NW Arkansas achievers

Casey Brewster and Chris Grisham have been selected as Tillman Military Scholars for the 2012-13 academic year by the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the Pat Tillman Foundation.

Brewster, a U.S. Army National Guard staff sergeant, is a graduate student from Mena studying biology. Grisham is a U.S. Army staff sergeant from Fayetteville majoring in history.

Tillman Scholars receive money to cover tuition and books along with funds for housing, transportation and childcare in order to prohibit obstacles that often keep military families from achieving academic success. Nathan Falls, John Huber and Saba Naseem have received scholarships from the U. S. State Department to study languages abroad as part of the Critical Language Scholarship program. Falls, Huber and Naseem are all students at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

The scholarship program is designed to address the country’s need for students with knowledge of a wide range of languages and cultures ranging from Chinese and Russian to Indonesian and Urdu.

Falls, a chemistry and history major from Conway, will study Azerbaijani in Azerbaijan this summer. Huber of Fayetteville, who is studying German at UA, will travel to Morocco to study Arabic.

Naseem of Fayetteville will study Arabic in Jordan. He is studying journalism, Middle East studies and French at UA. Kelly Ribeiro , Robert Burnside and Stephanie Pearson received Excellence in Service to Students awards from Northwest Arkansas Community College’s chapter of the National Society of Leadership and Success. The students were honored for their contributions to the chapter and the community.

Dianne Phillips, Robert E. Swearington and Diane Boss earned Excellence in Teaching awards for their commitment to the society and its students. J. Mark Lundy of Rogers received the 2012 Arkansas Society of Certified Public Accountants (ASCPA) Public Service Award. The award recognizes Arkansas accountants who have distinguished themselves in public service at the local, regional or national level.

Lundy is a partner at BKD LLP in Rogers. He served as board member and treasurer for the St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation, now the Mercy Health Foundation Northwest Arkansas, from 2001-06.

Lundy serves on the Northwest Arkansas Community College board of trustees and is chair of the board’s finance committee. Wyman R. “Rick” Wade Jr., a Fort Smith attorney, is the recipient of the Outstanding Lawyer Citizen Award from the Arkansas Bar Association and the Arkansas Bar Foundation. The award is given each year to a civic-minded attorney who excels in professional competence and conduct.

Wade is a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith as well as a partner at Daily & Woods PLLC. He is also assistant city attorney for Fort Smith.

Wade serves on the board of the Fort Smith Public School System. He has served as president of the St. Edward Mercy Medical Center board of trustees and as president of the Sebastian County Bar Association. Northwest Arkansas Achievers is an opportunity to give recognition to those for their achievements. Civilian and military achievements are accepted. Please follow these guidelines: Achiever(s): 1) Must be an Arkansan or have graduated from a school in Arkansas. 2) Received an award, scholarship, medal or promotion. Pageants, deans’ lists, graduations or military enlistments aren’t accepted. No Photographs Please. To submit an Achiever mail information to: Northwest Arkansas Achievers,

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Northwest Edition, P.O. Box 7, Springdale, Ark. 72765.