techstars 2023 Cohort, an accomplishment as only 1% of companies are allowed the opportunity to grow with an accelerator program like Techstars.

Emily also co-founded a women’s community group in Denver, Colorado called The Feminine Collective that hosted events benefitting local non-profits geared towards women and growing young girl’s access to education and the materials that they needed to succeed.

Emily’s nominator wrote in his nomination, “As a father of 5, 4 of which are women, I believe Emily should be recognized for thinking outside of the box and creating companies based on societal need and her own drive to succeed!”

Emily has served as the Simpson College Colorado Alumni Chapter Vice President and now as the vice president for the Kansas City Alumni Chapter.

Bob Lane ’81 came to Simpson as a first generation college student and chose Simpson because it felt like home and provided him with the opportunity to be involved in numerous activities. He earned 8 varsity letters while at Simpson in football, golf, and track. He was co-captain of the football squad in 1980 and earned 2nd team all-conference honors and was named the 1981 Barborka Award recipient. A member of Lambda Chi Alpha, Bob was the president of the physical education club, an admissions student intern, and was homecoming king in 1980. He also co-chaired Simpson College’s first phonathon, appropriate with his later career in higher education advancement.

Bob earned his Masters of Science in Education from Iowa State University in 1989. In his professional career, Bob provided 27 years of dedicated service to Simpson College in a variety of capacities including admissions counselor, assistant football and golf coach, development officer, vice president for college advancement, major gift officer and interim president during the global pandemic in 2020. He led his team in completing a $25 million dollar campaign that raised over 30 million dollars, along with fundraising for capital projects such as the Blank Performing Arts addition, Kent Campus Center, Johnson Fitness Center and the Cowles Gym and Locker room renovations. During his time at Simpson, Bob also mentored numerous staff members (me being one of them) from the advancement department and beyond. He was also a friend to many students and helped numerous students find their way at Simpson.

For those that know Bob, you understand that Bob’s dedication to Simpson is unmatched. He is also a very engaged member of the Indianola community. He is an active member of the First United Methodist Church and the Indianola Breakfast club. He and Becky are National Balloon Classic sponsors, and Bob represented Simpson on the committee that founded The Village retirement community. He continues to chair the Hall of Fame committee, participate as a Simpson Guild member (and is often found cooking burgers and brats on the grill at home games), is a gold club member, presidents’ society member and has 41 consecutive years of giving at Simpson. He has earned the Double S award for career achievement from the Simpson College Athletics Department and was inducted into Epsilon Sigma as a post-graduate in 1996.

When asked about his favorite memory of Simpson, Bob stated that he wasn’t sure if he had just one, but the fact that he met Becky at Simpson while they were both students and to begin and end his career at his alma mater are both very special to him. Bob and Becky have also shared their Simpson Experience with daughter Allison and son Ryan, who graduated from Simpson in 2010 and 2013 respectively.

“Simpson changed my life and provided me with wonderful opportunities” said Bob when asked about why he is so loyal to Simpson College. “Education and the Simpson Experience is special and very real.”

Barbara Soloth Miller ’64 said that when she came to Simpson in 1960, the first in her family to go to college, she found community that remains meaningful to her 60 years later. The blend of academic challenges and engaging student life developed her curiosity about the world as well as her confidence and leadership skills to take on new challenges.

While at Simpson, Barbara majored in history and education. She is a member of Alpha Chi Omega and was treasurer and president for her chapter. She was part of the homecoming royalty court and Beauty Ball Court. Barbara also served on Panhellenic Council and World University Service. She also met the love of her life beneath the whispering maples, her late husband Ron Miller.

Following her time at Simpson, Barbara earned her Master of Arts from Mankato State University and began teaching for Aurora Public Schools where she both taught, and developed, new social studies programming and materials for k-12 classrooms. In 1985, she became project director and later executive director for the Center for Education in Law and Democracy. She received the Colorado Bar Association’s Liberty Bell Award in 1996 and the Colorado Council for Social Studies Achievement Awards in 1999 and 2012 for her work in furthering civic learning in Colorado Schools. She has served on numerous committees and programs to further public education and support youth in Colorado.

