Kansas State University

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University President Kirk Schulz is being honored with the prestigious Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the National Eagle Scout Association. The award recognizes individuals who, after receiving their Eagle Award at least 25 years ago, have distinguished themselves in their career and have shared their talents with their communities on a voluntary basis.

Schulz will receive the honor at a noon luncheon Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Manhattan Country Club. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at http://www.coronadoscout.org or by calling the Council Service Center at 785-827-4461.

Along with serving as university president, Schulz is president of the Coronado Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He is only the second person from the council to earn the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and joins the company of such notable leaders as Robert Gates, the late Neil Armstrong and other prominent individuals from across the country in receiving the award.

"I am honored to receive this distinction and humbled to join a list of remarkable leaders from across numerous fields and industries that all have the Eagle Scout Award in common," Schulz said. "Scouting provides a great foundation for success and I wholeheartedly encourage every family to participate in the adventure and learning available in a local Scouting unit."

Schulz has long volunteered with Scouting, from serving as a scoutmaster in Mississippi to organizing Cub Scout camps in Michigan. Both of his sons have also earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

Schulz has actively served on the board for the Coronado Area Council since arriving in Manhattan to lead the university. He often shares with numerous Scouting groups his belief that having the Eagle Scout Award on his resume made a difference in his career.

It is the second national honor for Schulz in the last year. He received the 2012 Chief Executive Leadership Award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, or CASE. The award recognizes the leadership of a higher education chief executive officer who demonstrates the ability to create a vision and inspire others.

Since becoming president of Kansas State University in 2009, Schulz has been spearheading a visionary campuswide campaign to have the university be a Top 50 public research universities by 2025. Under his leadership, enrollment has set records, research funding is growing, philanthropic fundraising for the university has reached new heights, and new facilities for academics, athletics and student life have opened or are in the works.

The only other Distinguished Eagle Scout from the Coronado Area Council is the late Robert Waters, who received the award in 2004.

"President Schulz is very deserving of this honor and is a great example of how Eagle Scouts blend leadership and service in order to not only obtain career success, but make their communities a better place," said Donald R. Sheppard, Scout executive and CEO of the Coronado Area Council.

The Coronado Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, serves more than 3,700 young people across 32 counties in north central and northwest Kansas. More than 1,500 adult volunteers provide character education, personal fitness and leadership skill development programs to youth in each local community. The council operates two camp facilities in Abilene and Kirwin, and has its headquarters in Salina and a satellite office in Manhattan. To learn more about joining Scouting, families can visit http://www.beascout.org.