| JOPLIN - The alumni association of Missouri Southern State University has announced that three gentlemen will be honored at an awards dinner held October 12, 2007, at the Ramada Inn in Joplin. Two longtime Missouri Southern supporters and leaders in their fields, Don E. Flinn, M.D., '42 and Kevin Williams,'87 have been tabbed for the 2007 Outstanding Alumni awards. Warren Turner of Joplin will receive the 2007 Lion-Hearted, Award, recognizing an individual, who, although not a Missouri Southern graduate, is an outstanding supporter of MSSU.
 DON E. FLINN, MD
Tulsa-born Flinn graduated from Joplin High School and Joplin Junior College before graduating from Harvard Medical School in 1946. Following an internship at Boston (MA) City Hospital he entered the US Army Air Force where he served as a flight surgeon at Air Force hospitals in France and Germany. He was recalled to active military service during the Korean War and the Vietnam War before retiring as a colonel in 1967.During his military career he served on the NASA Medical Evaluation team charged with examining all astronauts prior to their selection to the Mercury and Gemini space projects.
In 1950 Flinn had completed a residency in psychiatry at the Menninger School of Psychiatry in Topeka before serving in many roles at the Neuropsychiatric Institute in Los Angles, as professor of psychology at the University of Texas Medical School in San Antonio and as the assistant chief of staff of psychiatry service at the San Antonio Veterans Administration Hospital. In 1981 he was named the chairman of the department of psychiatry at the Texas Tech School of Medicine in Lubbock.
At the UCLA School of Medicine in 1988 he served as professor and vice chairman of the department of psychiatry and as assistant dean. He was named emeritus professor of psychiatry in 1993.
Flinn is a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and the American College of Psychiatrists, a member of the Aerospace Medical Association, past president of the US Air Force Psychiatric Society, a former councilor of the Southern California Psychiatric Society and a life fellow of the Southern Psychiatric Association.
Flinn and his wife, Sonia, have been married 60 years and have three children. They live in Eugene, OR.
 KEVIN WILLIAMS
Kevin Williams earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Missouri Southern in 1987. After becoming a certified public account, he served as a senior manager at the accounting firm of Baird, Kurtz & Dobson until 1998 when he accepted a position with Jack Henry & Associates of Monett. In 2001 he was named Jack Henry's chief financial officer overseeing the company's annual revenues of more than $592 million.
Williams is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and of the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants. He is also a member of the Monett Chamber of Commerce and serves on the advisory board of the Robert Plaster School of Business at MSSU.
He and his wife Toni, also a Missouri Southern graduate, have one daughter. They reside in Monett.
 WARREN TURNER
For more than 40 years, the name Warren Turner has been linked with baseball in Southwest Missouri. In 1976, after 11 years of coaching baseball, football, and basketball in high school, he was named Southern's head baseball coach. He took the team to a second place finish in the NAIA World Series in 1978, garnering for himself coach of the year.
Because of his team's record he was named District 16 Coach of the Year four times and NAIA Area IV Coach of the Year three times. In 1990, Missouri Southern joined the NCAA ranks, and 15 years later, Turner's team handed him his 800th victory.
He has been a member of ABCA, NAIA, and NCAA committees and served as chairman of the rankings committee for his area. He has been inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame, the MSSU Hall of Fame, and the Joplin Sports Hall of Fame and has been named conference coach of the year three times and NCAA Division II regional coach twice.
As a professor at Southern, Turner received the Governor's Award for Excellence in Teaching and named a March of Dimes Man of the Year. In 2005, he was named to the technical commission of the International Baseball Association and assisted with the World Games in Taiwan.
His dedication and service to baseball, including a long relationship with USA Baseball, has earned him recognition from the Missouri House of Representatives and Senate and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Greater St. Louis Major League Baseball Scouts Association.
Turner involves himself and his teams in many civic activities including volunteering for Kiwanis apple delivery, Children's Miracle Network, United Way, projects of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, Missouri High School Christian Association, NALA, and the Special Olympics. Turner is also a motivational speaker for civic, business, athletic, and youth leadership conferences. He has been recognized for his work by the Boys and Girls Club of Southwest Missouri, Little League of Missouri and Kansas, American Cancer Society, and Kiwanis International.
After retiring from coaching at the end of the 2007 season with a 852 career wins, Turner continues to teach, supervise student teachers, and referee high school and college football and basketball. He will be inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame later this year.
On October 13, 2007, Turner will be recognized at halftime of the MSSU homecoming football game. Go Back |
