2022 LWC Alumni Awards
Stanley Curry ’84 - Distinguished Alumnus Award Stanley Curry’s career as a successful entrepreneur in the retail automotive industry spans more than 30 years. Soon after graduating from LWC in 1984, Curry opened his first pre-owned car dealership, AutoSmart. The company has grown to include locations in Campbellsville and Leitchfield, Kentucky. AutoSmart was named Outstanding Investor of the Year in 1996 by the Taylor County Chamber of Commerce. Today, Curry employs 40 individuals and maintains an inventory of more than 200 vehicles, including off-road vehicles and golf carts. Three generations of the Curry family have Lindsey Wilson degrees. Curry’s father, himself, two sisters, and four of his nieces and nephews have graduated from LWC. His brother-in-law, Dr. Larry Ennis, is a retired professor from LWC’s education program. Curry is actively involved in the Campbellsville-Taylor County community. He and his wife, Kim, have served in various roles and on several committees at Campbellsville Baptist Church. Curry serves on the board of SportsReach, a ministry outreach team that uses sports to deliver the gospel all over the world. SportsReach has partnered with LWC to coordinate a shoe drive that annually collects 200-300 pairs of shoes to be distributed all over the world. Curry holds a bachelor’s degree in pastoral ministry from Western Kentucky University. He has been a proud corporate sponsor of Lindsey Wilson athletics for more than two decades. A devoted fan of the Lindsey Wilson women’s basketball program, he enjoys supporting the team coached by his longtime friend, John Wethington.
Brady Conrad Button ’98 - Distinguished Service Award, Posthumously
As a Lindsey Wilson College student-athlete and staff member, Brady Conrad Button was highly regarded by alumni, donors and his LWC colleagues. He attended Lindsey Wilson from 1993 to 1998. During his time as a student, he was named homecoming king by the student body and was a shooting guard on the men’s basketball team. He played a key role during the 1996-97 season when the men’s basketball program made its first appearance in the NAIA National Tournament. In his senior year, he served as the student assistant coach for the LWC mountain biking team. After graduation, Button worked for seven years in the pharmaceutical industry. He returned to LWC in 2005 when he was named Assistant to the President for Annual Giving and eventually, Director of Major Gifts. Button annually called on more than 150 College donors. He was a major player in two successful capital campaigns and secured numerous six- and seven-figure gifts. The lasting impact of Button’s work for scholarship support will be realized for generations to come. Button was diagnosed with stage three melanoma in 2013 and was in remission for seven years until the disease returned in 2020. He fought a long and brave battle and continued work with LWC until his death in July of 2021 at the age of 45. His daughter, Landree, established a melanoma awareness organization called 37 SPFA in her father’s memory. The organization promotes skin cancer screenings and collects sunscreen for donations. Button and his wife of nearly 20 years, LWC Director of Nursing Emiley Button, lived in Glasgow, Kentucky with their two children: Landree and Laken. He was an active member of Caney Fork Missionary Baptist Church where he taught Sunday school. Button was an avid hunter and fisherman and participated in fishing tournaments across the state. But what he loved most was spending time with his family. He supported and coached his daughter and son in a variety of sports and extracurricular activities. Upon his death, Brady’s family established the Brady C. Button Endowed Scholarship which has grown to more than $15,525 in one year. The scholarship can be awarded to students in the fall of 2023.
