Georgia Southern University honored ten alumni Saturday at the annual Alumni Association Awards Banquet for their outstanding career accomplishments and support of their alma mater.

Chris Riley, 1992 GSU alumni, received the Alumnus of the Year award.

Riley graduated with a degree in justice studies and was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

“Chris is an outstanding example of an alumnus that is using his time and talents to support his alma mater every day,” President Brooks Keel said in a news release.

Riley went to work for Governor Nathan Deal after graduating from GSU. He worked up from the bottom becoming chief of staff, overseeing all aspects of the Governor’s office and agencies throughout the state.

President and CEO of Peachtree Capital Corporation, Caroline Harless, received the Alumna of the Year in Private Enterprise award.

Harless, who graduated in 1977 with a M.B.A. in finance/management, is co-owner of Flat Creek Lodge in eastern Georgia, a partner of Harless and Associates, a member of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and serves on numerous committees and boards for GSU.

Apart from Alumnus of the Year and Alumna of the Year in Private Enterprise, each of the eight colleges at GSU recognized an exceptional alumnus.

The College of Health and Human Sciences honored J.E. Rowe, who played for the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers and was the head basketball coach at GSU from 1971-1974, as its Alumnus of the Year.

The department of Biology Alumnus of the Year went to Dr. Jimmy Wedincamp, who served as a lieutenant in the United States Army Medical Services Corp. Reserves from 1998-2004.

Wedincamp is currently the chairman for the department of Biology at East Georgia State College in Swainsboro and owner of Entonix Pest Management Solutions, in the Emanuel County Medical Reserve Corps Unit and a partner and scientific consultant for Environmental Consulting and Investigative Services Firm.

Meg Heap, District Attorney in Savannah and a solo practitioner, graduated in 1986 with a B.S. in Sociology, and was honored with the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences’ Alumnus of the Year award.