Bowers, Everett inducted into Monmouth College's Hall of Achievement

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MONMOUTH, IL (10/10/2018) Monmouth College hosted its annual Alumni Impact Awards ceremony Oct. 5 as part of Homecoming weekend festivities.

The ceremony included the induction of two alumni - David Bowers '60 and Won Yang Everett '68 - into the Hall of Achievement, the highest honor the College bestows upon its graduates.

Other award recipients included: former Virginia legislator Robert Brink '68, Distinguished Alumnus; retired Dean of Students Jacquelyn Condon, Distinguished Service; chief science officer for Hogan Assessment Systems Ryne Sherman '06, Young Alumnus; and the Pepper family, Family of the Year. English professor Mark Willhardt, the College's interim dean of the faculty, was presented with the Hatch Academic Excellence Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Bowers, of Greenville, S.C., retired in 2018 as president and CEO of CompX International Inc., a leading U.S. manufacturer of security products and recreational marine components. An employee of CompX and its predecessors since 1960 in various sales, marketing and executive positions, Bowers was named president of the company in 1998. His leadership role with Monmouth College began in 1974, when he was elected to the Alumni Board, later serving as its president. He joined the Board of Trustees in 1980 and in 1995 became its chair, serving in that position for 13 years. Since providing the naming gift for Bowers Hall in 2001, he has maintained a strong interest in its maintenance, funding updates in décor and furnishings for the residence hall, and recently the construction of a dedicated parking lot for its residents.

A native of Korea and a current resident of Bethesda, Md., Everett followed in the footsteps of her father, Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Key Yang '50, in enrolling at Monmouth College. A math major with a minor in economics, her first position was with the Naval Research Laboratory. As the only woman mathematician in its Electronic Warfare Division, she performed math modeling for a radio frequency direction finding system to assess for enemy locations. After taking time off to raise her three sons, she worked as a systems engineer and program manager for private military contractors, including BAE Systems, Schafer and General Dynamics, and obtained her master's degree from Johns Hopkins University. Prior to her retirement, she was a senior lead engineer selected to the Missile Defense National Team established by the Department of Defense.

Founded in 1853, Monmouth College is a nationally ranked liberal arts college. Affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the birthplace of the women's fraternity movement, the college offers 38 majors, 42 minors, 17 pre-professional tracks, and two innovative Triads in Global Food Security and Global Public Health.