Honors Gala
The 2024 Honors Gala
A BSU Homecoming tradition, the Honors Gala is an annual celebration of Bemidji State University's Outstanding Alumni Award recipients, President's Society donors and Legacy Society members.
The 2024 event took place on Sept. 27. Jim Marken ‘91, Sianneh Mulbah ‘04 and Lonni Whitchurch ‘73 all received the Outstanding Alumni Award for their exceptional achievements on campus and beyond. Additionally, the BSU Alumni & Foundation established a new Philanthropist of the Year award and presented the inaugural distinction to Keith Johanneson.
Read more about the recipients below.
2024 honorees
Outstanding Alumni Award
Jim Marken '91
Jim Marken is the senior vice president of operations at ANI Pharmaceuticals, where he is responsible for two manufacturing facilities in Baudette. He has had a number of different roles in the sector, starting as a self-proclaimed “lab rat” and eventually pursuing and growing into leadership roles, including his current position by December 2021. He has also been involved in his local community through youth volunteerism like Take a Kid Fishing and coaching youth basketball, plus professional leadership by holding multiple positions within the Northern Minnesota Manufacturers Organization.
Outstanding Alumni Award
Sianneh Mulbah '04
Sianneh Mulbah is the chief people and inclusion officer for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx. The Cass Lake product has been with the organization for 13 years in various human resources roles and was recently named a Top 50 Influential Black Leader in the Twin Cities region by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. Mulbah also leads the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx Women in Sports Leadership Council, which focuses on the professional growth and development of women in the workplace. She serves on the board of directors of the Twin Cities chapter of Women in Sports and Events and is the secretary of the Native American Parent Council for the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Independent School District.
Outstanding Alumni Award
Lonni Whitchurch '73
Lonni Whitchurch is a former businesswoman in Tampa Bay, Fla., where she owned and operated Lonni’s Sandwiches, Etc. for nearly 25 years across half a dozen locations. She established her food as a local staple, including one creation as the “unofficial Official Sandwich of Tampa Bay.” Prior to her restauranteering days, Whitchurch taught English and coached speech for seven years between Cass Lake High School and Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School. Whitchurch is also involved in local cat rescues and supports other local causes, and she published a book of original poems called "Send the Moon" in 2021. During her Bemidji State tenure, Whitchurch was also a charter member of the university’s Honors Program.
Philanthropist of the Year Award
Keith Johanneson
Keith Johanneson is the former president and CEO of Johanneson Inc., where he enjoyed nearly 50 years of success in the supermarket industry. He started out as a cashier at Super John’s Supermarket, his father’s store, across the street from Bemidji State’s campus and became the president in the early 1970s. Johanneson’s Philanthropist of the Year award comes on the heels of his recent $1 million pledge to endow nursing scholarships at BSU. Johanneson made the gift in honor of his late wife, Maria, who came through BSU’s Department of Nursing herself.
The Honors Gala is sponsored by
