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News Release
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NEWS RELEASE / September 13, 2007
Otters, Echeverria Bender, Ilett, Hackler Receive
University's Annual Distinguished Alumni Award for 2007
Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter and his wife, first lady Lori Easley Otter,
were among five honorees who received Boise State University’s 2007
Distinguished Alumni Award during this week’s Homecoming celebration. The
other award winners are novelist Christine Echeverria Bender, businessman
Bill Ilett, and Doug Hackler, president and chief executive officer of
American Semiconductor.
The Distinguished Alumni Awards are given annually to recognize excellence
among former students of the university. The five were honored by the Boise
State Alumni Association at a banquet on Wednesday. The event was held in
conjunction with Homecoming activities and the university’s 75th anniversary
celebration.
Gov. Butch Otter attended Boise Junior College during the 1962-63 and
1963-64 academic years before transferring to the College of Idaho (now
Albertsons College of Idaho) in 1964. Before he was elected governor in 2006
he served three terms as U.S. representative for Idaho’s 1st District
(2000-2006), four terms as the state’s lieutenant governor (1986-2000), and
two terms in Idaho’s House of Representatives (1973-76). In the private
sector Gov. Otter served on the J.R. Simplot Co. board of directors for 27
years and in several executive positions with the company. Throughout his
career as both an elected official and a business leader, Gov. Otter has
been a major supporter of Boise State. He was involved in the efforts to
raise funds for Taco Bell Arena, the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts
and the Nicholson-Yanke Athletic Center.
A former Meridian School District teacher and administrator, Lori Easley
Otter graduated from Boise State with a teaching degree in 1992 and
later earned a master’s degree from Northwest Nazarene University. A former
Miss Idaho USA, Idaho’s first lady taught K-12 physical education and health
and coached girls basketball and volleyball at the junior high and high
school level in Meridian for 13 years. She continues to be an education
advocate and serves on the board of directors for the Family Advocate
Program and the St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center Foundation.
A 1977 Boise State graduate, Christine Echeverria Bender earned a
bachelor’s degree in accounting and pursued a career in that field until
2000. Her first book, Challenge the Wind, was published in 2001. The work of
historical fiction is about a young Basque cabin boy who accompanied
Christopher Columbus on his voyage to the new world. Her second book, Sails
of Fortune, was published in 2005. It, too, is a historical fiction with a
Basque main character; this time a captain who served with Ferdinand
Magellan on his voyage around the world. In 2006 she received a grant from
the Idaho Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts to
research Basque whalers in North America during the 16th century. The result
of her research is the Basque whaling exhibit in Boise’s Basque Museum and
Cultural Center.
Boise entrepreneur Bill Ilett is the president of TransCorp — a
truck-leasing company — and managing investor of the Idaho Stampede of the
NBA Development League. He graduated from Boise State with an associate of
science degree in 1965 and a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1967. In
1966 he was elected student body president of the first class to graduate
from Boise College, which had just become a four-year school. He currently
serves as the chair of the BSU Foundation. He also has served as president
of the BSU Alumni Association and the College of Business and Economics
Advisory Council and on the boards of the Bronco Athletic Association and
the College of Applied Technology. He and his wife, Christina, have donated
five semi trucks to the Idaho Center for Professional Truck Driving in the
Selland College of Applied Technology.
Doug Hackler earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering
from Boise State in 1998 and went on to distinguish himself in the
semiconductor industry. In 2001 he founded American Semiconductor Inc. after
he worked his way through the microelectronics device world with stints at
Intel, Northern Telecom, General Instrument, Honeywell, Zilog and M/A-Com
Inc. He is the holder of five patents for advanced microelectronics devices
and circuits with another four patents pending. In addition to his executive
duties, Hackler is the principal investigator for multiple research
contracts with the Department of Defense, the U.S. Air Force Research Lab
and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. He is the co-author of seven recent
publications based on American Semiconductor Inc. research. He also holds a
bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s in electrical
engineering.
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Media Contact: Bob Evancho, University Communications, 426-1643;
bevanch@boisestate.edu
Boise State University celebrates its 75th anniversary this fall. From
its founding on Sept. 6, 1932, the institution has evolved from a small
church-sponsored college in a downtown schoolhouse to a metropolitan
research university of distinction with about 19,000 students. Visit
boisestate.edu and click on the “75” button for more information.
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Last reviewed on
Monday, October 01, 2007
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