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Minot State University to honor recipients with Golden Awards

The Minot State University Alumni Association will honor four individuals with the Golden Award and one with the Young Alumni Achievement Award in 2020, according to the information provided by the university.

The 2020 honorees include Chuck Barney, Josh Duhamel, Terry (Ferebee) Eckmann and John Schwan. The Young Alumni Achievement Award winner is Joseph Brewer.

Honorees will receive their awards at a dinner along with the 2021 award winners next year as the university has decided to not hold any large in-person events this fall due to COVID-19. For more information on the Golden Awards, visit the Alumni Association website.

The Golden Awards are the highest award bestowed by the Minot State University Alumni Association. Selections are based on outstanding service to the University or Alumni Association and distinguished leadership in the recipient’s career or community. The Young Alumni Achievement Award recipient is between the ages of 21 and 39.

Barney, the former Minot mayor, is director of the Severson Entrepreneurship Academy. He also served three years as Minot City Council president and seven years as finance committee chairman.

Duhamel, a well-known actor with numerous roles, is originally from Minot and currently lives in Los Angeles. He attended MSU.

Eckmann is a professor and chair of teacher education and kinesiology at Minot State. Eckmann is also an award-winning presenter, author and researcher, presenting internationally on topics related to effects of lifestyle choices on the brain, movement that matters, healthy aging, brain and learning, stress management, worksite wellness and the power of choice.

Schwan, also an MSU alum, is the founder and CEO of Schwan Financial Group, a financial, estate and business succession planning firm based in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Since its founding in 1984, SFG has developed into a national multi-family, private office serving clients at the highest level.

Schwan and his team of 42 help give businesses, owners and professionals the confidence of financial freedom. His passion for helping people has garnered him recognition as a leader in the industry, including speaking at events across the country, publications in Investment Advisor, Financial Planning Magazine and US News. SFG has also been recognized as a top planning firm by Forbes.

Brewer holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in chemistry. He and another scientist launched Rare Earth Salts, an extraction company. He is a 2000 graduate of Velva High School. After initially pursuing a degree in the physical sciences, he switched to chemistry to finish his undergraduate career. After graduation, he moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to take a position at Johns Manville Technical Center.

Brewer finished graduate school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2005 with a doctorate in inorganic chemistry, with the aim to stabilize the Western rare earth supply chain to mitigate future damages from trade wars. As the company began to grow, work with large scale mining companies led to the development of a rare earth separations process that was co-invented by former Minot State faculty member and Brewer’s undergraduate advisor Ryan Winburn. Rare Earth Salts currently is operating out of Beatrice, Nebraska, with 13 full-time employees and an active internship program, which has provided positions to two MSU alumni and one current Minot State student. The company is active in research and development and is working with the University of North Dakota on producing rare earth oxides from coal.

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