Distinguished Service Award

Congratulations to our 2026 Distinguished Service Award recipient, Helena Rodrigues!

This award recognizes an individual for distinguished leadership and service to CUPA-HR. Nominees for this award will have served in elected CUPA-HR leadership roles at the national and/or regional levels. CUPA-HR will make a $4,000 contribution to the institution of the recipient’s choice.

Criteria

Distinguished and continuing service to CUPA-HR;
Demonstrated leadership on the national or regional board of directors, advisory committees or task forces;
Professionalism in the field of higher education human resource administration;
Nominee’s institution is a member of CUPA-HR.

Eligibility Note: Individuals who are employed by the association, individuals who serve on the CUPA-HR national board of directors, and the institutions of those directors are not eligible to be nominated or selected for awards during their terms of service.

2026 Distinguished Service Award

Helena A. Rodrigues, Chief Human Resources Officer at the University of Arizona, has received the 2026 Distinguished Service Award.

Nomination Guide

Use this guide to draft your nomination submission prior to entering the information in the online form. Once you have started a nomination, you can return to it at any time before the nomination submission deadline by going to the My Award Nominations page in your CUPA-HR account (please note, however, that the form cannot be saved mid-page). You can also edit a submitted nomination before the nomination submission deadline. Spelling/grammar checks are not available in the online form.

Nomination Guide Go to “My Award Nominations”

Past Recipients of the Distinguished Service Award

2025 – Heather Hart, Ivy Tech Community College Lake County Campus
2025 – El pagnier (EK) Hudson, Florida International University
2025 – Kristi Yowell, Loyola University Maryland
2024 – Yohna J. Chambers, Texas Christian University
2024 – Renee Hiller, St. Cloud State University
2023 – Leanne Fuller, Auburn University
2023 – Vicki Stewart, York College of Pennsylvania
2022 – Barbara Abercrombie, University of Tulsa
2022 – Larry Robertson, Collin County Community College District
2021 – Janet May, Houston Community College

2020 – Carol Hintz, University of Missouri – Kansas City
2019 – Kevin Fowler, Tyler Junior College
2018 – Laurita Thomas, University of Michigan
2017 – Deborah Benton, Tulsa Community College
2016 – Larry Farmer, Catawba College
2015 – Dennis Defa, Montana State University
2015 – Kevin Price, Brigham Young University
2014 – Nancy Grassel, Black Hills State University
2014 – Donna Popovich, The University of Tampa
2013 – Betsy Rodriguez, University of Missouri System
2012 – Amy King, University of Denver
2012 – Patrick Rhoton, Mount Vernon Nazarene University
2011 – Ron Klepcyk, Elon University
2010 – Hosea Long, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
2009 – Craig Gardner, Salt Lake Community College
2009 – Jeff Mudrak, Transylvania University
2008 – Wendy Finch Davis, Central Wyoming College
2008 – Barbara Wilson, Colorado College
2007 – James Kemper, The Ohio University
2007 – Maria Martinez, Rollins College
2006 – Pat Day, Johns Hopkins University
2006 – Allison Vaillancourt, The University of Arizona
2005 – Linda Harber, George Mason University
2004 – Kirk Beyer, Gustavus Adolphus College
2003 – Rogers Davis, University of California, San Diego
2002 – Greg Walters, Lewis and Clark College
2001 – Jeffery Cargile, University of South Carolina, Columbia
2000 – James “Chip” Moore, Pepperdine University
1999 – Anthony Panebianco, SUNY Institute of Technology at Utica/Rome
1997 – Priscilla Comfort, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
1996 – Nancy Nelson, El Paso Community College
1995 – Cathy Conover, Montana State University
1995 – Joyce Eulner, Canisius College

Higher Education HR Awards