UWAA to Honor Four UW Graduates During UW’s Homecoming

Four University of Wyoming graduates will be honored by the UW Alumni Association (UWAA) and the Office of the President for their professional achievements and support of the university during UW’s Homecoming Monday-Saturday, Sept. 29-Oct. 4, which is sponsored by UniWyo Federal Credit Union.

Maggie Scarlett, Lynne Simpson and Don Snyder are the recipients of the 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award, while Greg Dyekman is the 2025 Medallion Service Award recipient.

“We are genuinely excited to highlight these outstanding alumni at Homecoming this year,” says Jack Tennant, UWAA executive director. “Each honoree showcases the best of UW and sets a great example for our students and fellow alumni.”

The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes alumni who have achieved excellence in their profession; appreciate the impact of their UW education; and are people of integrity, stature and demonstrated ability. The Medallion Service Award recognizes outstanding service to the university. The award honors alumni or friends of UW who have unselfishly given of their time, talent and support.

The UW tradition of Distinguished Alumni and Medallion Service awards has a long and notable history. In 1953, the first Distinguished Alumni Award went to U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Emory Land, who helped design the submarine during World War I. Those who have received awards since then are a “who’s who” across the globe.

Maggie Scarlett

Scarlett has led a remarkable lifetime of service, leadership and unwavering dedication to UW and the state that shaped her.

Born in Cody and deeply rooted in Wyoming’s heritage, Scarlett’s story is one of lifelong commitment to “Riding for the Brand” -- a phrase she lives by. Since they settled in Wyoming in the late 1800s, her family has a rich history as ranchers, farmers, small-business owners and educators in Wyoming.

Scarlett earned her bachelor’s degree in speech-language and hearing sciences from UW in 1963 and, later, a master’s degree from Colorado State University. Her decades-long career as a speech-language pathologist brought life-changing support to children and families across the rural West.

Scarlett’s professional path also included key roles in Wyoming’s business world, serving in leadership at United Bancorporation of Wyoming, the state’s largest financial institution at the time, and Webster Motors. But her most enduring legacy may be her work in the arts. A founding member of the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Scarlett has been a passionate advocate for cultural institutions at the local and national level -- including appointments to the boards of the UW Art Museum and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In 2002, she was a presidential appointment at the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Her philanthropic leadership at UW has transformed the student experience, with support for endowed faculty chairs, critical funding and infrastructure improvements. She and her husband, Dick, have established the Maggie Scarlett Summer Speaker Series and the Maggie and Dick Scarlett Excellence Fund in Speech-Language Pathology.  

For Scarlett, it all comes back to her roots.

“Wyoming and the University of Wyoming have provided us with a foundation for so much of what we have been able to accomplish,” she says.

Maggie and Dick have three children and eight grandchildren, marking the fourth generation of Cowboys in the family.

Lynne Simpson

Simpson’s passion for the arts and humanities has spanned over five decades of impact as a visionary arts leader, grant writer, educator and advocate for Wyoming’s aging population.

Simpson’s career defies convention and spans theater, public service, education and community development. A Cody native, she began her journey on the East Coast, studying theater in New York City while working on Wall Street. After a 13-day courtship, she returned home, marrying longtime partner Pete Simpson and beginning a life of service and storytelling across Wyoming.

Wherever the Simpsons lived -- whether it be Jackson, Casper, Sheridan or Laramie -- Lynne ignited creative opportunities. These included launching Jackson’s famous Walk Festival Hall with a production of “Mame,” to directing award-winning productions in Sheridan, to producing “Oliver” at a local children’s home, which involved all 100 residents and the surrounding community. Later in life, she earned three degrees from UW and launched “The Wyoming Project,” a touring educational theater program.

Simpson brought that same passion to aging services when, as director for senior services for Albany County, the first Wellness Center for Seniors was founded with its Wellness and Lifelong Learning Center. She spoke on this initiative at the National Conference on Aging.

She believes in public and private investments supporting a shared vision. Her unique ability to build partnerships has secured over $1 million in grants by uniting city, county, state, federal and private support.

Now retired, she continues to inspire through creativity workshops for seniors in Cody.

“The arts are a necessary part of blessing and developing our humanness,” Simpson says.

Lynne and Pete’s three children also are accomplished artists and performers and are the “projects” that matter the most to them.

Don Snyder

Snyder has spent a lifetime of defying expectations, leading with vision and transforming communities -- from international banking to the heart of downtown Las Vegas.

Snyder’s journey began working on the family farm near Aberdeen, S.D., and continued through Jackson Hole, where long hours on road crews and in tire shops convinced him to aim higher. Told by a high school counselor that he wasn’t college material, Snyder proved otherwise, transferring to UW from Sheridan College; earning a degree in business administration with honors; and landing on the dean’s list.

Immediately after UW, Snyder joined United California Bank and quickly rose through the ranks.

“I was going to work harder than the person in front of me, the person behind me, the person to my left and the person to the right,” he says.

Snyder spent the next 18 years opening branches in Asia and managing operations during the Latin American debt crisis. True to his mantra, he achieved his goal of becoming president and CEO of First Interstate Bank of Nevada before the age of 40.

Beyond banking, Snyder has been a champion of education and the arts at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV). As a member of UNLV’s Foundation Board and a supporter of the UNLV School of Business, he has guided fundraising efforts, student scholarships and industry-academia partnerships. He also helped shape the Smith Center for the Performing Arts through fundraising, design guidance and board-level input.

When Las Vegas’s historic Fremont Street faced decline, Snyder spearheaded a bold revitalization effort. Despite skeptics and the complexities of uniting rival casino owners, he led the creation of the Fremont Street Experience -- a landmark public-private partnership that reimagined downtown Las Vegas and became a blueprint for urban transformation.

Throughout his life, Snyder has turned doubt into fuel, obstacles into opportunities and ideas into reality.

Greg Dyekman

Dyekman’s lifelong commitment to others has touched nearly every corner of campus and the state of Wyoming.

Dyekman’s dedication to service was sparked as a 13-year-old cleaning the stands at Cheyenne Frontier Days with his Boy Scout troop, an early experience that planted the seed for a lifetime of giving back. A proud Eagle Scout and lifelong leader in the scouting community, Dyekman has spent over 30 years involved with the local Boy Scouts council board and has chaired the Scout Committee for Cheyenne’s Kiwanis pancake breakfast for more than two decades. He’s organized high-profile fundraising events, including one for President Gerald Ford, a fellow Eagle Scout.

After graduating from UW with an accounting degree in 1977 and a law degree in 1980, Dyekman returned to Cheynne to practice with Dray, Thomson & Dyekman. He quickly became a trusted adviser to nonprofits across Wyoming. He has served on countless boards, offering legal and financial guidance and taking on leadership and fundraising roles wherever needed.

His connection to UW deepened in the mid-1990s through a chance encounter with then-Wyoming Secretary of State Thyra Thomson. From that moment forward, Dyekman became one of the university’s most dedicated champions, chairing the College of Arts and Sciences Board of Visitors for six years; helping found the College of Law Advisory Board; and serving on both the UW Foundation Board and the College of Business Advisory Board.

Dyekman’s service is matched by his generosity. He has given more than $2.4 million to the university, including a transformational $500,000 gift to support the UW debate program, honoring the activity that shaped his own academic and professional journey. His additional gifts support law faculty and student enrichment through the Debate/Forensics Excellence Fund and the Dyekman Law Professorship, among others.

Whether in the courtroom, the boardroom or the community, Dyekman lives the Scout Oath to “help other people at all times.”