Weber State to ‘salute’ top alumni, Utah community leaders
OGDEN, Utah — This week, Weber State University will host WSU Salutes, an annual ceremony that recognizes alumni from various eras throughout the school’s history, along with community leaders who have made a difference in Utah and beyond.
This year’s ceremony is Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. in the Val A. Browning Center’s Austad Auditorium. The event is free to attend.
Honored guests and awardees include the following:
MASTER OF CEREMONIES
From Wildcat football offensive lineman to student body president to president of the Young Alumni Council, Cash Knight has played a variety of important roles at Weber State. His legacy is one of versatility, leadership and achievement. He was instrumental in establishing the WSU Alumni Association’s Cat2Cat student philanthropy program.
Graduating with a bachelor’s degree in professional sales in 2014, Knight returned to the classroom to earn a master’s degree in professional communication in 2016, the same year he was honored as WSU’s Crystal Crest Man of the Year.
Over the past five years, Knight has built a successful career in real estate, helping clients from around the country build their dream homes in Utah. Before assuming his current role as a new construction specialist with Symphony Homes, Knight served as operations director for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Weber-Davis.
Knight and his wife, Michelle, met at Weber State. These days, they strive to keep up with their 16-month-old daughter. Despite life’s hectic pace, Knight remains a devoted Wildcat and has an enduring commitment to fostering Weber State alumni connections.
EMERITI HOMECOMING ROYALTY
Edward and Deanna Sparrow Kleyn attended Weber State until Ed completed his degree and was drafted into the Army. This was an especially difficult time for the young couple as Deanna had recently given birth to a baby girl. Ed relied heavily on his educational experiences at Weber State and his previous church service to help fulfill his duties as a counselor in the Army prison system at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He also started work on a master’s degree at Pope Air Force Base.
At the end of his military service, Ed accepted a job at a bank — the first position he was offered. As it turned out, banking became his passion. He finished his Master of Business Administration degree in 1976, cultivated meaningful associations with his customers, supported numerous community organizations and served on several boards. In 2010, Ed received the Wall of Fame Award from the Ogden-Weber Chamber of Commerce.
Deanna assumed primary responsibility for raising the couple’s six children, four of whom graduated from Weber State. She also worked at her family business, Sparrow’s Home Furnishings, for 49 years with her father, brothers and now, her son.
Deanna and Ed have been married 54 years and appreciate how much Weber State has enriched their lives. They consider it a good investment to give back to the university by supporting a scholarship fund. In addition, Ed serves on the John B. Goddard School of Business & Economics Advisory Council.
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD
Community activist and social justice advocate Betty Sawyer has been at the forefront of many initiatives to address civil rights, justice and equity in Utah’s public and private sectors. She moved to Utah from Maryland in 1975, and later earned a second bachelor’s degree and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Utah.
As director of the Governor’s Office of Black Affairs, Sawyer worked to gain passage of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday and the establishment of the Utah Martin Luther King Jr. Commission. She collaborated with legislators and members of the Board of Regents to gain $1 million to support a minority scholarship endowment and funding to develop strategic economic development initiatives, including Ethnic Young Achievers and the Marketing & Advertising Program.
In 1991, Sawyer helped launch Project Success Coalition, a grassroots nonprofit organization to boost education, health equity, cultural arts, leadership and job opportunities for Ogden’s inner-city youth.
For 33 years, Sawyer led the movement to have Juneteenth Freedom Day recognized as a Utah holiday. She founded the Utah Black Roundtable, a think tank and policy organization that brings individual voices, congregations, organizations and businesses together to provide proactive solutions to pressing issues.
Sawyer is a life member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and serves as president of the Ogden branch. She led a community effort to preserve the city’s historic Marshall White Community Center.
Sawyer has received many prestigious awards for her community service. She is married to Gerod “Butch” Sawyer.
