Gary P. Brinson (69′, MBA), a nationally recognized leader in investment management renowned for his intellectual contributions to the financial investing world, is the 41st Regents’ Distinguished Alumnus Award honoree.
The Regents 16th, 17th, and 18th Distinguished Alumnus Awards are respectively awarded to Mel Hein, the “greatest all-around player the game of football has seen;” Robert Stevenson, the former head of Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co.; and world-renowned chemist Jacob Bigeleisen.
William Bugge, Washington Director of Highways, and Laurence Peter, and co-author of the Peter Principle, receive fourteenth and fifteenth Regents Distinguished Alumnus Awards.
Bugge completed three and one-half years at then-WSC, leaving in 1922 to work for the Washington Department of Highways. He received an honorary bachelor’s degree from WSU in 1990. As Director of Highways, Bugge oversaw the design and construction of some of the states most ambitious projects. In 1963, he resigned his position to become the Project Director in charge of the design and construction of the Bay Area Rapid Transit, or BART, in San Francisco.
Peter taught in Vancouver before attending WSU. After graduation, he moved to California where he became an Associate Professor of Education, Director of the Evelyn Frieden Centre for Prescriptive Teaching, and Coordinator of Programs for Emotionally Disturbed Children at the University of Southern California.
Weldon B. “Hoot” Gibson graduates with a B.A. in Economics. Gibson attended WSC with the help of his Uncle, Arthur “Buck” Bailey, and was a member of the football team and the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. After graduating from WSC, Gibson studied at the Stanford Graduate School of Business receiving an MBA in 1940 and a Ph.D. in 1950. Gibson was a long-time executive at the Stanford Research Institute from 1947 until 1988. He earned the Legion of Merit in 1946, Commander of the British Empire in 1947, and the Washington State University Distinguished Alumni Award for his role in creating the Washington State University Foundation.
