2023 Legends & Leaders Distinguished Alumni Awards

From football to physics, six graduates who have gained prominence in their fields have been selected for the 2023 class of Distinguished Alumni by the SDSU Alumni Association.

• Gerald Blazey ’79, DeKalb, Illinois;
• Tim Czmowski ’85, Sioux Falls;
• Jeff Eckhoff ’82, Sioux Falls;
• Ann Progulske-Fox ’74, Gainesville, Florida;
• John Stiegelmeier ’79, Brookings;
• Kim Tyler ’82, Sioux Falls

The Alumni Association honored this class of deserving individuals as part of the 2023 Hobo Day festivities.

Thank you to our Sponsors
First Bank & Trust
Jerry ‘58 and Jolene ‘59 Lohr
Arthur and Barbara Revell Dickerson Endowment

Blazey, a math and physics major, has been at Northern Illinois University since 1996 and retired June 30 as vice president for Research and Innovation Partnerships. An expert in experimental particle physics and science policy, the Brookings native is an author of more than 500 publications and a fellow of the American Physical Society.

His post-SDSU career took him to the University of Minnesota (doctorate in experimental high energy physics), the University of Rochester Fermi National Accelerator Lab, Batavia, Illinois, and then Northern Illinois. At Fermilab, he served as spokesperson of the DZero proton-antiproton collider experiment with more than 700 collaborators from 90 institutions and 20 countries.

While on assignment in Washington, D.C., Blazey served in the Office of Science at the Department of Energy and as a science advisor in the White House during the Obama administration.

His work in Washington has made an impact in South Dakota. During the early planning for the Sanford Underground Research Facility at the former Homestake Mine in Lead, he is credited for providing "absolutely critical" support for advancing the project, according to Patricia Dehmer, the retired deputy director of the Department of Energy's Office of Science.

Czmowski, a dairy manufacturing graduate, retired in May 2022 after nearly 40 years in the cheese industry, the last 12 with Agropur, an international dairy firm, as its Midwest vice president for U.S. Operations. His career involved all aspects of cheese and whey plant leadership and operations, including plant construction, process equipment design and industry growth.

Since 1995, Czmowski has served as an expert judge in the U.S. and World Cheese Contests, being named assistant chief judge in 2005.

Having a passion for cheese and working with people, he has been instrumental in helping grow South Dakota's dairy industry while encouraging investment in SDSU dairy programs.

In 2008, he was a key leader in the establishment of the new cheese plant in Hull, Iowa. Following Agropur's purchase of the plant in Lake Norden, Czmowski lead the expansion efforts that tripled its production capacity in 2019 and added $1 billion to the local economy. As a member of SD Governor Daugaard's Ag Advisory Team he worked closely with dairy organizations and state agencies to successfully recruit dairy farmers to South Dakota.

Eckhoff, a sociology major, serves as director of Planning and Development Services for the City of Sioux Falls. His career has focused on business development and includes 16 years (1996-2012) as executive director of the Lincoln and Minnehaha County Economic Development Associations and seven years (2012-19) as state director of the South Dakota Small Business Development Center.

He was appointed to his current position in 2019 by Mayor Paul TenHaken. He oversees 60 employees in a city experiencing record construction with building permit valuations topping $1 billion for the first time in 2021 and nearly $2 billion in 2022.

While heading the Small Business Development Center, South Dakota ranked No. 1 in the nation, per capita, in 2017 for capital infusion. During this time with the economic development associations, Eckhoff closed 48 projects representing 2,300 jobs and $199 million in capital investment. He also was involved in the expansion and development of industrial parks in Beresford, Brandon, Canton and Lennox as well as raising funds for the development of the Corson Development Park.

Progulske-Fox, a bacteriology and biology graduate, is director of the Center for Molecular Microbiology at the University of Florida.

A distinguished professor in the Department of Oral Biology, Progulske-Fox has been inducted into the National Academy of Inventors (2016) and as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2015). She received the Distinguished Scientist award from the International Association of Dental Research in 2006 for basic research in periodontal diseases.

Her research developed a patented technology to identify early disease markers for periodontal disease that affects more than 50 million people annually. In her career, she has received $16 million in research grants, had 120 articles published in scientific journals and holds seven patents.

The Brookings native's research interests focus on how a bacterium that causes periodontal disease is able to disseminate and cause disease in other parts of the body, such as Alzheimer's Disease. Hence, in 2022, she gave a lecture at SDSU titled "Floss as if Your Life Depended on it."

Stiegelmeier, a math and physical education major, is credited with discovering the formula for scoring more points than the other football team. The head coach retired after SDSU's 2022 national title with a career record of 199 wins and 112 losses in 26 seasons, leaving him the winningest football coach in school history.

All this from a man who never played a down of college football. He became acquainted with the SDSU program when he served as a student assistant during SDSU's only Division II playoff season in 1979.

After earning degrees in math and physical education, "Stig" had coaching stops at Northern Iowa, Eau Claire (Wisconsin) North High School and Northern State before returning to SDSU in 1988 as secondary coach and recruiting coordinator. After Wayne Haensel stepped down following the 1990 season, Stig was named defensive coordinator by new coach Mike Daly.

Stiegelmeier replaced Daly following the 1996 season and earned his first coach of the year honor in 1999, when he was honored by the North Central Conference after SDSU finished the regular season ranked 15th in Division II.

His 2009 squad was the first team to reach the Football Championship Series playoffs and the Jacks have made the playoffs the last 11 years, one of only two programs to have done that.

Tyler, a commercial economics graduate, had a 31-year career with Kellogg Company, retiring as vice president of Alternative Channel Sales. She is co-chair of the SDSU Foundation's Bold & Blue Campaign, which seeks to raise $500 million in private funds.

Her career with the Fortune 500 company included many sales leadership roles while living in Sioux Falls, Minneapolis, Cleveland and almost 20 years in the Chicago area. Her roles involved all areas within the Kellogg business, including cereal, snacks, waffles and the natural organic business of Kashi.

Responsible for as much as $500 million in sales, she was highly involved with regional and national grocery chains such as Hy-Vee, Albertsons, SuperValu and Whole Foods as well as the global U.S. military business.

Since joining the Foundation's Council of Trustees in 2001, she has been highly involved with a wide variety of campus committees and speaking opportunities as well as chairing the Foundation Board of Governors in 2015-16.