NDSU Foundation announces 2025 Alumni Award recipients

Fargo, N.D. — The NDSU Foundation is thrilled to announce the 2025 NDSU Foundation Alumni Award recipients. These outstanding North Dakota State University alumni and partners will be honored for their accomplishments and contributions at Evening of Distinction, held April 24, 2025.

Meet the 2025 cohort of NDSU Foundation Alumni Award recipients: 

Doug Duncan ’80, ’82, recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award, in addition to an A.A. in music and drama from Fergus Falls Community College, earned a B.S. and M.S. in agricultural economics from NDSU as well as a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from Texas A&M University. He serves as the senior vice president of Fannie Mae.  

Kelly Swanson ’97, recipient of the Henry L. Bolley Achievement Award, is the director of the Division of Nutritional Sciences and professor of Nutrition and Nutrigenomics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In addition to a B.S. in animal and range sciences from NDSU, he holds both an M.S. and Ph.D. in nutritional sciences from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.  

Jim Hambrick ’87, ’88, recipient of the Distinguished Service Award, is the market president for Cornerstone Bank in Fargo, Moorhead, and West Fargo. He serves as an NDSU Foundation Trustee, NDSU Team Makers Board member, and NDSU College of Business Advisory Board member.  

Michael Howe ’10, recipient of the Horizon Award, serves as the North Dakota secretary of state. As of fall 2024, he has served in elected public office for eight years — six years in the North Dakota House of Representatives and two years as secretary of state.  

The ND Wheat Commission, ND Soybean Council, and ND Corn Utilization Council, recipients of the Partner in Excellence Award, are committed to investing in and partnering with the University in support of the state’s agricultural community and economy.  

Learn more about the NDSU Foundation Alumni Awards at https://ndsufoundation.com/awards. 

Margaret and her husband, Hugh Veit ’79, established the Eleanor S. Fitzgerald Memorial Graduate Student Scholarship to support NDSU students earning advanced degrees in the Department of Health, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences or the Department of Human Development and Family Science.

Core areas of home economics remain part of current NDSU degree programs such as accounting; apparel, retail merchandising, and design; education; family and consumer science; financial planning; human development and family science; interior design; and nutrition science.

Home economics programs opened doors, particularly for women, to earn college degrees and pursue careers in education, Extension, state and federal government, business and industry, health care, and more. NDAC listed domestic economy as one of its courses in its founding year, 1890.

Established by Dr. Teresa Conner, dean of the NDSU College of Health and Human Sciences, and co-chaired by Dr. Margaret Fitzgerald ’83 and Col. Esther Meyers ’75, the Wisdom Keepers provide support and share their knowledge and expertise with students, faculty, staff, and leadership in the College.

The home management house at NDAC was the first facility built on a college campus specifically for home management practice. In 1954, it was named in honor of Alba Bales, the first female academic dean at NDAC.