NSU announces Outstanding Alumni for 2011

(Tahlequah, Okla.)--The Northeastern State University Alumni Association will recognize five alumni as part of NSUs homecoming celebration, Truth, Justice and the Northeastern Way. The 2011 outstanding alumni honorees will be honored during halftime of the Oct. 15 football game with Harding at Doc Wadley Stadium.

This years honorees are former educator and lifelong volunteer Mary Battenfield of Tulsa, actor-playwright Joe Sears of Austin, Texas, and past educator and legislator Dr. Barbara Staggs of Muskogee, Distinguished Alumni; country music star Carrie Underwood of Nashville, Outstanding Young Alumna; and former state attorney general Drew Edmondson of Oklahoma City, Presidents Award for Community Service.

Battenfield, a 1960 graduate, was a member of the Alumni Association board and served as its president in 2008. In Tulsa, she is an active leader in Pink Ribbon activities which support breast cancer patients, survivors and their families. She helps coordinate activities and correspondence for NSUs most cohesive alumni group, the Nifty Fifties. She and her husband, Harold, were named NSU Centurions in 2010. The couple helped permanently endow the Battenfield-Carletti Entrepreneurial Lecture Series.

Sears, a 1972 graduate, is co-author and co-star of the hit Tuna trilogy and has toured extensively to give Tuna performances since 1982. He received a Tony nomination for Best Actor in a Play in 1995 during his sixth tour of A Tuna Christmas, which included his Broadway debut. He has performed at the White House for President George H.W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush. Sears has received three Helen Hayes nominations for Best Actor and A Tuna Christmas was nominated for Best Play.

Staggs is a 1963 graduate of Northeastern who continued to a 25-year career in public education as a teacher, assistant principal, principal and superintendent. In 1994 she was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives to represent District 14. In 1996 she authored legislation which brought the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame to Muskogee.

Underwood graduated from NSU in 2006 after a brief hiatus to win the 2005 American Idol competition. She is a five-time Grammy Award winner, a two-time Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year, a three-time CMA and ACM Female Vocalist winner and a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Since the release of her debut CD in 2005, Underwood has had 13 No. 1 singles and sold more than 13 million albums. She was also named Oklahoman of the Year in 2005.

Edmondson, a 1968 graduate, was the 16th Attorney General of Oklahoma from 1995-2011. He also served as district attorney for Muskogee County from 1983-95 and was elected to a term in the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 1974. NSU named him a Distinguished Alumnus in 2004 and an inaugural Centurion in 2009. He established the Drew Edmondson Endowed Debate Scholarship to provide financial assistance to students who join NSU speech and debate. In 2011, The Journal Record presented him with the Leadership in Law award.

In addition to being recognized during the homecoming festivities, these exceptional NSU alumni will be formally honored during the 14th annual Emerald Ball on Dec. 10. For more information about homecoming events and the Emerald Ball contact the NSU Alumni Association at 918-458-2143.