1987 Recipients
Andrew Kurth
Class Year: 1923
Outstanding Alumni Award Winner 1987
Andrew Kurth was pastor emeritus at the Lafayette-Orinda Presbyterian Church in Lafayette, Calif. He served as an administrative dean at North Central from 1944 to 1946. He then re-assumed ministry at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for eight years. In 1954, Kurth became Secretary for Field Service with the United Presbyterian Church and in 1959 became Executive of the Illinois Synod. He was a member of the Rossmoor Rotary Club and several local education and hospital-affiliated groups. By 1985, Kurth was honored with the Rossmoor Citizens Merit Award in Rossmoor, Calif., and made a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Club.
W. Harrison Mehn
Class Year: 1940
Outstanding Alumni Award Winner 1987
Harrison “Bud” Mehn is a retired surgeon and medical director for Commonwealth Edison Company. He has served as assistant professor in surgery at Northwestern University Medical School. He served as vice president of the North Central College Alumni Association from 1957 to 1960. In addition, he was a member of the board of directors of the Association House of Chicago and served as its president in 1965. He was also a member of the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the American Red Cross Disaster Committee.
Harold "Joe" Pletcher
Class Year: 1952
Outstanding Alumni Award Winner 1987
After graduating from North Central, Harold “Joe” Pletcher served two years in the U.S. Army as a special agent in the Counter Intelligence Corps. Then in 1954, he joined the First National Bank of Chicago and later retired as senior vice president in charge of real estate in 2000. During that time, Pletcher received a J.D. degree from John Marshall Law School in 1962 and a master of business administration degree from the University of Chicago in 1974. In 2000, he founded PMC Associates, a real estate consulting firm. Pletcher has been a member of numerous professional organizations, including the University of Chicago Executive Club, Chicago Mortgage Attorneys Association. He served as chairman of the board for Southeast Holding Company, Ltd. He was also a member of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, Illinois Bar Association, Naperville Sesquicentennial Ball Committee, DuPage County Zoning Board of Appeals, Naperville Heritage Society, Grace United Methodist Church and Who’s Who in Real Estate. At North Central College, Pletcher was a member of the Alumni Board, Board of Trustees and founding member of the Mentor Club.
Holly Humphrey
Class Year: 1979
Alumni Recognition Award Winner 1987
Holly Humphrey is the dean for medical education at The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, where she oversees the education of 400 medical students and all graduate programs. Certified in internal medicine and pulmonary disease by the American Board of Internal Medicine, Humphrey has served on the board of directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine since 2001 and presently serves as chair. Named dean for medical education in 2003, Humphrey continues to teach at Pritzker, where she has been honored 12 times by the medical students as their favorite faculty member since her first appointment in 1987. She has published many articles in working with challenging personalities. In 1993, Humphrey also published a book, APDIM Chief Resident’s Manual. Most recently, Humphrey was elected to North Central’s Board of Trustees.
Timothy D. Zager
Class Year: 1976
Alumni Recognition Award Winner 1987
Tim Zager is a clinical instructor at the University of Minnesota and chief of pediatrics at St. Mary’s Medical Center, where he is the director of pediatric intensive care. After graduating from North Central, Zager attended Loyola School of Medicine. In 1982, he completed his pediatric residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and has been on the medical staff of the Duluth Clinic in Duluth, Minn., since 1982. Tim and his wife, Anita Montgomery ’79 Zager, reside in Duluth. They are the parents of one daughter and one son.