Recipients 2018
Jay Altringer, earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management from Minot State. For nearly 40 years, he has been associated with Investors Management and Marketing (IMM), serving as president and, currently, as CEO. IMM is the largest fee-based property management company in North Dakota and manages over 5,500 units in North Dakota and Minnesota.
He holds the Institute of Real Estate Managers and the National Association of Realtors title of certified property manager for his professionalism in the property management field. He has held his North Dakota real estate license since 1976 and received his GRI certificate in 1979.
Altringer is a founding member of the North Dakota Apartment Association and has served as an officer. He received the Service Award for his contributions to the association. He is past president of the Souris Valley Apartment Association.
His volunteer activities have been youth focused. Altringer has been a member of several youth organizations and has served on the Board of Directors of the Minot Swim Club, the Minot Soccer Association, Triangle Y Camp, and the Minot Family YMCA. He is past president of the Minot Y’s Men’s Club and past chairman of the Minot Y’s Men’s Rodeo.
Altringer has been a member of the MSU Board of Regents since 2007. He is a member of the Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity.
He and his wife, Dyanne, have two sons, Schan and Cole. The Altringer family established a scholarship at Minot State in memory of Cole, who passed away in 2003, which is awarded to a full-time student-athlete in the MSU varsity soccer program with preference given to student-athletes from the Minot area.
Don Hummel is a 1975 graduate of Minot State University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He and his wife, Sherry, are long-time Minot residents, strong community supporters, and have owned Minot’s Burger King Restaurants since 1976. Hummel is the current president of MinKing, Inc., a franchisee of Burger King, and Minot Coin and Bullion, both currently in partnership with his son, Josh.
His commitment to the community continued when he established the Burger King Scholarship Endowment in 1995. This scholarship is awarded to an employee or an immediate family member of an employee of Burger King of Minot.
While at Minot State, Hummel was active on campus. He is a proud member of the Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity, participating in many of their activities on campus. He was a student senator on the Student Government Association and represented the Sig Tau’s as part of that committee.
Hummel is a member of the MSU Board of Regents, serving as its chair from 2006-08. He is a member of the Minot State University Old Main Society and the MSU Presidents Club. He has also been involved with the MSU Beaver Boosters, Minot Coin Club, Trinity Foundation, Bethany Lutheran Church Foundation, Minot Planning Commission, Minot Y's Men’s Club, and the YMCA board of directors.
Hummel and wife, Sherry, were married in 1976. They have two children, Monica Haugen and Josh Hummel, and five grandchildren.
Howard Klug graduated from Minot State University in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education and a minor in business. During his time at Minot State, Klug earned a letterman’s certificate in football and was named the Forrest E. Clyde Sigma Tau Gamma “Man of the Year” in 1977-78.
Klug is both an Eagle Scout and the recipient of special recognition and achievement by the American Heart Association after having saved a woman’s life in 2001 by administering CPR.
After graduation, Klug moved back to Williston where he worked in the hospitality industry for 30 years, managing the El Rancho Hotel, Restaurant and Lounge as a part-owner.
He is the former President of the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and former board member of the Upper Missouri Valley Fair Board. He is also a member of the Moose Lodge and the President of the Williston Senior Citizens board where he and his wife, Melanie, regularly volunteer. Klug is extremely active in Williston and surrounding communities, volunteering his time to Meals on Wheels, and several boards including the Cemetery board, the Williston Economic Development board, the Regional Economic Development board, and the STAR fund board.
In 2010, Klug was elected to the Williston City Commission and in 2014 he was elected as President of the Williston City Commission, Mayor of Williston. Klug is now in his second term and remains committed to increasing quality of life measures in western North Dakota and leading Williston through its next chapter.
When Klug isn’t officially volunteering or sitting on a board, he uses his time to serve the community in other ways and is often found serving food or weeding and watering flowers around town.
Chuck Kramer
graduated from Minot State in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in business management. While at Minot State he participated in football.
Kramer began working at I. Keating Furniture in 1969 and purchased the business from the Keating Family in 1998. Working with his wife, Nancy, sons, Matt and Jesse, brothers, Mark and Tim, and brother-in-law, Loren Schwab, the company now has stores in Minot, Bismarck, Dickinson, Williston, Billings, Mont., Bozeman, Mont., and Great Falls, Mont.
He is a deacon in the Roman Catholic Church and has been assigned to St. John the Apostle parish in Minot.
Kramer has two granddaughters, Haley, a senior at NDSU in Fargo, and Emma, a senior at Minot High School, and a grandson, Luca, who is one-year-old.
Tawnya Bernsdorf, the 2017 Young Alumni Achievement Award winner,
joined the Minot State University College of Business team in January 2016 as an adjunct instructor. In Fall 2016, she became a full-time instructor teaching marketing classes.
She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and Management from Minot State in 2004 and a Master of Science in Management from MSU in 2008. She is currently working towards her Ph. D. in business management with a specialization in marketing.
After graduating college in 2004, Bernsdorf took a position at Minot State as Director of Alumni Relations & Annual Giving. While there, she established connections and relationships through various alumni events and significantly increased annual giving from alumni, faculty, and staff.
In 2011, a flood devastated the community of Minot and Bernsdorf joined the Minot Area Community Foundation as the Flood Recovery Fund Coordinator and Program Director. She joined North Dakota Port Services in June 2013 as the Director of Public Relations. Her vast skills and knowledge encompass many different industries including event planning, fundraising, public relations, community relations, and marketing.
Bernsdorf was co-chair of the Community Links Committee with the Young Professionals group for five years. Currently, she sits on the MSU Academic Visioning Committee, the MSU Marketing Committee, and the MSU Online Studies committee. She is the advisor for the MSU Collegiate DECA Chapter, receiving the honor of DECA Advisor of the Year for 2017-18. She is also one of the advisors to the Roger Looyenga Leadership Program at MSU. Bernsdorf is very involved in the community, sitting on the Souris Valley United Way board, the MSU Beaver Hockey Board of Directors, the Sertoma Club of Minot, and Delta Kappa Gamma Teachers Society. She is honored to have received the Professor of the Year for College of Business during the 2016-17 academic year.
