Lamar University announces 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients

Lamar University announced the recipients of the 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award on March 3. Established in 1970 by the Lamar University Alumni Association, the Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes LU alumni who have enhanced the reputation of the university by distinguishing themselves in their careers or life services. The award also recognizes those alumni who have made significant contributions to their community, state and nation through civil activities and professional and public service.

“Lamar University has so many amazing alumni and the Distinguished Alumni Awards gives the university the perfect opportunity to recognize their achievements, service to the university, and how they are making a difference in the world,” said Shannon Figueroa, director of Alumni Affairs. “The honorees serve as wonderful examples of what one could achieve with a foundation of a Lamar University degree. I believe they inspire the entire campus community by the lives they live.”

This year, four alumni – Orlando Alvarez, Myrna Dunnam, Frank Messina and Julie Wenah – will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest award Lamar University bestows upon its graduates.

“The 2022 honorees were chosen from a pool of talented, successful and loyal alumni. They represent the diversity that makes our university so great. Their dedication to their professions, service to their communities and loyalty to their alma mater epitomizes the true Lamar University spirit.”

The four recipients will be recognized at the Distinguished Alumni Awards Ceremony at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 23 in the University Event Center. The ceremony will include a formal dinner and awards presentation, highlighting each honoree and their achievements.

Award recipient and President of Messina’s Liquor Incorporated Frank Messina, LU Class of ’71, still lives and works in Southeast Texas. Messina, the eldest of six boys, grew up in a large Italian family in Beaumont. In 1971, he graduated from LU with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in marketing. While at LU, Messina was a member of the prestigious Blue Key Honor Society and national organization Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity, serving as vice president and then president his senior year.

After playing football for LU and graduating, he joined the Cardinal Club and served on the board for more than 40 years, serving as president two different times. In 1989, Frank co-chaired the Save Lamar University Football campaign and, although it was unsuccessful in 1989, LU football returned in 2010. The Cardinal Club raised funds each year for student athlete scholarships. With funds raised between the years of 1985-1990, the Club was able to make a Cardinal Club endowment to the LU Foundation in 1990 for $500,000, which is used yearly for athletic scholarships.

Surrounded by grandparents, uncles and cousins, all of whom owned their own retail businesses, Messina was always drawn to business enterprises. His first job was at the Beaumont Enterprise as the city circulation director. He remembers that after two years, he was offered a promotion and $50 more a month to move to Morgan City, Louisiana, and manage circulation for four newspapers. He declined, deciding instead to lease a building on Magnolia Street to open a liquor store.

During the next 25 years, the business would expand to include five retail stores with locations in Beaumont and Port Arthur. Supplying restaurants throughout the area, Messina soon joined the Sabine Area Restaurant Association and was an active board member for more than 40 years. He served as co-chairman of Chef’s Delight, a fine dining fundraiser for LU students, for many years. In 2012, through the Chef’s Delight event, the SARA was able to give the Lamar University Hospitality Administration-Culinary Arts program an endowed scholarship of $250,000. The Taste of the Triangle was also a SARA fundraiser that he has worked with for the past 40 years and in 2012, the SARA chose Messina as their honoree for the 2012 Taste of the Triangle.

He also served on the board of the Beaumont Convention & Visitors Bureau for more than 40 years and is a past board member of the American Red Cross, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the Italian American Society of Beaumont. Messina is a past president of the Lamar University Alumni Association, a past trustee of the Lamar University Foundation Board, and a longtime supporter of Lamar University Athletics.

For more information or to make reservations for the Distinguished Alumni Awards Ceremony, visit www.lamar.edu/daa. Seating is limited and the deadline to register is Friday, April 8. To learn more about this award, submit a nomination or to see previous LU Distinguished Alumni Award recipients, visit www.lamar.edu/alumni.