LEWIS W. SHURTLIFF AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO EDUCATION
Veteran Utah educator Sydnee Dickson has diligently served Utah children for 42 years. In 2007, she joined the Utah State Office of Education, which oversees public K-12 education in Utah, and was named Utah Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2016. Her roles prior to this appointment have included teacher, counselor, school and district administrator.
Dickson began her education in a two-room schoolhouse in rural Utah where her grandmother was her teacher. She went on to earn two master’s degrees in school counseling and school administration, as well as a doctorate in education leadership and policy.
Dickson has served on numerous state and national committees, task forces and governing boards and is frequently called on to present at national convenings. Currently, she serves on the Council of Chief State School Officers Board of Trustees and WestEd’s Board of Directors along with many state councils and commissions.
Dickson’s professional expertise is grounded in engaging community partners, providing educators with evidence-based professional development and advancing student-centered school leadership. She is passionate about developing education ecosystems of support to ensure that all students are given access and opportunities for success through a high-quality education.
OUTSTANDING YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD
Award-winning broadcast journalist and TV personality Morgan Saxton credits Weber State for her career — and her spouse. In 2012, the eager young journalism student hadn’t a clue she would meet her future husband at her first campus interview in Shepherd Union. Fast forward 10 years, Saxton is now married to Chase Saxton, the subject of that interview, and is enjoying a successful and satisfying broadcasting career.
Saxton recognized her professional path in seventh grade, and WSU nurtured her passion by helping her graduate from high school with an associate’s degree.
In 2013, Saxton was hired at the Standard-Examiner newspaper after earning a bachelor’s degree from WSU at age 20. Six months later, she landed her first broadcast position as a reporter in the Midwest, where she managed to brush shoulders with several presidential candidates during the 2016 Iowa caucuses.
Within a year and a half, Saxton moved back to Utah to get married and to work at KUTV Channel 2 as a morning reporter. She stayed at KUTV six years before giving birth to the couple’s first child.
Today, Saxton is a host for FOX 13’s lifestyle show, The PLACE, which airs every weekday at 1 p.m.
Her news directors have praised her willingness to learn and knowledge of newsroom responsibilities. Saxton traces these skills back to the excellent educational opportunities she received at Weber State.
DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD
Anthony John “Tony” Justman grew up on a family farm in western Colorado. His father’s grandparents migrated to Wisconsin from Germany, and his mother’s parents migrated to Colorado from Mexico.
In high school, Justman became active in speech and debate, which led him to Weber State’s nationally recognized debate program. As a student representing Weber State, he traveled to universities across the country, winning awards and tournaments, but also building skills that would shape his professional life.
Justman took courses during the summer to complete majors in political science and communication. With strong support from faculty mentors, he pursued a law degree at Stanford University.
After law school, Justman clerked for the Honorable Herbert Y.C. Choy of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the first Korean-American appointed to the federal bench. Justman then practiced law for more than a decade in San Francisco, learning his craft from exceptional lawyers in respected firms.
In 2007, he joined Sony Interactive Entertainment, the global headquarters for Sony Corporation’s PlayStation division. He advises global teams and executives across PlayStation’s diverse video game business, guiding the business in complex legal areas like intellectual property, antitrust law, data privacy, e-commerce and consumer protection. He helped launch products like PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PlayStation Store and PlayStation Plus.
More recently, Justman has provided executive leadership in industry efforts to ensure video game player well-being and online safety. He supports diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within SIE, in SIE’s products and services and the legal community. He has been an executive sponsor of PlayStation’s Latinx employee resource group, and through organizations like the Hispanic National Bar Association, is committed to supporting this community of young, aspiring attorneys.
DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD
Pediatrician, educator and global health advocate Brett Nelson has worked on all seven continents with organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF and Physicians for Human Rights. However, he traces the roots of his global career back to his formative years at Weber State, where he received unique opportunities that set him on a path towards medicine and humanitarian assistance.
