The Copper Dome Society recognizes donors to the University of $250 or more annually. It is their continued support that enables students to receive scholarships, the best in classroom technology and the experiences outside the classroom that are so important. The Merit Award Dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Show Me Center.  

Alumni Merit Awards have been presented annually since 1958 to Southeast alumni who have brought distinction to themselves and the University. 

This year’s Alumni Merit Award recipients are: 

• Zaki Ali, Attorney at Law 
• Matt McClelland, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President, Prairie Farms Dairy 
• Kim Woolf, owner, Woolf Properties 

This year’s Distinguished Young Alumni Award recipient is: 

• Matt Shead, Manager of Content and Advertising Promotion, St. Louis Cardinals 

Receiving the Faculty Merit Award will be Dr. Hamner Hill, Southeast professor of political science, philosophy, and religion. The Faculty Merit Award is presented for excellence in teaching. 

Zaki Ali ’87 / Alumni Merit Award 

School and learning did not come easily for Zaki Ali. He was placed in the special education program from the fourth grade through the twelfth grade. After scoring a 7 on the ACT college entrance exam, his mother had him tested and he was diagnosed with dyslexia.  

“I graduated high school with a grade point average of 1.67,” said Ali. “Although my struggle  

with dyslexia had impacted my grades, my mother, Girtha, always expected me to attend and graduate from college as she had.”  

Ali attended a community college in Price, Utah, for two years before transferring to Southeast Missouri State University to play football for Southeast. Southeast’s then coach, Bob Smith, previously coached football at Peoria Manual High School, where Ali graduated.  

Ali graduated from Southeast in 1987 from what was then the College of Liberal Arts (now the College of Humanities and Social Sciences). After Southeast, he earned a Master of Arts in human resources training and development at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 1990.  

Ali worked as a pharmaceutical sales representative for Eli Lilly and Company for six years before a personal tragedy changed his career track.

“My mother was wrongfully indicted, tried, convicted, and sentenced to federal prison,” he said. “I couldn’t change what happened to her, but the experience motivated me to pursue a law degree to help prevent such tragedies happening to others.”  

Ali earned his law degree in 1998 from Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University. He has practiced law for more than 22 years. His practice areas include criminal defense, personal injury and immigration.  

“I remain connected to Southeast today,” he said. “I am a proud supporter of Redhawk athletics, and I am committed to making sure student-athletes are successful academically and athletically.” 

Matt McClelland ’95 / Alumni Merit Award 

McClelland began his collegiate journey with Southeast in 1991, while at the same time, working at Prairie Farms. In 1995, he graduated from Southeast with a bachelor’s degree in agri-business, but his work with Prairie Farms continued.   

In 2009, McClelland was awarded the opportunity to join the Prairie Farms corporate staff as the director of operations where he had a number of responsibilities.  

“I supported multiple operations within the Prairie Farms network, as well as managed Prairie Farms’ relationships with various national account customers,” said McClelland.  

McClelland remained with Prairie Farms in that capacity until January 2020, when he was again promoted.  

“In 2020 I became the senior vice president of sales,” said McClelland, “where I was responsible for overseeing the sales, distribution, and logistics of Prairie Farms. On January 1, 2022, I became the chief executive officer and executive vice president for Prairie Farms,” said McClelland.  

With this promotion he became only the fifth CEO and vice president of Prairie Farms in its 83 year history, a position he doesn’t take lightly. 

“My vision for the future includes the enduring legacies and fundamental beliefs in the cooperative system,” said McClelland, “and to simply do right for Prairie Farms members, associates, and customers while also emphasizing the need to adapt to the ever-changing needs of future consumers, innovations and technologies.”  

Kim Woolf ’93 / Alumni Merit Award 

Woolf grew up on a farm in rural Delta, Missouri, with her parents Glenn and Betty DeBrock before making the decision to attend Southeast.  

“I grew up in this area,” said Woolf, “so I was happy to be able to get a great education while remaining close to home.” 

Woolf graduated from Southeast in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration before earning a master’s degree in business administration from Lindenwood. She then took a job that would become her career.  

“I went to work for Boeing shortly after graduating and was with the company for 28 years,” said Woolf.   

During her time with Boeing, Woolf enjoyed a variety of positions such as finance site manager in support of special forces and finance site manager with Boeing’s San Antonio, Texas, facility. These positions took her family to Florida and Texas before ultimately bringing them back to Missouri.  

