The Legends and Leaders award dinner took place April 7, 2022. From left: Mike Costello, Dr. Pamela Ross, Albert Woodard, Erika Milczek, Lindsey Cochran and Judith Buhrman—who accepted on behalf of her late husband, Richard Buhrman. Photo by Angela Foster.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Office of Development and Alumni Affairs recognized six UTC graduates for personifying excellence through their career accomplishments and community efforts during Thursday’s Legends and Leaders dinner.
Awards for Outstanding Service, Outstanding Young Alumni and Distinguished Alumni were presented to honorees for both 2020 and 2021. The 2020 award celebration was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns.
Outstanding Service Award
2020: Richard Buhrman
2021: Mike Costello
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
2020: Lindsey Cochran
2021: Erika Milczek
Distinguished Alumni Award
2020: Dr. Pamela Ross
2021: Albert Woodard
“Tonight, we have doubled the recognition. We’re thrilled that last year’s recipients and this year’s recipients and their families are here with us,” said Kim White, UTC vice chancellor for development and alumni affairs and executive director of the University of Chattanooga Foundation.
“I know that, as an alum of UTC and someone who received this award, how special it was to be recognized by my University,” she said. “It is so rewarding to hear their stories of how UTC changed their lives. It certainly changed my life.”
White, the 2015 Outstanding Service Award winner, joined Chancellor Emeritus Fred Obear and UTC Alumni Board Past President Richard Johnson as award presenters. Molly Cooper, the president-elect of the Alumni Board, served as emcee.
The 2021 honorees:
- Mike Costello, a two-time graduate of the Gary W. Rollins College of Business (1975, 1996), was the Outstanding Service Award recipient.
- Erika Milczek, who received a bachelor’s in chemistry in 2005, received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award.
- Albert Woodard, a 1974 industrial engineering graduate, was the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award.
The 2020 honorees:
- The late Richard Buhrman, a 1963 graduate of the University of Chattanooga with a degree in English and a minor in mathematics, was honored posthumously with the Outstanding Service Award. Buhrman passed away on Aug. 9, 2021, at the age of 80. His wife, Judith, and their sons, John and Tom, accepted the award on his behalf.
- Dr. Pamela Ross, the recipient of a bachelor’s in chemistry in 1987, received the Distinguished Alumni Award.
- Lindsey Cochran, a 2010 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology, received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award.