In addition to benefiting from excellent teaching at Weber, Nelson had an opportunity to serve as a teaching assistant for multiple WSU courses. He also assisted with clinical research at McKay-Dee Hospital, used electives to join a surgical mission to Mali, Africa, and participated in service projects that laid the foundation for his passion in addressing health disparities among vulnerable communities globally.
Enabled by his university education, Nelson went on to receive medical and public health degrees from Johns Hopkins, clinical training at Harvard and a tropical medicine diploma in London. One of his first positions out of training was chair of Pediatrics and Senior Pediatrician for Liberia’s Ministry of Health, where he established curricula that trained the first pediatricians in post-conflict Liberia.
Nelson has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and is the editor of the leading textbook in clinical global health. He has obtained millions of dollars in grant funding for training programs to equip healthcare providers across Africa with life-saving skills. He also co-developed low-cost clinical innovations that continue to save lives.
Today, Nelson helps lead global health education for the American Academy of Pediatrics. He has received multiple accolades, including a Fulbright Global Scholar Award and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Johns Hopkins.
EMERITI ALUMNI LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
S. Neal Berube is a lifelong resident of Weber County and a proud 1979 graduate of Weber State. As a student, he served as vice president of Academic Affairs. While campaigning for this office, Berube met fellow student Jeana Hancock, and they were married in February 1979.
Upon graduating from Weber State, Berube went to work for Deloitte in Salt Lake City and obtained his CPA. He was subsequently employed by the Goddard family at United Savings Bank in Ogden, Utah, and spent the last 30 years of his career at Associated Food Stores, where he served a decade as CEO.
Berube, a former commissioner for the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services, was invited to serve on Gov. Gary Herbert’s committee for efficient and effective government. Currently, Berube is the mayor of North Ogden, Utah, and serves on the board of trustees for Intermountain Health.
Through the years, Berube has continued to serve his alma mater by lending his time and expertise to the WSU Alumni Association Board of Directors and the John B. Goddard School of Business & Economics Advisory Council.
Berube and his wife are the parents of three boys, all of whom are WSU alums. In honor of their oldest son, Ryan, who has muscular dystrophy, the couple established a scholarship for WSU students who may have a disability. Berube was also instrumental in obtaining scholarship funding for students with a family history of renal disease.
WSU PRESIDENT’S AWARD
Jesselie Barlow Anderson was raised by parents who instilled in her a potent determination to get a good education and serve her community. Her father, former Utah State Senate President Haven J. Barlow, and mother, Bonnie Rae Barlow, were powerful role models for their six children and set an example of community engagement and public service.
Anderson attended Davis High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Utah. She took a summer job in the Washington, D.C. office of Utah Sen. Wallace F. Bennett and remained in the East for 12 years working for Rep. Laurence J. Burton, Rep. Dan Marriott and Sen. Jake Garn.
She married Scott Anderson in Tokyo, Japan, where he was working for Bank of America. The couple also lived in the San Francisco Bay area before moving to Salt Lake City in 1991, when Scott accepted a position with Zions Bank.
Anderson worked for her family business, Barlow Companies, for 30 years and currently chairs its board of directors.
Her lifetime of community involvement includes a fervent advocacy of higher education. She was a member of the Utah State Board of Regents from 2013 through its transition to the Utah Board of Higher Education, where she served until 2023. At Weber State University, Anderson is actively involved with the Olene S. Walker Institute of Politics & Public Service.
With a keen interest in historical preservation, Anderson chairs the state’s Executive Residence Commission. Previously, she served on the Governor’s Mansion Foundation, the Natural History Museum of Utah Associates Board, and Salt Lake County’s Zoo, Arts & Parks Preservation Committee.
Anderson enjoys spending time at her family farm in Huntsville, Utah, and traveling to Massachusetts’ North Shore.
Karin Hurst, Marketing & Communciations
- Contact:
Bryan Magaña, public relations director
801-626-7948, bryanmagana@weber.edu