Mildred Clodfelter Alumni Award

For 35 years, Frame has represented the Kansas Honors Program, nearly the entire history of the tradition. He coordinates the local events to honor the top 10 percent of high school students in the Kinsley area. He is vice president of the new West Central Kansas chapter of the Association, and he contacts Kansas legislators in KU’s behalf as a member of Jayhawks for Higher Education. He has assisted the Office of Admissions and Scholarships in recruitment as a HAWK volunteer. He is a life and Jayhawk Society member of the Association.

Frame is a partner in the firm of Wilson and Frame, where he has practiced law since 1962. He also operated a wheat farm and cattle ranch for 30 years. As a KU student, he was a Summerfield Scholar, a member of Phi Beta Kappa and senior class president. He was an All-America cross-country athlete, helping KU win nine conference titles and the 1953 NCAA title; he won nine individual conference titles and the 1954 NCAA individual championship. He is a member of the Track and Field Hall of Fame and the KU Sports Hall of Fame. Before entering law school, he pursued graduate studies in American history as a Woodrow Wilson scholar. He and his wife, Sally, have five Jayhawk children and 10 grandchildren, the eldest of whom is a Jayhawk.

Gale, a Syracuse native, began volunteering for his alma mater virtually the moment he graduated, coordinating the local Kansas Honors Program for nearly 30 years. Gale also is a member of Jayhawks for Higher Education, and he has been a driving force behind the Association’s Great Plains alumni chapter. He is a member and president-elect of the KU Law Society Board of Governors. He is an Association life member. Gale began his legal career as a prosecutor in Johnson and Hamilton counties; in 1979 he founded Gale & Gale Attorneys, where he remains a partner. He also is the Syracuse city attorney.

On the Hill, Gale lettered in football and graduated magna cum laude. He and his wife, Linda, ’78, have two sons, both Jayhawks.

Kennedy has volunteered for KU in the Wichita area for more than 15 years. Now president of the Wichita alumni chapter, he frequently emcees and coordinates KU events and makes personal calls to alumni to encourage their participation. He is a member of the KU Endowment Association’s Chancellors Club, the Williams Education Fund of KU athletics, and the Alumni Association’s Presidents Club. At the School of Medicine in Wichita, he serves on the steering committee for Dean S. Edwards Dismuke. He is a life and Jayhawk Society member of the Association. He and his wife, Patricia Gorham, assoc., have provided a fund to assist KU student-athletes.

He began his career as assistant general counsel to the Kansas Corporation Commission, specializing in oil and gas and environmental issues. In 1986, he joined the Wichita firm of Martin Pringle, where he is managing partner. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, g’80, in 2006 appointed Kennedy to the Kansas Energy Council.

As a student, Kennedy worked on the University Daily Kansan and for KJHK and was a member of the Interfraternity Council.

Nicholson, a Paola native, has served the Kansas Honors Program for 22 years, often assisted by his wife, Kathy. They also have hosted events for the East Kansas alumni chapter; he is a board member. He also advocates for KU as a member of Jayhawks for Higher Education and a student recruiter for the HAWK program.

He has practiced law in the Miami County area since 1972 and in 1984 founded the firm of Nicholson and Hartley. He also works as a part-time municipal judge in Paola.

Nicholson attended KU music and art camps in high school; as a KU law student, he edited the School of Law’s alumni magazine and was president of Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity. His son currently attends KU.

The Nordlings have carried KU’s banner in Southwest Kansas for 20 years as Kansas Honors Program coordinators, and Erick now leads the Southwest alumni chapter. They have hosted Jayhawk Generations picnics at their home to welcome new students to the KU family, and they have volunteered for both Jayhawks for Higher Educaiton and the HAWK program. For the KU Endowment Association, Erick served on the Greater University Fund Advisory Board. The Nordlings are Alumni Association life members and members of the Presidents Club.

After teaching elementary school for 10 years in Derby, Topeka and Hugoton, Debbie became an agent for State Farm Insurance. Erick is the executive secretary of the Southwest Kansas Royalty Owners Association, a nonprofit, 2,600-member organization to protect landowners in the Hugoton Gas Field. He also is managing partner in the law firm of Kramer, Nordling & Nordling.

The Nordings met in Lawrence on Debbie’s third day as a KU student, following her transfer from Barton County Community College. Two years later they were married, and they walked down the Hill together in 1980. The youngest of their three children is a KU junior.

Thompson helps lead the North Central Kansas alumni chapter as a board member and is celebrating 21 years as site director for the Kansas Honors Program. He also recruits students as a HAWK volunteer and communicates with lawmakers as a member of Jayhawks for Higher Education. He is an Alumni Association annual member.

He has practiced law in Salina since 1980 and became a partner in the firm of Thompson and Heidrick in 1992. He also works as a guardian ad litem for children in need of care, and he teaches continuing legal education classes on the duties on the guardian ad litem and other topics. He and his wife, Patricia, have two children.

Tobias has volunteered for the Kansas Honors Program in McPherson for 25 years and is known by all his patients as a devoted KU ambassador. He is a member of Jayhawks for Higher Education, the HAWK student recruiting program, and the School of Medical Alumni Association as well as a life and Jayhawk Society member of the KU Alumni Association. As a student he was a member of the Interfraternity Council. He and his wife, Deborah, have three children, all KU graduates.