Dr. Karen M. Kuehner Receives Coker College Distinguished Alumni Service Award

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Dr. Karen M. Kuehner is presented the Distinguished Alumni Service Award by Coker College President Robert Wyatt

HARTSVILLE, SC (07/25/2011)(readMedia)-- Dr. Karen M. Kuehner, a 1964 graduate of Coker College and a resident of Blythewood, S.C., recently received the Distinguished Alumni Service Award during the College's Alumni Weekend. The Distinguished Alumni Service Award is given each year to an individual considered most outstanding in any or all of the following areas: volunteer and community contributions, exceptional service to Coker College, exceptional service to state or nation. Kuehner's sister, Tanya Kuehner Sisk, of Lexington, S.C., also received this year's award.

After graduating from Coker, Kuehner received her M.A. and Doctorate of Education from the University of South Carolina. She resides in Blythewood and has served her community well. She served on the Architectural Review Board in Blythewood and on the Columbia College Coalition for Social Work Education, of which she was committee chair. She also served on the National Eligibility Workers Association Board of Directors. In 1999, she received the Contribution to Excellence in Public Service and Outstanding Practitioner Awards.

A large portion of Kuehner's professional and personal service has taken place in the Republic of Armenia, where after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, she was asked by the United States Information Agency to participate in a project to provide training and technical assistance for government officials of the newly independent Republic of Armenia. The initial program was delivered during the month of November in 1992, and she was invited to return in 1993 for a month of project evaluation and follow-up training. In 1998, she was invited by the United States Agency for International Development to return to provide training for Armenia's city and regional government budget managers.

She and her husband also opened their home in Columbia and provided tuition assistance at the University of South Carolina to two young Armenian sisters, whose parents Kuehner had met during her earlier work in Armenia. Both young women now have successful careers with humanitarian aid organizations in Armenia.

Established in 1908, Coker College readies undergraduates for personal and professional success through a distinctive four-year program that emphasizes a practical application of the liberal arts as well as hands-on and discussion-based learning within and beyond the classroom. Coker is ranked among the "Best Colleges" in the South by U.S. News & World Report as well as The Princeton Review. Located in Hartsville, S.C., Coker is within two hours of the cultural, financial and recreational resources of Charlotte, Columbia, Charleston and Myrtle Beach.