The Minot State University Alumni Association will honor its Golden Awards and Young Alumni Achievement Award recipients at its annual awards dinner on Thursday, Sept. 11, at 6 p.m. in the Minot State Student Center Conference Center.

The honorees include Gregg Blikre, Class of 1977, Randy Hedberg, Class of 1977, Lisa Johnson, Class of 1995 and 2000, and Don Selk, Class of 1972. The Young Alumni Achievement Award winner is Joe Davis, Class of 2013, according to MSU information.

“We are thrilled to honor this year’s recipients of the Golden Award and Young Alumni Achievement Award,” said Courtenay Brekhus, MSU’s director of alumni engagement. “Their remarkable achievements and commitment to excellence embody the spirit of our alumni community. We celebrate their successes and look forward to their continued impact.”

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

Randy Hedberg

Gregg Blikre

Blikre was born and raised in Williston, graduating from Williston High School in 1967. He is a Vietnam veteran, having served in the U.S. Navy as an electronics technician from 1968 to 1972.

Blikre served as president of the Minot State Collegiate Veterans and the North Dakota State Collegiate Veterans Association, and was also a member of MSU’s Student Senate. Blikre studied history and English literature, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in history.

He then moved to Gillette, Wyoming, where he established a career in business with a perspective that enabled him to connect with clients and customers which he credits to the excellent liberal arts education he received at MSU.

While a student at MSU, Blikre participated in service to the broader community as a softball coach, a Sunday school teacher, president of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Gillette Jaycees, Energy Rotary Club and Heritage Village Water and Sewer District, among others. He also served as a member and chairman of the Campbell County Land Board, the Campbell County School Board and served as president of the Wyoming School Boards Association.

Lisa Johnson

He served three terms in the Wyoming House of Representatives where he held a variety of committee assignments. Blikre currently serves as the chairman of the Wyoming Community College Commission and is a member of the Wyoming Sesquicentennial Planning Task Force – WYO250.

He is married to Jackie (Jost) Blikre, from Burlington.

Randy Hedberg

Hedberg grew up in Parshall. His high school sports career included four years as a quarterback, pitcher, trickster and forward on the basketball team. He chose Minot State University because it offered the opportunity to play more than one sport and was close to home. Hedberg was the starting quarterback every year at MSU, setting a school record for passing 5,737 yards and 49 touchdowns. He also started in basketball as a forward, pitched for four years and threw javelin. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education and mathematics education.

Hedberg was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the seventh round of the NFL Draft, where he played for two years including six starts. He also spent time with the Oakland Raiders and the Green Bay Packers.

Don Selk

Hedberg returned to MSU for his first coaching experience, where he coached for 10 years, the last eight as head coach. Hedberg won a conference title in 1985. He also served as an assistant basketball coach from 1980 to 1984 before being named head basketball coach in 1985. Hedberg served as head baseball coach from 1985 to 1988. In 1987, Hedberg obtained his master’s degree in physical education and recreation from the University of North Dakota.

Hedberg then coached in various capacities at Central Missouri State, the University of North Dakota, St. Cloud State University and Southern Illinois University.

Hedberg joined North Dakota State University in 2014 as assistant head coach and quarterback coach where he was a part of seven national titles and coached four consecutive quarterbacks drafted in the NFL: Carson Wentz, Easton Stick, Trey Lance and Cam Miller.

He was inducted into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1985, named one of North Dakota’s 50 greatest sports figures of the 20th century and named the American Football Association FCS assistant coach of the year in 2022.

Lisa Johnson

Joe Davis

Johnson graduated from Powers Lake High School in 1987, and entered the United States Air Force and served as a dental laboratory technician at Minot Air Force Base.

She began taking courses from Minot State University on base before completing her tour of duty in 1991. She worked in the records office for three years as a student worker for three years while completing an associate’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in marketing; later completing a master’s degree in management.

She then embarked on a 30-plus year career in higher education, serving as registrar and director of admissions at MSU and more recently serving as the vice chancellor for academic and student affairs for the North Dakota University System.

Johnson develops academic policies, provides testimony before the North Dakota Legislature, coordinates implementation of new initiatives, and provides support to the N.D. State Board of Higher Education. The N.D. Student Association presented her with the Student Advocate Award in 2018 for her support of student initiatives and legislative priorities.

Johnson serves on several state, regional and national academic advisory committees and is a member of the Bismarck Historical Society, Bismarck Arts and Galleries Association, the Capital Gallery and the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation.

Don Selk

Selk was born and raised in Minot, and graduated from Minot State University with a bachelor’s degree in earth science, with concentrations in mathematics, physics and geography.

Selk started graduate studies in geophysics at the University of Utah in 1972 and graduated with a Master of Science in Geophysics in 1976.

After graduation, Selk started employment with Chevron as an oil exploration geophysicist in Houston, working with seismic data acquisition, processing and interpretation. Some of the technologies that were used in Chevron’s oil exploration efforts included computer mapping, 3D computer modeling and data visualization of the Earth’s subsurface.

While at Chevron, Selk supervised a seismic crew exploring for oil in California, and moved to Khartoum in 1980 as the consulting geophysicist of four seismic crews exploring for oil in the Sudan. Selk was with Chevron for 27 years and had assignments in Houston, Texas; Denver, Colorado; San Francisco, California; New Orleans, Louisiana; Calgary, Alberta and Khartoum, Sudan.

He retired in 2003, enjoys travel and spends time between Deadwood, South Dakota; Phoenix, Arizona and Minot.

Joe Davis

Davis is an award-winning spoken word artist and bestselling author who uses poetry to power possibility.

He is the founder and director of Finding Your Freedom Practice, an artist collective teaching holistic health and wellness practices through spoken word, writing, music, theater, film and dance.

Davis holds a Master of Arts degree in theology of the arts and heads a multimedia production company, a soul funk band and a racial justice education program. His work has been featured on a number of media outlets.

Based in Minneapolis, he tours internationally to join schools, faith spaces, nonprofits, businesses and correctional facilities to practice envisioning and embodying a world of collective liberation and human flourishing.