Atchison, Kansas

Notable Alumni

A few alumni achievements since the year 2000:

  • 88 pursued vocations to the priesthood or religious life.
  • 13 bank presidents, including the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
  • 7 university presidents, including the presidents of Boise State and the University of Dallas.
  • 5 bishops, from Brazil to Baltimore.
  • 3 U.S. leaders in Washington, D.C., including Senate Sergeant-at-Arms, Terrance Gainer.
  • 2 Kansas Secretaries of Commerce.
  • 1 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.

Notable Alumni

  • Matt Anthony, Global Chairman, VML
  • Lindsay Wright Aydelotte, EMBA, Publisher & Owner of Her Life Magazine
  • Judith Badstieber Hemberger, Chairman and CEO of SuviCa’s, Boulder, Colo.
  • Susan Begesse Prose, Assistant US Attorney, Colorado Attorney General’s Office,
  • Mary Alice Boeding Rice, cofounder of Northrop Rice USA and has served in various capacities within the company including President and Chairman of the Board of Directors.
  • Bishop John B. Brungardt, Dodge City, Kan.
  • Patrick Carr, former President of Hallmark-Canada
  • Bill Dana, CEO of Central Bank
  • Andy Devine (1905 – 1977), American character actor known for his distinctive raspy, crackly voice and roles in Western films (attended 1 year)
  • Terrance Gainer, former U.S. Senate Sergeant-at-Arms
  • Dr. Patrick D. Gallagher, the 18th Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Pittsburgh. Former Director of the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
  • Patrick George, Kansas Secretary of Commerce
  • Michael Haverty,  Executive Chairman of Kansas City Southern Railway
  • Tom Hoenig,  recent Vice Chair of the FDIC and former President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
  • Tom Hoopes, EMBA, journalist, former editor of the National Catholic Register and Faith and Family magazine
  • Marj Henningsen (1964-2019), Founder & Principal of Wellspring Learning Community in Beirut, Lebanon
  • Fr. Matthew Habiger, OSB, director, NFP Outreach, former president of Human Life International
  • Sister Paula Howard, OSB, Iconographer
  • Madeleine M. Leininger, retired professor & foundress of the worldwide Transcultural Nursing movement
  • James Lewis, CEO, Security Bank of Kansas City
  • Bishop Denis James Madden, Baltimore Auxiliary
  • Carolyn Ray Mahoney, President of Lincoln University in Jeff City, MO
  • Tom Metzger, CEO, Bank Midwest
  • Jamie Mueller, former football standout with the Buffalo Bills of the NFL
  • Sister Irene Nowell, OSB, author
  • Charles Ray, U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Zimbabwe
  • Carla Schaefer, Vice President, Scientific Games
  • Susan Schaefer-Hinds, President of The Schaefer House, Jefferson City, MO
  • Chris Tabor, Special Teams Coordinator, Chicago Bears of the NFL
  • Byron Thompson (1932 – 2015), founder and former Chairman, Country Club Bank
  • Bill Thornton, former Kansas Secretary of Commerce
  • Carolyn Watley, President of CBIZ Benefits & Insurance Services
  • Robert Wholey, former Chairman of Heartland Bank
  • Bob Veale, former Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star pitcher

Medical Alumni Group

  • Michael Boland, MD, ’81, Neurosurgeon, St. Luke’s in Chesterfield, Mo.
  • Gerard Brungardt, MD, ’79, Medical Director, Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice, Wichita
  • Jennifer L. Huggins, MD, ’80, Allergist & Immunologist, Internist in Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Aaron Sinclair, MD, 00, Atchison Hospital, Atchison, Kan.
  • Cy Anderson, MD, ’91, Physician, Stormont-Vail Health Care Medical Arts Clinic, Emporia, Kan.
  • Doug Shevlin, MD, ’86, Pathologist, Memorial Medical Center, Springfield, Ill.
  • Dustin Paul, ’11, attending Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, Erie, Penn.
  • Gary Anthone, MD, ’77, Dir. of Bariatric Surgery, Methodist Physicians Clinic, Omaha, Neb.
  • James Bongers, DDS, ’77, Dentist, Junction City, Kan. Family Dentistry
  • Joe Cernich, MD, ’96, Pediatric Endocrinologist, Children’s Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Mo.
  • John Dickinson, MD, ’99, Resident Physician, Barnes Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Mo.
  • Justin Stowell, ’99, attending the University of Kansas School of Medicine, Wichita, Kan.
  • Catherine Hartmann Kassel, ’96, Medical Technologist, Mercy Hospital, Des Moines, Iowa
  • Michael Murray, MD, ’71, Prof of Anesthesiology & Consultant, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Phoenix, Ariz.
  • Ann Taphorn Schroeder, MD, ’85, Topeka, Kan.
  • John P. O’Gara, MD, ’57, Physician, Methodist Hospital, Omaha, Neb.
  • Andrew J. Schreffler, MD, ’90, Surgeon, Kaiser Franklin Memorial Center, Denver, Colo.
  • Richard Wurtz, MD, ’94, Physician, Holy Family Medical Associates, Lincoln, Neb.
  • Roger Fennell, MD, ’71, Physician Anesthesiologist, Pioneers Memorial Hospital, Brawley, Calif.
  • Ron Ferris, MD, ’93, Physician, Holy Family Medical Associates, LLP, Wichita, Kan.
  • Edward Letourneau, MD, ’85, Rheumatologist, Stormont Vail Health Care, Topeka, Kan.
  • William Crowley, III, ’83, DO, Family Practice, Port Lavaca, Texas
  • William Mullican, MD, ’55, Retired, Internal medicine and Research, Evansville, Ind.

Benedictine College Administrators

  • Stephen D. Minnis, President
  • Linda Henry, VP of Student Life
  • Kelly Boland Vowels, VP for Advancement
  • Joseph Wurtz, Dean of Students

Wangari Maathai – Nobel Laureate

Benedictine College is the only Catholic college in America to boast of an alumna who is a Nobel Peace Laureate.  Dr. Wangari Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her contributions to sustainable development, democracy and peace.  The native of Kenya graduated from Atchison’s Mount St. Scholastica College, now Benedictine College, with a degree in biological science in 1964.  She went on to become Africa’s first female Ph.D. and is the first African woman to be awarded any Nobel Prize.

She founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977 and served as Assistant Minister of Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife in Kenya before her death in 2011. Maathai was one of the first two women from Africa to attend Mount St. Scholastica College.  She has many treasured memories of her four years with the Benedictine Sisters, who continue to educate and interact with the more than 1,600 students at Benedictine College.  Dr. Maathai passed away in 2011.