The UALR Alumni Association and Foundation Fund Board will present its top honors of the year at an 11:30 a.m. Friday, May 13, luncheon at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center, celebrating the year’s Distinguished Alumnus, the recipient of the President’s Award, and the winner of the Edward L. Whitbeck Memorial Award, the university’s top academic award.

The 2011 Distinguished Alumnus is John Ward, a 1968 graduate whose public relations expertise was instrumental in the successful campaign of Winthrop Rockefeller for governor and his re-election in 1968.

The Distinguished Alumnus Award acknowledges exceptional achievement of a former student of UALR, Little Rock University, or Little Rock Junior College, who has achieved extraordinary distinction in his or her field or made special contributions to the community.

Cindy Conger, a graduate in 1980 and 1983, will receive the President’s Award, saluting a graduate who combines career success with dedication to the university. Conger, owner of Conger Wealth Management, has been identified by Worth Magazine for a decade as one of the top practitioners in the nation in its “Top 250 Wealth Advisers” and was named to Wealth Manager Magazine’s “50 Distinguished Women in Wealth Management.

Suzanne Garcia of Little Rock, a Donaghey Scholar who graduates this month with a B.A. degree in English and minor in creative writing, will receive the Whitbeck Award.

A participant in the Ronald E. McNair Program and recipient of the Benjamin Gilman Scholarship for study abroad, Garcia has maintained a 4.0 grade point average and served as an ambassador for the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, co-editor of the Equinox literary publication, vice president of the international English honor society, co-chair of the Donaghey Scholars Program Council, and volunteer at the Bryant Animal Control Shelter.

The Whitbeck Award is the greatest distinction UALR bestows on a graduating student based on citizenship, scholarship, and leadership. As the Whitbeck winner, Garcia will wear a silver robe, a medallion, and lead the processional at commencement.