Flinchbaugh Family Wildcat Pride

The K-State Alumni Association presents the Flinchbaugh Family Wildcat Pride Award to a current or emeritus K-State faculty or staff member for advocacy of alumni relations, with a special emphasis on support and participation in alumni programs that engage members of the Wildcat family.

The Wildcat Pride Award is made possible by the generosity of the Barry Flinchbaugh Family.

2025 Recipients

Nancy and Richard Becker

Nancy Becker, enterprise IT security analyst, and Richard Becker, director of infrastructure security architecture, have worked for the Division of Information Technology at K-State for the past 38+ years. They both began as students, progressing into their current leadership roles.

Richard and Nancy Becker Nancy manages the administrative security requests for access to the university information systems (student/financial/human resources) and supports eID administration and identity security. Nancy also manages special access to university resources supporting individuals such as visiting scholars, non-credit students, new hires, summer program participants, as well as affiliated individuals and departments. Nancy ensures that Alumni Association staff have university information as needed and sets up the appropriate access in a timely and professional manner.

During his tenure managing the network infrastructure for K-State, Richard designed and installed the network for the newly built K-State Alumni Center. Richard now plays a critical role in overseeing security for the complex and constantly evolving network infrastructure, ensuring secure and seamless connections for classrooms, research labs, administrative offices and affiliated entities throughout K-State. Richard works hand-in-hand with Jacob Marintzer, the Alumni Association's senior network infrastructure and security administrator, to verify our firewalls are properly configured to prevent potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities and ensure that the Alumni Center continues to be at the forefront of technology.

In recognition of the Beckers' years of service, the K-State Alumni Association will honor them with the 2025 Flinchbaugh Family Wildcat Pride Award at the Alumni Awards Evening on Friday, Oct. 24.

"Both Richard and Nancy have consistently made themselves available to address any questions or concerns we have and resolve issues promptly and efficiently," said their nominator Jeanine Lake, the K-State Alumni Association's senior director of information services. "Together they proudly support the K-State family, alumni and friends by providing a safe and secure environment with the resources needed to grow."