By the Muleskinner Staff

The UCM Office of Alumni Relations and Development presented three awards Friday night, as part of the Distinguished Alumni Dinner. These awards are a way to recognize university alumni for admirable achievements and service, according to a university news release. These awards include: the Distinguished Alumni Award, the Distinguished International Alumni Award and the Distinguished Alumni Award for Service.

The recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award is Troy Kok, who earned his bachelor’s degree in aviation management technology in 1986 and a master’s degree in aviation safety from UCM in 1987.

The Distinguished International Alumni Award was awarded to Ashvin Vibhakar, Ph.D., who came from India and earned a Master of Business Administration in Finance degree in 1973.

Also being recognized is Tom Wyrsch, as the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award for Service, who earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from UCM in 1978.

The event was part of this year’s homecoming celebration.

Troy Kok

Many young men and women join the military to help pay for college. Brig. Gen. Troy Kok is no different.

“My dad talked me into (it),” Kok said. “That (it) might be a good way to help me pay for college, so we looked for a college that had both aviation and ROTC.”

Kok graduated from what was then Central Missouri State University with a bachelor’s degree in aviation maintenance technology in 1985 and a master’s in aviation safety in 1987.

As a sophomore, Kok commissioned as a quarter master officer in the army reserve. From there, he went to an aviation maintenance unit before landing in flight school.

“So what I did was I complemented my education with what I did in the army,” he said. “I thought I got a really good, fantastic education at the university, and I learned a lot.”

Kok said he continued his involvement with UCM after graduation. He initially started coming back to celebrate homecoming with his fraternity brothers.

“I was a Delta Chi when I was at UCM ,and a lot of my fraternity brothers stayed in touch with me,” Kok said. “And throughout the years I’ve made contact and gone back. I’ve always had a place to go.”

In past years, Kok said he really connected with the ROTC program and actually hosted the commissioning ceremony for ROTC, which meant giving a speech.

As for last year, he participated in the general officer forum at homecoming.

Ashvin Vibhakar

Ashvin Vibhakar’s life has not gone according to plan.

He came to UCM in March of 1972 as a graduate student with a plan to get his Master of Business Administration degree with the intentions of going back to India to start his own business or join his brother’s company.

However, that never happened.

“I came from India where we had helpers working in the house and so forth, moving from that environment was difficult,” he said. “I had never washed my own clothes; I had never done any cooking for myself – so learning to do that was difficult.”

Not only did the international center impact Vibhakar, but he said his professors at UCM also helped change the trajectory of his life.

“Particularly with my job as a university professor, I think Central Missouri had a great impact,” he said. “I have instilled values that a professor provided, which is your role in order to mentor and to teach students, you have to make them comfortable.”

Vibhakar is currently teaching finance courses in the department of economics at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

He said has never considered moving back to India because his wife is an American from Arkansas and his children and grandchildren are here.

“I think its critical for everybody to realize that life is a long process, and you have to do something that you really enjoy,” Vibhakar said.

“Education is not something that anybody can take away from you,” Vibhakar said. “It will always be part of you.”

Tom Wyrsch

When talking about Kansas City politics, government and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Tom Wyrsch’s name might come up.

Since before the country’s bicentennial celebration, Wyrsch has been actively involved in local government and politics. Wyrsch’s first job in politics involved working for U.S. Sen. George McGovern, who ran for president in 1972.

“I worked on his presidential campaign, getting delegates in Central Missouri and Kansas, and after that I got an internship with Senator Stuart Symington, and I worked in his congressional office for a few years and went back to school,” he said.

Part of his work for Symington took him to Washington, D.C. for a year, and then he worked for Sen. Thomas Eagleton. He’s stayed active in local politics ever since, and finished his degree in political science in 1978 from then CMSU.

For many years, Wyrsch had been chairman of the Jackson County Democratic Committee.

“I’m in my second term right now, and I did a term back in 2002,” Wyrsch said. “So I’ve served as chairman for the county committee two different decades, and I’ve been on the county committee about 25 years.”

Wyrsch was born and raised in an Irish Catholic community in Kansas City, Missouri.

He and his family have helped organize the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee Kansas City and with the Irish Fest, for the last three decades.