The Distinguished Alumni Award is a recognition designed to honor alumni of Southwest High School. Honorees are selected for their outstanding contributions to their community, alma mater, or country in their chosen career or community service.
The Distinguished Alumni Award is a new tradition for Southwest, a high school with an outstanding history of excellence. In honoring Southwest High School alumni, we hope to inspire current students to be lifetime learners and community leaders beyond Southwest. This recognition will be bestowed upon alumni who have exhibited or continue to exhibit a diverse array of admirable qualities such as leadership, generosity, integrity, dedication, and creativity and who have shared of their talents via their occupation, special interest or contributions to Southwest.
Anyone may nominate up to three Southwest alumni per year. Please mail your completed form to the Southwest Foundation, 3414 W. 47th St., Minneapolis, MN 55410. If you would like a nomination form mailed to you, please call Nancy Rose Pribyl '81 at 952.881.2758.
Please make your nomination now
The Southwest Foundation will retain all applications for future consideration if the nominee is not selected as a Distinguished Alumni Award recipient the year the nomination is received.
Past Recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award
Distinguished Alumni Nomination Form
Our Distinguished Alumni Awards recognize alumni for their outstanding contributions to their community, alma mater, or country in their chosen career or community service.
The last recognized class of Distinguished Alumni were: John Hetland '48, Iric Nathanson '57, Tom Neiman '65, Gene Winstead '68, and Lizz Winstead '79 (Ceremony held August, 2017) The 2016 inaugural class of Distinguished Alumni were Burton D. Cohen '48, Cora Jane Blanchard '52, Mark Ptashne '57, Robert C. Rishovd '59, Harvey Feldman '61, and Tracy McMillan '82.
The Foundation encourages alumni, current families, and the community to nominate their friends, family, and classmates who are deserving of this award. The Distinguished Alumni Committee, chaired by former Foundation President Nancy Rose Pribyl '81, reviews all nominations and selects the winners. Click here to print a nomination form and mail it to the Foundation's address: 3414 W. 47th St., Minneapolis, MN 55410.
Distinguished Alumni Committee member Ruth Usem '57 with Distinguished Alumni Bob Rishovd '59 at the Awards Ceremony on October 8, 2016
The Committee looks forward to hearing about the amazing accomplishments of Southwest's alumni community.