University adds three distinguished alumni honorees

Kalispell broadcaster, writer and photographer G. George Ostrom, Missoula businessman Terry W. Payne and Professor Steve E. Petersen of Washington University in St. Louis are the 2006 recipients of UM’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

The three will receive the awards during UM’s Homecoming festivities Friday, Oct. 13. The presentation of the awards and a reception will take place beginning at 6 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom.

Ostrom, UM class of 1953, joined Kalispell’s KOFI radio in 1956 and has served as co-owner, general manger and news director during the past 50 years.

He built the Kalispell Weekly News into the largest circulation weekly newspaper in Montana. His “Trailwatcher” column, which won first place from the National Newspaper Association in 1996, appears weekly in many Flathead-area newspapers.

In 2004, Ostrom was inducted into the Montana Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame. The author of three books on Glacier National Park, he helped build Flathead Valley Community College, served on its board and taught in its classrooms.

Ostrom has served as a member of UM’s President’s Advisory Council for more than 20 years. He also has served on boards for the Red Cross, ALERT and the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce. He is married to Ann Wilhelm Ostrom, UM class of 1957.

Payne received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from UM in 1963. He is the founder and principal of Terry Payne and Co. Inc., an independent insurance agency established in Missoula in 1972, and serves as the company’s president and chairman of the board. He also is chairman of Payne

Financial Group Inc., which for the past two years received national recognition as a Best Practices Agency from the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America and has been ranked in the top 50 privately owned insurance agencies in the United States by Business Insurance magazine.

He is director of Washington Corporations and numerous other Washington companies, a director of First Interstate BancSystem Inc., and a trustee emeritus for the UM Foundation. Payne endowed a UM Presidential Scholarship and the Don McGonigle Memorial Scholarship for students with disabilities at UM’s School of Business Administration.

He and his wife, Patt, have been highly committed to the Native American Center to be built on campus. Described as a quiet, inspirational hero, he has been instrumental in supporting the Watson Children’s Shelter, the Missoula Family YMCA, Missoula Art Museum and many other area institutions.

Petersen received a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from UM in 1974. He is the James S. McDonnell Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at Washington University in St. Louis.

As a professor in the Washington University neurology, psychology and radiology departments, Petersen has changed the field of neuroscience. He is a pioneer in brain imaging; his work led to understanding the neural substrates of cognitive activity.

One of the nation’s most highly cited neuroscientists, Petersen has published in top science journals. He has received numerous grants and awards, including the Young Investigator Award from the Society for Neuroscience and the Grawemeyer Award in Psychology. He also was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Petersen is a frequent lecturer and has served leadership roles in many professional organizations. He is a popular undergraduate teacher and has mentored graduate students who now have tenure at Harvard, Dartmouth, the University of Pittsburgh and Washington University.

Petersen’s current work focuses on how the brain changes as children progress through stages of learning. He is married to Bonnie Ulvila Petersen, a 1974 UM graduate.