Honorary Alumni Award (Est. 2019)

The highest honor bestowed upon individuals who are not graduates of University of Illinois by the University of Illinois Alumni Association on behalf of the University of Illinois. The award is presented to an individual or individuals who have shown exemplary dedication and commitment to the mission of the University and the University of Illinois Alumni Association. Recipients adhere to standards of moral and ethical conduct that would cause the University to be honored to present the recipients as role models for students and alumni.

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  Brian Barnhart

  Brian Barnhart is a broadcaster for WDWS/WHMS in Champaign, Ill., where he hosts the long running talk show Penny for Your Thoughts on Newstalk 1400 and 93.9 FM. He has been known as the Voice of the Illini for football and basketball games over the past two decades. Barnhart grew up in Tolono, Ill., and has been going to Illini sports events since he was a child. He started his undergraduate radio career as a campus radio announcer for Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. Barnhart then spent several years in radio and TV broadcasting handling play-by-play for high school and college football and basketball , as well as broadcasting minor league baseball in Virginia and Oklahoma. In 1998, Barnhart moved up to the major leagues to handle radio play-by-play for the Anaheim (now L.A.) Angels. He returned home to Central Illinois in 2000 and joined the WDWS morning show team. Barnhart filled in occasionally for longtime Illini sportscaster and colleague Jim Turpin. When Turpin retired in 2002, Barnhart was offered the opportunity to fill the position. Barnhart is married to U of I alumna Leanne Barnhart, who received her Ed.M. from the College of Education and now serves as executive director of Lincoln Academy of Illinois.

• 2020s
• 2010s