The K-State Alumni Association celebrated the inaugural Alumni Awards Evening on Oct. 24, 2025. The evening honored the exceptional achievements of the following alumni award recipients:

Alumni Excellence Award

Epifanio Elizondo, Ph.D. ’88
Rear Admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commission Corps (retired)
College of Education 
Educational Leadership

Distinguished Young Alumni Award

Hayes Kelman ’15
Founder and CEO of Boot Hill Distillery
President of Kelman Farms, Inc.
College of Agriculture
Agricultural Economics

Ryan Urban ’21
Marketing Manager at Naturion
College of Arts and Sciences
A.Q. Miller School of Media and Communication

Flinchbaugh Family Wildcat Pride Award

Richard Becker ’91, ’95
Director of Infrastructure Security Architecture
Kansas State University
Carl R. Ice College of Engineering 
Engineering Technology and Computer Science

Nancy Becker ’19
Enterprise IT Security Analyst
Kansas State University
College of Arts and Sciences
Social Sciences