Utah State University Lets Its "Aggie" Light Shine Bright at Founders Day

Utah State University is turning 129 this year and is celebrating by honoring alumni and friends at the annual Founders Day Ceremony Friday, March 3. The event honors five USU alumni and friends with the theme “Let Our ‘Aggie’ Light Shine Bright.”

The 2017 award recipients are Margaret Forsgren Anderson, Barry Kellogg Moore and Allan J. Steed who will receive the Distinguished Alumnus Awards; and Gregory A. and JaLynn Prince, who will receive a Distinguished Service Award.

The USU Alumni Association Executive Board presents Distinguished Alumni Awards to alumni who have best applied knowledge, initiative and individuality in service to the university, the public or his or her profession. The Distinguished Service Awards are given to individuals or couples who had made significant contributions to their community, the university or the world at large.

“We are honoring individuals who, through their generosity and tireless effort, have made a significant impact on Utah State, in their individual communities and throughout the world,” said Dave Butterfield, incoming president of the USU Alumni Association and Division President with USU Credit Union.

Founders Day activities begin at 6 p.m. with an opening reception in the International/Sunburst Lounge followed by awards and musical program in the in the Taggart Student Center on the university campus.

Margaret Forsgren Anderson
Distinguished Alumna

Since her time at Utah State University as a student, Margaret Forsgren Anderson has been a dedicated “Aggie.” The younger of two daughters in her family from Brigham City, Anderson enrolled at USU with an interest in child development. After graduating in 1952, she went on to a successful and rewarding career as an elementary school and kindergarten teacher for 17 years.

Anderson’s time at USU was fruitful, as she was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega Sorority and the Republican Women’s Association. It was during her USU years that she would meet, and then marry, her husband DeLonne Anderson. The couple celebrated many successes throughout their marriage, including the welcome addition of three children, two of which would become Aggies.

A self-proclaimed “super cocoa drinker,” Anderson became an investor in the Stephen’s Gourmet Hot Cocoa Company, and later became the company’s owner. The financial success of the company allowed Margaret to dedicate herself to giving to others. Currently, she works with the foundation named for her late husband, the DeLonne Anderson Family Foundation, that supports many charitable organizations. The Anderson family, along with its foundation, and Stephen’s Gourmet Hot Cocoa, sponsored the DeLonne Anderson Memorial Golf Tournament to support Utah State Athletics.

Community-minded and philanthropic, Anderson has served on many boards over the years, including as a member of the Utah Botanical Center Foundation Board and the Brigham City Improvement Club. She has also been involved with the Box Elder School District Foundation, the Davis School District Foundation, and is a member of the board for the Star Valley Medical Center in Afton, Wyoming. Anderson has been the recipient of a USU Alumni Merit Citation and a Hearts and Hands Award from the Utah State Big Blue Club for her sponsorship of the DeLonne Anderson Memorial Golf Tournament.

Anderson still finds time to enjoy life. Since selling Stephen’s Gourmet Hot Cocoa in 2005, she splits her time between her home in Utah and her 200-acre ranch in Star Valley, Wyoming. An avid reader, she loves Agatha Christie novels. Anderson also finds pleasure spending time with family and friends and enjoys a round of golf during the warmer months.

Barry Kellogg Moore
Distinguished Alum

Barry Kellogg Moore came to Utah State University in the fall of 1961 as a transfer student interested in forestry. While pursuing his degree, Moore’s interests led him elsewhere and he changed majors graduating with a degree in business administration in 1965. His years at USU would cement Moore’s strong kinship to the institution and solidify his continuing relationship and support of the “Aggies.”

After graduation, Moore began what would become a lucrative and ever-changing career in the insurance industry. Starting as a freshman agent with his father’s firm in Des Moines, Iowa, Moore returned to Utah in 1968 to join the Ogden-based firm, Eubank Insurance and Bonds. In 1970, he was recruited to assist in establishing an insurance brokerage subsidiary of U.S. Financial Corporation in San Diego, California, where he focused on insurance and surety bonding for the real estate development business.

Joining other principals from U.S. Financial Corporation, Moore and his colleagues created their own brokerage firm in 1975 known as Goreham Moore & Associates that incorporated the same operational focus while extending into the new areas of technology, manufacturing, hospitality and health care. The company’s success bore fruit when it was acquired in 2003 by Talbot Insurance and Financial Service.

In 2004, Talbot Insurance and Financial Service became part of HUB International, a large North American insurance brokerage whose 2016 estimated combined revenues exceeded $1 billion.  Moore served as executive vice president of HUB International and was responsible for its San Diego operations until 2011 when he resigned to devote his energies to client development and relations for the company, a role he continues to this day.