Barbara has assisted in organizing and hosting annual Simpson alumni events in Colorado for nearly 50 years. Her and Ron hosted their first event in 1974 when Kay Lebeda was alumni director. Barbara said, “From the experience of hosting alumni events in the Denver area for years, I enjoy robust connection to Simpson and friendships with Coloradoans who share a Simpson experience. Bringing Simpson alums and prospective students and parents together has its own reward and one that multiplies over time.” Barbara has been an amazing mentor and role model for many young alumni in the Colorado region.

Barbara has also served as a member of the Board of Trustees since 2009. She has participated as a leadership council member of the Colorado alumni chapter, co- chaired the Denver Region Campaign Committee for the Secure the Promise Campaign and was Co-Chair of the Imagine the Impact Campaign and chaired the Imagine the Impact Kick-Off Celebration Committee. She is a lifetime member of the Presidents’ Society and a member of the Matthew Simpson Society.

“I didn’t recognize it right away but as I spent more time on campus I began to recognize that my Simpson Experience was built on top of those who came before me, and those who have generously given to the College,” Joe Sorenson ’12 said when asked about his loyalty to his alma mater. “The athletic facilities, classrooms, and scholarship awards that made it possible for me to attend Simpson would not be possible without the College’s donors. As I yield the benefits of my Simpson experience it is a joy for my family to give back to Simpson to continue that tradition.”

Joe earned his Bachelor of Arts in economics with a focus in finance and applied philosophy from Simpson College in 2012. While a student at Simpson, he was student body president, a three-year letter winner in football, a student ambassador and a Residence Life Community Advisor.

At Simpson Joe states he learned the values of curiosity, servant leadership, and serving the surrounding community. These values have guided his professional career, having worked for the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines from 2012-2022, and now at SAS Institute as senior account executive. He has been recognized as a Business Record 40 under 40 awardee and was a graduate of the Leadership Iowa Class of 2021-2022. He served on the board for the Association of Business and Industry Foundation, the Plymouth Church Foundation, and is currently a member of the Simpson College Board of Trustees. He and his wife, Molly, who he met at Simpson, are members of the Presidents’

Society and are very active and engaged alumni, often acting as a host committee members for alumni and fundraising gatherings in the region. Joe recently hosted a Des Moines Business Community Gathering on behalf of Simpson, going out of his way to make it a special evening for our guests.

Joe bleeds Simpson red and gold and we look forward to his continued engagement and support of Simpson College. He continues to step up and be an example for other recent alumni, and for that, we are very grateful.

Diogenes Ayala ’07 & ’12, or as we know him, Dio, chose Simpson because of the adult education program. As a non-traditional student, Dio completed his BA in criminal justice at Simpson in 2007 and his Master of Arts in Criminal Justice in 2012.

When asked about his humanitarian spirit, Dio responded, “At Simpson I was afforded the opportunity to study and research human behavior and tragedies. My goal is to bring relief to those who need it during terrible situations. My education at Simpson has made that a reality.”

Today, Dio serves as the Emergency Management & Homeland Security Director for Madison County. In this pivotal role, he shoulders the responsibilities of planning, protecting, mitigating, responding to and coordinating all potential hazards that could impact the community.

In March of 2022, Dio demonstrated exceptional humanitarian leadership when he led recovery operations following and EF4 tornado that resulted in fatalities and extensive property damage in Madison County. Responding to a deputy’s call for help, Dio raced to the scene where he encountered a man who had been thrown from his home. Dio knew he had to act quickly and that waiting for an ambulance would lead to the loss of the victims life. He made his way through the debris and pulled than man out, put him in his car and raced to the hospital where the man was later stabilized – he survived. Those traumatic minutes and hours gave way to days and months of clean-up and restoration work. The recovery efforts, which Dio led, engaged over one thousand volunteers over the course of sixty days, encompassing debris removal and sheltering. As a testament to his outstanding contributions, Dio was honored as the 2022 Emergency Manager of the Year.

