For Immediate Release – October 29, 2025
Lake Land College Alumni & Retirees recognized at annual awards ceremony
Several Lake Land College alumni, retirees and community members were recognized for their outstanding personal and professional accomplishments during the annual Lake Land College Foundation and Alumni Awards ceremony.
The following awards were presented during the ceremony: The Alumnus Achievement Award, the Pacesetter Award and the Distinguished Service Award. Additionally, the 2025 inductees for both the Lake Land College Distinguished Alumni Society and the Retiree Wall of Fame were honored at the reception.
The Alumnus Achievement Award, which is given each year to a Lake Land College graduate in recognition of outstanding accomplishments, was presented posthumously to Gene Honn.
During his time at Lake Land College, Honn enjoyed an experience foundational to his professional pursuits and deeply meaningful for his personal growth. As a student, Honn was actively engaged in his courses and in campus life, and his connection to Lake Land College only deepened with time. He cherished the opportunity to give back to his alma mater and generously supported initiatives that empower future generations of students, sharing the profound impact Lake Land had on his own life by joining the College’s mission as a vital engine of opportunity and growth.
The Pacesetter Award, presented annually in recognition of outstanding career accomplishments by a recent Illinois community college graduate, was presented to Christopher Walk, Effingham.
A 2015 Lake Land graduate, Walk demonstrated impressive leadership during his time at the College, holding roles as a Student Ambassador and Student Trustee on the college’s Board of Trustees during his sophomore year. After graduating from Lake Land, Walk continued his education at the University of Illinois, earning a degree in Agriculture Business. Returning to his roots, he now works as the controller for his family’s farming operation in Neoga which specializes in hogs, cattle, and grain production. Walk attributes his successes after college to the foundational experiences and opportunities provided during his time at Lake Land.
The Distinguished Service Award, presented annually to an individual for outstanding and dedicated service to Lake Land College, was presented to Dr. Ryan Pine, Charleston.
Pine is an ophthalmologist. He is a graduate of both the University of Missouri Kansas School of Medicine and the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. He has been the recipient of a variety of accolades and scholarships throughout the years, including the Hero of the Year Award given to him by the Charleston Chamber of Commerce and being Ranked Top 3% Nationally for Patient Satisfaction by Sarah Bush Lincoln Hospital. As of today, he works in Mattoon alongside the Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center where he touts an impressive record of more than 10,000 surgeries performed. He specializes in cataract surgery and advanced technology intraocular lenses.
During the ceremony, three Lake Land alumni were inducted into the Lake Land College Distinguished Alumni Society, which recognizes alumni who have made a lasting imprint in their career fields and in their communities. The 2025 Distinguished Alumni Society inductees are David Brummer of Taylorville, Diane Gillaspie of Mattoon and Tucker Wood of Brocton.
A 1975 graduate of Lake Land College, Brummer has long been an active and entrepreneurial member of the central Illinois area. In 2002, he developed Whitetail Crossing Cabin Village, a family vacation resort near Lake Shelbyville. In 2016, he co-founded Locked & Loaded, an outdoor sports center and online retailer based in Pana. As a 40-year resident of Taylorville, Brummer has been an active member of his church and contributor to the local community. At St. Mary’s Parish, he has served as a member of parish council, school board, youth advisory chair and a member of the Parish School of Religion faculty. He also served as a member of the Business Development District Board and the Zoning Committee for the City of Taylorville as well as the Taylorville Memorial Hospital Foundation Board.
Gillaspie has been an educator for more than 25 years as a teacher, instructional coach and a Director of Curriculum and Instruction. She spent much of her career in St. Louis City school, providing education to students in need of caring teachers. She later served as an administrator in a small community much like her hometown of Mattoon. She currently provides professional learning to teachers at all career levels in St. Louis. She considers her greatest accomplishment to be moving back to Mattoon and opening a business, The Doggie Depot, with her husband. Today, the Doggie Depot continues to serve the local counties and K9 Kids while also giving back to the community.
Wood is a lifelong agricultural professional and a nationally-recognized expert in farmland brokerage and auctions. He attended Lake Land College from 2003–2005 on a Livestock Judging Scholarship, consistently placing in the top ten at every national contest. He was named High Individual at the Dixie National in Jackson, Mississippi, and capped his judging career with the Superior Producers award—honoring him as the highest-ranking individual on his team. Wood is an Accredited Land Consultant (ALC), a designation held by less than one percent of all real estate professionals in the U.S. He is the founder of Tucker Wood & Associates, a full-service real estate brokerage specializing in farmland sales and auctions. Before establishing his own firm, Wood served as the lead auctioneer for a national real estate company, covering everything east of the Mississippi River and the eastern half of Iowa. He continues to hold real estate broker and auctioneer licenses in multiple states.
In addition to the alumni awards, three former Lake Land employees were also recognized during the ceremony as the 2025 inductees into the Lake Land College Retiree Wall of Fame. Created in 2008, the Retiree Wall of Fame honors retired Lake Land faculty and staff for their outstanding achievements in service of the College. The 2025 Wall of Fame inductees were John Bennett of Urbana, Dr. Deborah Hutti of Charleston and Dr. Tina Stovall of Charleston.
Throughout his career, Bennett has been a movie usher, landscaper, Teamster, racehorse hotwalker, steel mill worker, letter carrier, kindergarten teacher and grad school faculty member. The heart of his career was over two decades in Lake Land’s Humanities Division teaching composition, literature, journalism and arts appreciation courses. In this checkered career, he edited a range of publications from Highlights for Children to scholarly and professional journals. He also served as chair of the Illinois Board of Higher Education’s Faculty Advisory Council. In retirement, he does occasional freelance editorial work from his Coffee Break Studio for such clients as the New York Guitar Festival, teaches at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and works part-time as a docent at Krannert Art Museum.
Hutti joined Lake Land College in 1996 and remained with the college until 2016. Throughout that time, she served in multiple capacities in Academic Services, enjoying countless opportunities to collaborate with faculty, staff, and students on ideas and activities that helped to move community college teaching and learning forward. Hutti received a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Missouri, St. Louis, a master’s degree in English from Eastern Illinois University and a doctorate from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Higher Education Administration.
Dr. Tina Stovall began her educational career at Lake Land College, transferred to Eastern Illinois University and graduated with her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Afterwards, she returned to Lake Land to begin her career as an Academic Counselor. Following the completion of a doctorate at the University of Illinois, she spent six years with Moraine Valley Community College as the Dean for Counseling, Advising and Multicultural Student Affairs. She later took the opportunity to return to Lake Land as the Vice President for Student Services. She served as the vice president for 13 years, enjoying the honor and pleasure of working together with students and colleagues across the College.
