Bemidji State University Alumni & Foundation’s class of 2016 alumni award winners will be honored for their professional and community contributions on Oct. 14 at BSU’s annual Honors Gala. The gala begins with a 5:30 p.m. social hour at Bemidji’s Sanford Center.
The black-tie optional event will recognize lifetime and campaign donors and celebrate the success of the Imagine Tomorrow Campaign with dinner, dancing and music from rock horn band Post Traumatic Funk Syndrome.
OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD RECIPIENT
Dr. Abby (Stritesky) Meyer ’01 used her full-tuition academic scholarship to major in biology at BSU where she was a standout athlete—competing in volleyball and playing on the 1999 NSIC Champion softball team. She was a student athletic trainer for the university’s football and women’s basketball teams. She rounded out her student experience by acting in a play and studying abroad.
Meyer graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in biology and minors in chemistry, Spanish and exercise science. She received her medical degree from the University of Minnesota in 2005. Dr. Meyer completed a five-year residency in Otolaryngology at the University of Minnesota Medical Center and a fellowship in Pediatric Otolaryngology at University of Washington/Seattle Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Meyer is board-certified in Otolaryngology with a specialty in pediatric otolaryngology. She is a pediatric ENT doctor with Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. In addition, Meyer is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School and in process of completing a Master of Public Health degree in epidemiology.
A member of Lion’s Club International, she also volunteers with the Minnesota Department of Health’s Newborn Screening Advisory Committee and has been named one of Minnesota Monthly’s “Best Doctors” in 2016 and 2014.
Meyer is married to Chris Meyer ’01 and is mother to Harrison and Lincoln. The family lives in Brooklyn Park.
OUTSTANDING ALUMNI AWARD RECIPIENTS
Tracie Curb-Crowser ’90 graduated magna cum laude from Bemidji State University with a degree in industrial technology with an emphasis in graphic design. Her degree and experience prepared the Bemidji native to build a 22-year relationship with General Mills, Inc. – working as a freelance creative director on all of their brands.
In 1994, she and her husband, Tom ‘89, combined graphic design skills, branding acumen and entrepreneurial spirit to launch the Curb-Crowser Agency. The Minneapolis-based firm provides a variety of strategic and creative services. Crowser serves as chair of the board for Curb-Crowser 2.0.
In addition, Curb-Crowser is certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise Council, has earned industry awards and has volunteered for community organizations such as MoveFwd, Phoenix Learning Center and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.
Tracie and Tom live in Hanover. They have two daughters, Taylor and Sydney.
Mark Ploen (1980-84) began at BSU as a business major but followed the appeal of “hands-on” courses to pursue a degree in industrial education. Just a few credits shy of a degree, he and girlfriend, now wife, Arlette, headed to Alaska with two friends. He found work with an environmental services firm pioneering drilling safely procedures in sensitive surroundings and accident recovery methods. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in 1988, Ploen was among those who worked on the nine-month clean-up.
The ensuing Oil Pollution Act of 1990 required companies to have oil spill response plans, equipment and expertise—and created a tremendous niche opportunity. In 1992, he became founder, president and owner of Qualitech Environmental. The business, now based in Chaska, provides equipment and services for oil spill response and prevention worldwide. Ploen and his firm responded to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico. Ploen has been involved with virtually every aspect of the oil spill planning and response industry—assisting with projects including drill site remediation in the Arctic, submerged oil recovery in the Caribbean, Avian Flu response in Iowa and Minnesota for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, among many others.
Mark and Arlette married in 1991. They have two grown children, Saren and Marissa. They have homes in Minnetrista and Naples, Fla.
Dr. Bruce Sutor ’86 had earned a master’s degree in biology from Bemidji State after graduating from St. John’s University. He served as director of the BSU’s MedCareer program and as an instructor in the Division of Science and Mathematics until 1989. He completed his residency in psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic in 1993.
Sutor served as a psychiatrist at St. Cloud Hospital before returning to Mayo in 1998 to become medical director of the Psychiatry Emergency Department Service for the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology. He has held various positions with the organization since then.
Currently, he serves as the chair for Clinical Practice in the Department of Psychiatry & Psychology, assistant professor of Psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and consultant with the Department of Psychiatry & Psychology.
Bruce has been a member of the American Psychiatric Association and the Minnesota Psychiatric Society since 1993 and has been a member of the Association of Convulsive Therapy since 1997. He was a member of the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry from 1997-2008.
He has extensive journal responsibilities, teaching activities, mentorship, administrative responsibilities and committee memberships. He has given presentations both nationally and internationally, served as co- or principal investigator on more than a dozen Institutional review boards and has published numerous articles, book chapters, editorials, letters and abstracts.
Sutor and his wife, Shari ‘84, who is a researcher at the Mayo Clinic, live in Rochester.