Johnson, Veis this year's Northern Founders Excellence Award recipients

Press release

The Northern Alumni Foundation has announced that this year's Founders Excellence Award winners are Kurt Johnson and Pam L. Veis.

The Founders' Excellence is an award given to deserving individuals in honor of their professional accomplishments, loyalty, and service that have enhanced the development of Montana State University-Northern.

This celebration for Johnson and Veis will take place April 14 in the Northern Student Union Building Ballroom.

Cocktail hour starts at 5:30 p.m. and a prime rib dinner will begin at 6:30 pm. The Founders' Excellence Award Dinner is open to the public. Tickets are $40 per person. People are asked toe RSVP by April 10 by calling 406-265-3711.

Kurt Johnson, class of '85 was born and reared in Cut Bank. After high school he wanted to attend Montana State University in Bozeman, but a last-minute decision put him at Montana State University-Northern, then Northen Montana College. He received a degree in agricultural business and had hopes of taking over the family farm. After college, Kurt worked in the motel business for 25 years while starting a family of his own.

He is the owner of Vic's Place Lounge and Casino and continues to serve the Foundation as past chair of the Board of Trustees.

Johnson is always there to lend a helping hand when it comes to Northern. He said he knows Northern was good to him and he likes to give back. As a business owner, he said, he appreciates the impact this college has on the community, saying, "We help Northern get going and in return they help us."

Johnson is very active in the Havre community and a true family man. He serves on the Northern Lights Athletic Scholarship Foundation board of trustees, and he is father to five children, grandfather to 12.

"We appreciate all of his hard work and dedication to MSU-Northern," the Northern press release announcing his receiving the Founders Excellence Award said.

Pam Veis was born in Shelby and graduated from North Toole County High School in Sunburst in 1981. The following year, she attended Northern Montana College on a Presidential Scholarship, and she earned her associate degree in nursing in 1984.

Following her graduation from Northern, Veis embarked on a 29-year career in community mental health as a psychiatric registered nurse/adult case manager. Veis has sat on various boards including for Montana Actors' Theatre, Bullhook Community Health Center, Hi-Line Women's Coalition, Downtown Havre Matters, the Hi-Line Arts Council, and the Hill County Community Foundation, where she has served as chair for the past eight years.

Veis first graced the Northern stage over 40 years ago. She has been involved with MAT since its inception. She also has been acting and directing professionally with the Fort Peck Summer Theatre for the past 16 years. From the arts to athletics, Veis and her husband, Gerry, are avid supporters of Northern. They were involved in the "Adopt A Light" program for 17 years. They have been married for 39 years and have two adult children, Mikyla (Robert Mueller) and Tanner (Chelsea Nottingham).