At the 61st annual Alumni Association Awards Dinner in September, Bellarmine University will honor seven alumni and supporters who have distinguished themselves through professional accomplishments, community service and demonstration of attitudes consistent
with Bellarmine’s values. Honorees include Alumnus of the Year John Lansing, the president and CEO of NPR.
The dinner will take place on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, in the George G. Brown Center in Frazier Hall on Bellarmine University’s campus. Tickets are $50 per person. To register or purchase a table, call 502-272-8286 or visit
the Alumni Awards website.
The honorees are:
Alumnus of the Year: John F. Lansing ’09/’21H President and CEO, NPR
John Lansing, a veteran cable television and government broadcast executive, is passionate about public service and the media’s role in a strong democracy. At NPR, he oversees a nationwide network of journalists and 17 international bureaus.
Before that, he was the first CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) and spent nearly 20 years at Scripps. John graduated from Bellarmine University in 2009 after leaving the university just short of his degree in 1985 for a news director
job. He is a former Bellarmine Trustee and in 2021 received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
Horrigan Distinguished Service Award: Dr. Ann M. Jirkovsky Assistant Professor of Psychology, Bellarmine University
Ann Jirkovsky joined Bellarmine’s Psychology Department in August 1984. During her career, she has developed courses in Sports Psychology, Health Psychology and the Profession of Psychology. Ann and her department colleagues have presented research
at the National Institute for the Teaching of Psychology, the American Psychological Society, and the Kentucky Psychological Association. Her commitment to teaching and service has been recognized by Bellarmine students and colleagues with the
Teacher of the Year Award and the William T. Miles Service Award. In 1998, Ann was appointed Faculty Athletics Representative. She has been involved with Bellarmine’s transition to NCAA Division I and is the chair of the ASUN’s Student
Success Committee. She is married to Dr. William Fenton, a Bellarmine Mathematics professor.
Scarlet and Silver Society: Doug Strothman ’87 Head of School, Summit Academy
Doug Strothman graduated from Bellarmine in 1987. He is a member of Alpha Delta Gamma National Fraternity and was recognized as the National Brother of the Year in 1985. After graduation he served a term as national vice president of ADG. For the past
17 years, Doug has been a servant-leader, including 12 years as the president of DeSales High School and the past five as head of school at Summit Academy, a school for students who learn differently. Doug was inducted into the Bellarmine Gallery
of Distinguished Graduates in 2009.
Gallery of Distinguished Graduates
Dr. Karen Cassidy ’00 MBA Executive Director, Hildegard House
Karen Cassidy graduated from Bellarmine’s Executive MBA program in 2000. She is a palliative care nurse practitioner and was a tenured faculty member in Bellarmine’s Lansing School from 1995-2002. She is the founder and executive director
of Hildegard House, Kentucky’s first and only comfort care home, which provides a home and compassionate care for those at the end of life who have no home or loved ones so that they may die with dignity. Karen’s father, Al Cassidy, was
the president of Bellarmine’s first graduating class. Karen has three children and five grandchildren (including triplets).
Robert E. Gunn Jr. ’07 EdS
Chief Equity and Impact Officer, Metro United Way
Robert Earl Gunn Jr. is the chief equity and impact officer for Metro United Way. He earned his undergraduate degree at Earlham College and was then selected to join Teach for America, earning a master’s degree in teaching from Lindenwood University.
Robert began his teaching career in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2002 and then joined Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS). He earned his second master’s degree, in Principal Certification, from Bellarmine in 2007. The following year, he was appointed
assistant principal at Olmsted Academy North. In 2011, he joined the JCPS Principal Intern Program, and for the next 10 years served as principal at Foster Traditional, Byck Elementary and the W.E.B. DuBois Academy. At Metro United Way, he leads transformative
work across the greater Louisville region.
W. Glenn Hogan ’85 Founder and CEO, Hogan Real Estate
Glenn Hogan, a native Louisvillian, is the founder and CEO of Hogan Real Estate, its subsidiaries and affiliated companies. Hogan Real Estate is a full-service commercial real estate development company founded in 1987 and headquartered in Louisville.
The company has developed millions of square feet of retail space throughout the country and has real estate holdings in 22 states. Glenn graduated from Bellarmine University in December 1985 with a bachelor's in Business Administration. He has
served on the boards of numerous public companies. In addition, he served on the Bellarmine University Board of Trustees, St. Xavier High School Board of Directors, The Will Power Foundation and The Louisville Metro Police Foundations Executive
Committee.
Donald L. Kalmey ’64 Retired founder, The LAMP Group
Don Kalmey has had accomplished careers in both academia and industry. He received a four-year athletic (basketball) and academic scholarship to Bellarmine, where he made the Dean’s List each of his four years and was voted Most Valuable Player
his freshman and sophomore years. He graduated from Bellarmine in 1964 with a BS in Mathematics. In 1968, while teaching at Bellarmine, Don received a two-year Federal Grant/Fellowship to pursue a doctorate in computer science. He earned a master’s
and his Ph.D. in Computer & Information Science at the Ohio State University. He taught computer science in the Speed Scientific School at the University of Louisville and later taught management information systems at Indiana University Southeast.
Don also spent 18+ years at Capital Holding Corporation/Providian/AEGON and was a founding partner of the LAMP Group. Don and Ann Burkley Kalmey ’68 (a Bellarmine cheerleader) have been married 56 years and have three children and seven
grandchildren.