2014 Knox Service Awards

The Knox Service Award, established in 1987, is given to any member of the Knox community to recognize outstanding volunteer service benefiting Knox College. Awards are presented during Homecoming Convocation. Annual nominations are due by January 31.

2014 Recipients

Anthony Balthazor '03
Anthony Balthazor is a member of the Class of 2003, the class holding the Senior Challenge record for highest giving participation. Anthony and fellow members of the Senior Challenge Committee led the effort and ended the challenge at 94%.  As a Knox student, he also showed leadership on the football field as team captain and was the recipient of the Harley Knosher/Country Companies Male Athlete of the Year Award and the Jeff Sandburg Mental Toughness Award.

Anthony went on to work with classmates on the Class of 2003 10th Year Reunion committee, and served on the Alumni Council as the representative for the Old Siwash/Prairie Fire Athletic Club. He is a 2009 Knox-Lombard Athletic Hall of Fame inductee and a member of the K Club. In 2012 he spent time on campus as part of the selection committee to hire a football coach. The committee conducted a nation-wide search and participated in on-campus interviews for five candidates. Anthony is a current member of the Knox-Lombard Athletic Hall of Fame Selection Committee.

This past year, he participated in the first Career iMPACT Summit. The summit, sponsored by Knox's Bastian Family Career Center addressed “real world” questions on what current students can expect in their lives after Knox.  Anthony, a senior vice-president at First Merit Bank, gave a presentation on “Staying Motivated in Your Job Search,” and also provided resume advice in a round table discussion.

Anthony’s involvement in his community includes volunteer work for Junior Achievement, a position on the Chairman’s Advisory Council for the Big Shoulders Fund, and the golf committee of Rainbows for All Children.

Chris Winick '73
Chris Eik Winick has a long history of giving back to her alma mater and to her community. She has served as Class Agent for a number of years and helped plan the last two Reunions for the Class of 1973. She completed two terms as an at-large member of the Alumni Council, and returned to the Council in 2013 as leader for the Galesburg Knox Club.  She is a current member of the Alumni Trustee Selection Committee.

Chris enjoys meeting current students and is very supportive of career development projects. Last year she hosted a gathering for senior Knox Ambassadors at her home. In addition, she has participated in mock interview sessions, spoke in the Social Service Internship Seminar, and interviewed with a current student for a “This is Where We Live” podcast.

In her role as leader of the Galesburg Knox Club, she set up a Facebook group for local alumni and keeps them up to date by posting the latest news from Knox. 

Chris’s life-long passion is politics. She is well known in the Galesburg community as chair of the Knox County Democratic party, and in 2010 was recognized as Knox County Democrat Woman of the Year. Chris has served on numerous local boards, including Family Planning Services, Safe Harbor, Temple Sholom, and the Knox County Board.  She serves currently as Township Supervisor for the Town of the City of Galesburg. As a former employee in corrections she volunteered as a certified hostage negotiator. She feels her Knox education prepared her well for this position -- she was able to talk with pretty much everyone about almost anything!

Previous Knox Service Award Recipients