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Class acts

NBA coaching legend Phil Jackson among a 2018 Sioux Award class of alumni movers and shakers

Phil Jackson
UND alum and legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson was named to the 2018 class of Sioux Award recipients. The award is the highest UND alumni honor. (Above) Jackson visits with a UND honors psychology class on campus in 2008. Photo by Chuck Kimmerle.

UND’s Alumni Association & Foundation has named seven honorees for the 2018 Sioux Awards Banquet, set for Sept. 20 during Homecoming Week.

Phil Jackson, ’67, HON ’08; Jeanne (Heilman) Crain, ’82; Lauris Molbert, ’80, ’83; Michael Lodoen, ’65; and Mary (Muehlen) Maring, ’75; will receive the Sioux Award, while Darren Moquist, ’00, and Kayla (Hoerth) Delzer, ’08, ’14, will receive the Young Alumni Achievement Award.

Mark Kennedy, Phil Jackson and DeAnna Carlson Zink
UND President Mark Kennedy joined Phil Jackson, along with Alumni Association & Foundation Executive Vice President DeAnna Carlson Zink, at Madison Square Garden in 2016, when Jackson was president of the New York Knicks organization, a primary tenant of MSG. Image courtesy of Mark Kennedy.

On the court

Phil Jackson is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of the National Basketball Association. Jackson led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles from 1989 to 1998 and the Los Angeles Lakers to five championships from 2000 to 2010. Jackson, a standout player at UND, was drafted by the New York Knicks in 1967 after graduating from UND with a degree in philosophy and religion. He received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater in 2008.

North Dakota Supreme Court Justice Mary Maring
Now-retired North Dakota Supreme Court Justice Mary (Muehlen) Maring (center) listens to UND Law students argue a mock case in 2007 in the UND School of Law’s courtroom. UND Archival image.

In the court

Mary (Muehlen) Maring served 17 years on the North Dakota Supreme Court before retiring in 2013. For 20 years prior to joining the high court, Maring operated a private practice handling cases in many areas of civil litigation. She served in leadership positions in both the North Dakota and Minnesota Bar Associations. In 1996, she was appointed by Gov. Ed Schafer to fill a vacancy created by a State Supreme Court Justice retirement. She was elected to two 10-year terms in 1998 and 2008. Since stepping down from the court, she has served as a surrogate judge. Maring received a Juris Doctorate degree from UND in 1975.

Delzer, in her Mapleton, N.D. third-grade classroom, graduated from UND with a double major in elementary education and early childhood education in 2008. She also earned her master’s degree in elementary education from UND in 2014. Photo produced and featured in the New York Times, Sept. 2 edition.
UND Young Alumni Award recipient Kayla Delzer, in her Mapleton, N.D. third-grade classroom, graduated from UND with a double major in elementary education and early childhood education in 2008. She also earned her master’s degree in elementary education from UND in 2014. Photo produced and featured in The New York Times, Sept. 2 edition.

In the classroom

Kayla (Hoerth) Delzer is a third-grade teacher and technology champion in North Dakota. She is a columnist for Edsurge and a blogger for Edutopia, where she writes about a variety of educational technology and design topics. A 2015 TEDx Talk given by Delzer in Fargo has been viewed more than 175,000 times on YouTube. Delzer frequently travels around the United States as a keynote speaker. Delzer earned a bachelor’s degree in Education in 2008 and a master’s in Elementary Education from UND.

Jeanne Crain
Bremer Financial Corporation CEO Jeanne Crain was keynote speaker at last year’s Hultberg Lectureship Series, a celebration of successful UND College of Business & Public Administration alumnae. Leading up to Crain’s presentation, students were invited to take part in an interactive session and classroom panels with 23 other distinguished female alumnae. Photo by Shawna Schill.

In the boardroom

Jeanne (Heilman) Crain has been chief executive officer of Bremer Financial Corporation, Minnesota’s largest privately-held commercial bank, since November 2016. Crain joined Bremer’s senior leadership team in 2012. She has more than 34 years of community banking experience, working in a variety of roles in commercial and retail banking, as well as wealth management. Crain currently serves as co-chair for the Governor’s Task Force on Housing, and the boards of the Greater Twin Cities United Way and the YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities. She received a degree in banking and finance from UND in 1982.

Lauris Molbert is the former CEO of TMI Hospitality, a developer, operator and owner of select-service and extended-stay hotels. The Fargo-based company manages nearly 200 hotel properties in 26 states and employs more than 4,000 people. Prior to his work at TMI, Molbert was executive vice president and chief operating officer at Otter Tail Corporation. Molbert received his bachelor’s degree in banking, finance and accounting from UND in 1980 and a law degree in 1983.

Michael Lodoen is president and co-founder of L&D Construction Co., a residential general contractor that has built more than 10,000 homes, condos, townhomes and apartments in the San Francisco Bay area. Lodoen helped fund a charter school in San Jose, California, for underprivileged children. Lodoen grew up in Bottineau, N.D., and graduated from UND with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1965. He was inducted into the UND College of Engineering & Mines Alumni Academy in 2013.

Phil Jackson
Jackson was a standout basketball and baseball player for UND in the 1960s.

Darren Moquist is the chief financial officer of UnitedHealth Employer and Individual, a segment of one of the largest healthcare companies in the world. He assumed that position in 2014 after serving as director of corporate development and vice president of Finance. Prior to joining UnitedHealth Employer and Individual, Moquist worked for Deloitte and Arthur Andersen. Moquist earned business and accounting degrees from UND in 2000.

Highest honor

Jackson and his fellow alumni will receive individual recognition at this year’s Sioux Awards banquet, which is set for Thursday, Sept. 20, at the Alerus Center. Ticket information will be announced at a later date.

The Sioux Award is the highest honor given by the UND Alumni Association & Foundation for achievement, service and loyalty. Since its inception in 1962, this distinguished award has been presented to leaders in government and business, high achievers in various professions and alumni who have dedicated their lives to service for others.

The Young Alumni Achievement Award was established in 2002 to recognize recent graduates of UND who have made a mark in the short time since they attended the University.

Information courtesy of the UND Alumni Association & Foundation.