“In 2011, we moved back to St. Louis, Missouri, where I continued working for Boeing as the chief financial officer, of the Training and Government Services division and functional CFO of Engineering, Operations and Quality for Boeing Defense,” said Woolf.  

Woolf remained with Boeing until 2020, when she retired. She went on to become to the vice president/CFO of U.S. Motors Division of the Nippon Densan Corporation, or NIDEC, before officially retiring last April.  

Now officially retired, Woolf is looking forward to being home where she will be able to spend more time with her husband, Dave, and their two children, Devon and Catie. 

“I was fortunate enough to enjoy a long and successful career with the help of the education I received from Southeast Missouri State. Now I just want to spend as much of my time as possible with my family,” said Woolf. 

Matt Shead ’09 / Young Alumni Merit Award 

Shead grew up in Westminster, California, as the oldest of three siblings where he was heavily influenced by television and movies. 

“It started with audio on a toy device I had called a Talkboy,” said Shead, “but it quickly developed into a passion for film thanks to a tradition with our extended family that we called Family Follies.” 

Shead’s family would often create and share home videos when they got together during the holidays as a way to poke fun at one another. He always took part in the process, eventually leading to a more technical role.  

“I started the process of using one VCR as a source and another as record. I was totally unaware that moment would eventually lead to a career in video editing,” said Shead.   

Shead’s family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1998, just in time for them to witness Mark McGuire win a home run race for the St. Louis Cardinals and then the St. Louis Rams win a Super Bowl championship.  

“I became infatuated with St. Louis sports and had an emotional attachment to every pitch and every pass,” said Shead.  

When it was time to select a college, Shead says where to go was an easy decision.

“I knew after one visit to Southeast,” said Shead. “I met Professor Fred Jones and Dr. Jim Dufek who had a huge impact on what would eventually be my career in video production.”  

Shead graduated from Southeast in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in television and film. He didn’t have to wait long for his dream job to come calling, combining his love of television and video with his passion for St. Louis sports.  

“In September 2009, I received a call from the St. Louis Cardinals with an unbelievable opportunity. They hired me as a video editor under the direction of Tony Simokaitis and Craig Wilson,” said Shead. 

Three years later, he would meet the woman who would become his wife, also a fellow Southeast alumnus.  

“I met Alyson in Cape Girardeau, and then we re-met in St. Louis. On July 26, 2014, we were married and not long after that had our son Leo, with our daughter Jane following close behind,” said Shead. 

Shead received the National Golden Matrix Award for the production of “Some Nights You Win the Word Series” as well as multiple American Advertising Awards. In 2022, he was named the manager of content and advertising production for the Cardinals.  

Dr. Hamner Hill / Faculty Merit Award 

Hill is currently a professor of philosophy in the Department of Political Science, Philosophy, and Religion. He has enjoyed a variety of positions during his 36-year career with the University. He served as interim dean of two colleges and as chairperson of four departments, ranging from art to criminal justice as well as the director of the University Studies program.  

“If I ever decide what I want to do when I grow up, assuming that I grow up, I promise to tell you all,” said Hill.  

Hill is a philosopher by training and graduated from the College of William and Mary in Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy where he also received his Juris Doctorate. He also earned a master’s degree in philosophy as well as a doctorate in philosophy from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.  

“I specialized in the philosophy of the law with a sub specialization in normative conflict and legal lacunae, a situation where there is no applicable law,” said Hill.  

Hill has been published in journals such as Law and Philosophy, the Archiv für Rechts und Socialphilosophie, The Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, and the William and Mary Environmental Law Review. These publications also afforded him the opportunity to travel the globe.  

“I have presented scholarly papers on five continents and 10 countries outside of the U.S,” said Hill.  

Hill was invited in 2019 to become part of a team of faculty for the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative, a project that received support from the Dalai Lama. 

“The project was to try and bring Tibetan Buddhism into the 21st century by educating monks in Western physics, biology and neuroscience,” said Hill, “But first we wanted to introduce logic, critical thinking and the philosophy of science.”  

Hill says the experience was one for a lifetime and credits spending a week in a monostatic setting for bringing him back to the reason he chose to be an educator.  

“The trip reminded me why I became a teacher,” said Hill. “The life of the mind is alive and well there.” 

Outside of academia, Hill presents both the Great Books and the Great Decisions programs. He has also served for many years on the medical ethics committee and the institutional review board at SoutheastHEALTH and is the president of the Cape Girardeau Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. However, it’s his commitment to the Southeast Women’s Soccer team that he is really proud of.  

“I’m the top faculty supporter,” said Hill, “and I rarely miss a home game.”