Moberly Area Community College Alumni Association will host its annual meeting at the Alumni & Friends Banquet on Saturday, September 23. The reunion classes of 1953, 1963, 1973, 1998, and 2013 will all be recognized. As part of the evening, the Alumni Association will honor five award recipients.
Michelle Scanavino, Outstanding Faculty
Michelle Scanavino, originally from Vienna, Ohio, graduated summa cum laude with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Zoology and Pre-Medicine from Ohio Wesleyan University. While at Ohio Wesleyan, Scanavino was awarded the Presidential Scholarship for Academic Excellence and the George Harris Award for excellence in Zoology. She moved to Missouri to attend the University of Missouri’s Division of Biological Sciences to earn her Master’s degree in Biology, receiving the Elizabeth Cass Wills Prize for graduate research, the GAANN fellowship for graduate work, and a McKinley Research Grant for field work. She spent a summer performing lab research in the Amazon and Galapagos Islands. Scanavino began teaching at Mizzou while adjunct teaching at MACC-Mexico, and earned the Excellence in Adjunct Teaching Award from MACC in 2006. She moved to MACC full-time to teach Biology in Mexico, where she has earned the rank of full professor, the Governor’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 2015, Parris Award in 2016 and Distinguished Educator in 2022. She has served as Assessment Chair, HLC Committee co-chair, Faculty Forum President, Department Coordinator, Phi Theta Kappa Advisor, LARC committee, Curriculum committee, LOGOS committee, and several hiring committees. Scanavino is married to Anthony Scanavino, and they have one son, Emille.
Dr. Cliff Miller, Distinguished Service
Dr. Cliff Miller is a graduate of Moberly High School. After high school, Cliff sought his veterinary degree at the University of Missouri’s College of Veterinary Medicine and was the recipient of the Dr. Randolph Practitioner Award, which was chosen by faculty for the graduate most likely to succeed in general practice. He began his general practice work at a large practice in Kansas City. In 2003, he returned to Moberly and opened his own practice, Green Hills Veterinary Clinic. Miller is very involved with the Missouri Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA). He began in 2005 as a district officer, then served on the MVMA board from 2008-2013, on the executive board 2014-2018, and served as President of the MVMA in 2017. He has served as the Chairman of its legislative committee since 2012. He was recognized in 2018 with the MVMA Legislative Leadership Award after being instrumental in changing statute of limitations legislation and was recognized as the MVMA Veterinarian of the Year in 2020. As Legislative Chairman for the MVMA, Miller helped advocate for Vet Nursing programs around the state and to improve funding for those programs, and was supported and encouraged the new Registered Veterinary Technician Program at MACC-Mexico. In July, he received the Dean’s Impact Award from College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri. Miller is married to Suzanne Miller, and they have 3 sons: Collin, Grant, and Ryan.
Ann Parks (’89), Distinguished Service
Ann has lived most of her life in Moberly, graduating from Moberly High School in 1982. She earned her Associate’s degree from MACC in 1989, began her career at MACC in 1990 as a payroll clerk, moving up to Director of Personnel (now Human Resources) in 1994, the position she still holds. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Columbia College in 2001. Parks has served as Phi Theta Kappa advisor and as a board member for Missouri College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, Randolph County EXCEL, Moberly Area Council on the Arts, and United Way. She has been honored with the Missouri Community College Association Senior Service Award and the MACC Innovation Award. She has two grown children and five grandsons.
Distinguished Service Awards will be presented to Dr. Cliff Miller of Green Hills Veterinary Clinic and Ann Parks, MACC Director of Human Resources.
Aliesha (Blackaby) Edwards (’96), Outstanding Alumni
Aliesha Edwards graduated from Paris High School, then MACC’s LPN program in 1996. She continued into the ADN/RN program, graduating in 1997 at the top of her class, receiving the Academic Excellence Award. She began her nursing career at University of Missouri – Ellis Fischel Cancer Center, then transferred to a local nursing home. She became the Director of Nursing Services at age 22 and worked for eight years before moving to the critical care unit at the Audrain Medical Center in Mexico, Missouri, where she became the Critical Care Coordinator. She is currently the Administrator of the Missouri State Veterans Home in Mexico, caring for 150 veterans. Edwards and her husband Justin have four children and own two businesses in Paris. Edwards also serves on the Paris R-II School Board and the High Limit Productions Foundation Board, which raises funds for the Children’s Miracle Network.
Luke Sears (‘14), Outstanding Young Alumni
Luke Sears grew up and was home-schooled outside of Madison, Missouri, on his family farm. After graduating from MACC in 2014, he attended the University of Missouri, graduating in 2016 with degrees in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He began his engineering career at TG Missouri in Perryville, then moved to Iowa and began work for John Deere on their large dump trucks, ADTs. Shortly thereafter he began working with Eckhart USA to present a concept for the US Army to improve the firing capacity of a self-propelled howitzer, which is still in development. He is currently employed with Eaton Mission Systems in Davenport, Iowa, as a senior mechanical design engineer, working on life-support oxygen systems for fighter pilots. He and his wife Hannah (MACC ’16) have three children, Branson, Elliot, and Cherith.