Casey Hardy McGowan ’14 - Outstanding Young Alumna Award
From the moment Jamestown, Kentucky, native Casey Hardy McGowan arrived at Lindsey Wilson College, she was a rising star. To say she was an active member of the student body would be an understatement. She held leadership positions in nearly a dozen clubs and organizations. Some of the organizations she served include the Women’s Student Union where she was named president. She was the founder and first president of the LWC Young Democrats. McGowan served as vice-president of Alpha Phi Sigma (the criminal just honor society); and treasurer of Sigma Tau Delta (the English honor society). McGowan is one of LWC’s more decorated graduates having twice received the poetry award from Orpheus, the literary journal of LWC; she received awards for outstanding achievement in English and Criminal Justice; and the Excellence in Scholarship and Service Award in Women’s Studies. After graduating summa cum laude from LWC in 2014, McGowan went to Emory (Georgia) University School of Law where she earned a Juris Doctor with honors. She began her law career working as a staff attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the eleventh circuit and then as a law clerk for Justice Michael Boggs on the Supreme Court of Georgia. Currently, McGowan is serving as an associate corporate counsel for Amazon. McGowan is committed to public service. She helped found the Pride Bar Alliance of the Southeast, the first southeast regional LGBTQIA+ organization for lawyers. For two years, she served on the board of directors of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, Palm Beach County chapter. She has also served as Secretary of the Federal Bar Association, Palm Beach County chapter. McGowan and her wife, Brooke Hardy McGowan split their time living in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and Ghent, New York. In her free time, she enjoys running for charity, writing poetry and travels home to Russell County, Kentucky, as often as she can.
Betty Jean Moseley - Honorary Alumna Award
Betty Jean Moseley was first introduced to LWC during her days attending Methodist youth camp on the College campus in the 1940s. She met her husband, the late Dr. Doug Moseley, as a camp counselor in the 1950s, thus beginning a lifelong relationship between the Moseleys and Lindsey Wilson College. In the late 1960’s, Moseley taught English at LWC while her husband, Doug, served as Assistant to the President and Instructor of Bible. She is mentioned fondly by many LWC alumni as a skilled and caring teacher. After a decade-long service to Lindsey Wilson, Moseley went on to teach English for 40 more years in schools throughout southcentral Kentucky, including the Adair County school system, and in Atlanta, Georgia. She is now retired and resides in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Moseley has devoted much of her life to serving the Kentucky United Methodist Church and her commitment to providing a values-centered education has led to a 60-year partnership with LWC. The Moseleys have been longtime contributors to the Lindsey Wilson endowment and began the Doug and Betty Jean Endowed Scholarship which has grown to more than $264,000. In April, Betty Jean gave a substantial gift to name the Doug and Betty Jean Moseley Auditorium in the Hodge Center for Discipleship.
Duane Bonifer - Honorary Alumnus Award
A seasoned public relations specialist and newsman, Duane Bonifer served LWC from 1991 to 2016. Brought on board by then president, Dr. John B. Begley, Bonifer worked to advance the College mission and develop a brand identity. Overtime, Bonifer’s ability to craft a compelling story about LWC began to shape the public’s perception of the College and likely, convinced a countless number of donors, board members, employees and students to become a part of its life-changing mission. Bonifer was early in his career at LWC when the world began logging onto the world wide web. He foresaw how important the internet would be in higher education. He worked with an agency to build its first-ever website. But nothing inspired Bonifer more than the dawn of social media. He intuitively understood that Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Tumblr would forever change the way modern society communicated and consumed information. Bonifer is responsible for the development of the current LWC logo and the College tagline, “Every Student, Every Day.” Many of the practices in LWC’s public relations office are attributed to Bonifer’s time at the College. He transformed the College publication, Cornerstone, from a newsletter into a magazine. He also served as LWC’s first liaison to Frankfort where he helped to form what became known as the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities. Bonifer holds a bachelors’ degrees in journalism and political science from the University of Kentucky and a master’s degree in communication from Bellarmine (Kentucky) University. He was appointed to the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights, and in 2008, he received the President’s Greater Good Award for his service to Kentucky’s independent colleges and universities. He and his wife, Kristyne live in west-central Illinois where Bonifer serves as the associate vice president of communications and marketing at Monmouth College. Before entering higher education, Bonifer worked as an editor in the newspaper industry in Kentucky and Indiana and continues to oversee the independent University of Kentucky newspaper, the Kentucky Kernel Press, Inc. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family. He is also a fan of the Reds, jazz, Sondheim musicals, Bruce Springsteen, Meat Loaf and a glass of bourbon.