2011 Distinguished Alumni Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Bethany Kendrick, Director Public Relations
Labette Community College | (620) 820-1212


LCC Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients Announced

The Distinguished Alumni Award was developed by the Foundation and Alumni Board of Labette Community College to honor alumni of LCC that have proved to be successful individuals within their communities, careers, and families. The recipients for 2011 will be honored at a luncheon on commencement day, May 13th, 2011, in the Parsons Municipal Auditorium basement. James McKinney, of Wichita, KS, Charles Tredway, of Huntington Beach, CA, Roberta (Adams) Hoffman, of Silver Spring, MD and Calum McNeil, of Abu Dhabi, are the four persons receiving the 3rd annual Distinguished Alumni Award.

These four individuals are all alumni of LCC and have accomplished many great things in the years following their time at the college. The following biographies give insight to how they have made an impact on whom and whatever they are involved in and why they are deserving of this award.

James McKinney was born and raised in Southeast Kansas. In 1950, his family moved to Parsons where he attended Parsons Schools and Parsons Junior College. McKinney then moved to Wichita to attend Wichita State University where he majored in voice and opera. He completed his bachelor and master’s degrees at Wichita State University. McKinney continued his studies with post graduate work at Southern Methodist University, College of Lynchburg, Drake University and the Sorbonne in Paris, France. He obtained his PhD from Sorbonne.

Prior to his retirement in 1997, McKinney was a music therapist at the Institute of Logopedics, a department of Wichita State University, and he worked in voice and opera at the University. He was also teaching gifted and honors courses in the Wichita public school system. He spent his summers singing opera, teaching voice, and instructing English diction classes in both America and Europe. His civic activities include volunteering and/or memberships with the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, Meals on Wheels, Kansas Opera, the Wichita Civic Concert Association, Wichita Symphony, and Mid-West Performing Arts, as well as many other Wichita and state wide organizations.  

Chuck Tredway was born in Parsons in 1947. He attended Parsons High School and Parsons Junior College. He then went on to obtain his Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Pittsburg State University in 1970. Tredway’s first job was with Beneficial Finance in Topeka, KS. In 1972 he became the District Manager for FW Woolworth of Enid, OK. When GE Capital acquired FW Woolworth credit operations, he became part of Sales and Operations Management. In 1986, Tredway began working for Marine Midland Bank, in Buffalo, NY, where he was a Department Executive. He created and served on the Board of Directors, and managed automobile captive finance companies for Mazda, Porsche, Jaguar, Subaru, and Saab. Tredway then went on to become the Executive Vice President and Board of Directors member for Mitsubishi Motors Credit of America, Inc. in 1991. He was awarded the Top American Executive for the 400 person $11 billion company. He was also the Executive committee member for the North American holding company that managed vehicle imports from Japan, manufacturing operations in the U.S., vehicle distribution in the U.S. and Canada, and dealer and consumer finance operations in the U.S. and Canada.

Tredway’s professional activities include Consumer Bankers Association and the Charter Board member of Association of Consumer Vehicle Lessors. He is also a board member for the Homeowners Association and a supporter of Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Cure efforts. Personally, Tredway coached and served on boards and committees for his son’s baseball, soccer, and basketball teams in the 1970s and ‘80s. He remains active in his grandsons’ baseball teams.

Roberta (Adams) Hoffman was a 1960 graduate of Labette Community College. She received her Associate of Art degree. She then went on to receive her Bachelor of Science from Texas Women’s University in 1963 and Master of Art degree from New York University in 1976. Hoffman was interested in dance from a very early age. She began her studies with Nell Ferguson in Parsons at the age of 10. By 16, she was teaching ballet, tap dance, and acrobatics once a week at the VFW hall in Oswego. In high school,she was a drum majorette, performed fire baton twirling and acrobatics, and led the annual parade doing cartwheels down Main Street in Parsons.

After teaching in public school systems for six years and serving in the U.S. Peace Corps in Peru for two years, Hoffman decided to pursue dance on a full-time basis and moved to New York City. While in New York, she studied for her Master’s degree at New York University. In 1973, Hoffman choreographed and performed a dance, “Johnny Comes Marching Home,” as a tribute to returning Vietnam War veterans at the New School for Social Research in New York City. From 1976 to 1999, Hoffman taught modern/creative dance for children and adults in her home studio in Silver Spring, MD. She also taught in the Montgomery County after-school program and in the Silver Spring Montessori Bilingual School. She has been a guest lecturer in dance at Coucher University and Hood College, and a field-faculty adviser in dance/movement therapy at Goodard College.

Since 1999, Hoffman has been owner and director of Isadora’s Legacy: The Center for the Preservation of Modern Dance. This dance studio is in historic Frederick, MD. It has a performing space that seats 40 and has theater lighting. She has also used her studio to teach, as well as perform, and she has had guest artists from as far away as Japan. She is currently working on a project to preserve the works of Isadora Duncan and other early modern dancers by recreating their work and technique in a series of video recordings.

In 2009, Hoffman performed as a guest artist at the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum. She has resided in Silver Spring, MD for the past 35 years with her husband, Peter.

Calum McNeil was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland. McNeil studied in the U.S. at Labette Community College and was a proud member of the wrestling team. After obtaining his Associates Degree, McNeil went on to obtain his Bachelor’s degree. McNeil began working as a Senior Staff Accountant for Ernst & Young in Hamilton, Canada after graduation. Other career history includes; Manger, Financial Control for Commcorp Financial Services, Audit Manager for Ernst & Young, Head of Corporate Financial Reporting for Investcorp Bank, Vice President, Head of Financial Management for Gulf International Bank, and most recently, Financial Controller for Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (“ADIA”), the world’s largest Sovereign Wealth Fund.

McNeil’s primary responsibilities at ADIA include the financial control, accounting and statutory reporting for the Authority’s assets, which comprise a highly diversified, global investment portfolio. He oversees the International Financial Reporting Standards conversion project. He also developed departmental business continuity plan, an accounting policy manual, a business process documentation and service level agreements. He’s a member of the Pricing and Valuations Committee, the HR Advisory Group, the Cultural Values Initiatives Group, the Transition Manager Working Group, and the IT Working Group.

McNeil competed at an international level in amateur freestyle wresling from 1982 to 1994. He relocated to the United States and then to Canada to pursue athletic goals and successfully balanced athletic and academic activities during his study years. He represented Great Britain at the 1992 Olympic Games and was a Bronze Medallist in 1994 at the Commonwealth Games. He was the McMaster University Athlete of the Year in 1991. Currently, McNeil runs a children’s wrestling program, which he initiated, aimed at developing the sport within Abu Dhabi. He also coaches at a local youth football club. McNeil and his wife, Renee, have four children.


For more information about the Distinguished Alumni Award or to nominate someone for next year, please contact, Lindi Forbes, Executive Director of Alumni and Foundation at LCC, at (620) 820-1212 or by e-mail at lindif@labette.edu.

Nominate Someone

To nominate someone please send a letter and brief biography to:

Labette Community College Alumni Association
200 South 14th Street
Parsons, KS 67357

Or use the:
Online Nomination Form

If you have questions, please e-mail Lindi Forbes, Executive Director of the Alumni Association, or call (620) 421-6700, ext. 1212.