A distinguished veteran of the United States Navy, Dio has made an impact during other times of need. He was serving as a network operations center surveillance technician in New Jersey at the time of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He was asked to lead the recovery team that would bring in equipment and people to help with the recovery effort. He has been in the disaster recovery realm ever since.

Dio has completed the Texas A&M Infrastructure Protection Program, Executive Leadership Education from the University of Notre Dame, and Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Operations & Technician training from the Department of Homeland Security Center of Domestic Preparedness. He will also receive his Master of Arts in Homeland Security Studies in September 2024 from the Naval Post Graduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security.

Dio has earned the VFW Lifesaving Award, the 2022 Red Cross Heroes of the Heartland Award, and has just been notified he will earn the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Leadership Award that will, for the first time ever, be bestowed upon an individual, only previously being awarded to an organization.

Dio has served as a member of the Iowa Council on Homelessness and serves the Big Brother/Big Sisters of Central Iowa program.

We are proud that you are part of the Simpson family Dio, and we are thankful for what you have done and continue to do to make our world a better place. Simpson’s mission states that we wish to cultivate a diverse community of learners to lead lives of meaning and purpose. You are a true example of living our mission.

“My first semester, I enrolled in Intro to ethics. Although initially there to satisfy a general requirement, by the end of the term I declared and ethics minor,” said Dr. Mary Huff ’11 about Simpson’s influence on her humanitarian spirit. “Volunteering was integrated into the course and connected students to the greater community. The culture of service is the Simpson Experience.”

Mary graduated from Simpson with a bachelor of arts in psychology and applied philosophy along with minors in sociology and women’s studies. While at Simpson she participated in cheerleading, psychology honor society Psi Chi, Omicron Delta Kappa honor society, philosophy over pizza club and was a destination leader for orientation for two years. Following her time at Simpson, she earned her PhD in psychology with a focus on behavioral neuroscience in 2016. During her pursuit of her PhD, Mary was recognized with numerous departmental and institutional awards, was a mentor to undergraduate research assistants, and received the Ruth Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Mental Health.

As a postdoctoral Research associate for the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Mary was the lead project manager for two independent projects including coordinating with core facilities, grant preparation and presentation of data at national meetings. She was also elected representative and chair of the crossroads professional development committee that represented the 60 person postdoctoral constituency.

During her time at Stowers, she founded the Kansas City area Researchers in Biomedical Sciences (known as KC RIBS). KC Ribs created a network for early career scientists interested in nonacademic research and connected local scientific leaders to young researchers exploring career opportunities. Additional, she was a founding member of Stowers Connection, a mental health and wellness group. This group identified the need for holistic mental health and advocated to and partnered with administration to develop a program for the 550 person company with special emphasis on early career researchers. Mary built relationships with internal and external leaders to implement evidence-based systems for shifting culture and creating systemic focus on wellness.

In 2021, Mary became engaged as the co-lead for consulting with Dragonfly Mental Health, a globally operated non-profit organization focused on addressing mental health needs for academics around the world.

Continuing with her work at Dragonfly, Mary became Chief Operating Officer at Newhouse in 2022. Newhouse is Kansas City’s oldest domestic violence shelter, serving women, children and men for over 50 years. Mary has been instrumental in exploring the intersection of domestic violence, mental health, program management and neurodiversity at Newhouse with the goal of building more inclusive and supportive spaces through personal and organizational commitments to trauma informed care and DEI initiatives. Additionally, Mary has been a partner in grant writing to support reporting functions and expand funding streams as well as supporting the growth and advancement of Newhouse’s Children’s Programming and initiatives.

Mary has been an alumni mentor to Simpson students and remains engaged as a Simpson alumna in the KC region.

Mary’s commitment to mental health and advocacy paired with her expertise in behavioral neuroscience has and will continue to benefit society for years to come. As a young professional, it is evident that she will make positive change in the world.