Throughout his successful career, Moore continued to maintain close ties to USU. In 1995, he was instrumental in organizing the first out-of-state chapter for the USU Alumni Association, serving both as president for the San Diego Aggie Chapter for six years and as a member of the USU Alumni Executive Board.

Moore has served on many community and professional boards and enjoys participating in outdoor activities. He resides in Del Mar, California. His wife, Penelope, passed away in 2014. The couple have four children and eight grandchildren.

Allan J. Steed
Distinguished Alum

An “Aggie” through and through, Utah State University alum Allan J. Steed served his entire career as a leader in the rapidly evolving space technology industry.

After joining the staff of USU’s Electro Dynamics Laboratory (EDL) in 1964, Steed worked on many high-level projects including developing and supporting instruments that flew on an Air Force KC-135 flying laboratory, building visible and infrared remote sensing instruments used in ground-based observations and launching high-atmosphere sounding rockets to perform atmospheric and space research. Steed’s involvement and leadership on these projects led to his becoming director of EDL in 1978. In 1982, he was named director of USU’s Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) when SDL was created from a merger of EDL and the USU’s Space Measurement Lab.

In 1988, SDL was transitioned from USU’s College of Engineering to the Utah State University Research Foundation. After the transition, Steed served as the director of the Systems Division at SDL that produced major instruments for the space shuttle and satellites. In 1996, Steed was appointed CEO of the USU Research Foundation and director of SDL. He later chose to concentrate solely on his role at SDL where he played a pivotal role in the lab’s transition from a small university lab to its present day status as a world leader known for its development of revolutionary solutions in the space industry. During this time, Steed would lead a staff of more than 330 professionals and technical experts with an overall responsibility for 43 space research programs funded by 31 government and commercial customers. He retired in 2003 with a total of more than 25 years of leadership.

A champion of student and faculty involvement in SDL’s programs, Steed served on graduate committees and taught graduate-level optics and space engineering courses in USU’s College of Engineering. He included student-funded support in SDL budgets providing not only financial support, but hands-on experience for nearly 100 students every year, a policy that continues to this day.

Among Steed’s many accolades are the Utah Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology, USU’s D. Wynne Thorne Research Award, USU Faculty Researcher of the Year and the USU Leone Leadership Award. Steed has continued to serve the university as a consultant, board member and endowed scholarship provider. In 2016, he served as the commencement speaker for USU’s College of Engineering ceremony.

Steed graduated with a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate in electrical engineering from USU. He and his wife, Kaye, a fellow USU alum who graduated from the College of Education and Human Services, live in Cache Valley. The couple have four children all of whom, along with their spouses, have graduated from USU.

Gregory A. and JaLynn Prince
Distinguished Service

Gregory A. and JaLynn Prince have devoted their efforts to serving others and helping those less fortunate, both personally and professionally, throughout their 40-plus years of marriage.

Together, the Princes have made a tremendous impact on issues confronting families dealing with autism. In 2006, the couple co-founded the Madison House Autism Foundation, one of the first organizations in this country working exclusively on issues facing adults with autism. The foundation, named after their son Madison, who now functions as an adult with autism, works on nationwide topics of housing, employment, education, awareness and safety involving individuals on the autism spectrum.

On a professional level, Gregory spent a four-decade career in medical research focused on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the primary cause of infant pneumonia worldwide where he pioneered the prevention of the disease in high-risk infants using antiviral antibodies. On a personal level, Gregory has dedicated much of his free time to the study and writing of church history in connection with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Throughout the years, he has become one of the leading scholars on Mormon studies and is the author of two books, Power from on High: The Development of Mormon Priesthood (1995) and David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism (2005). Gregory’s most recent book, Leonard Arrington and the Writing of Mormon History was published in 2016 and, in 2013, he presented the 19th annual Leonard J. Arrington Mormon History Lecture at USU.

Professionally, JaLynn has dedicated much of her life as a humanitarian documenting the challenges in healthcare, education and poverty in underserved countries. She has worked as global photographer/photo journalist in the broadcasting arena. She also has worked as a management consultant, a press secretary on Capitol Hill, an arts administrator and community developer. JaLynn serves on several boards and in 1999 was named “National Young Mother of the Year” by American Mothers, Inc. She also serves on advisory groups of universities, is a member of the Royal Society of Medicine and has spoken at TED University Oxford.

Gregory and JaLynn reside in Washington, D.C., and are the parents of three children – Chad, Lauren and Madison. Though not USU graduates, the couple are proud supporters of USU, particularly the Leonard J. Arrington Chair in the Religious Studies Program. A series of JaLynn’s photos from India have been on exhibition at the university.

Contact: Scott Olson, 435-797-0931, scott.olson@usu.edu