Franklin College Celebrates Alumni Council Award Honorees
Franklin College will recognize four honorees during the Hail to Franklin Awards program and reception on Friday, Sept. 27, at 6 p.m. at Garment Factory Events in downtown Franklin. Guest registration is required at bit.ly/4cBBfU2.
The annual awards program is a highlight of Homecoming and honors individuals for their outstanding professional and/or community achievements as well as service to the college. Honorees are selected from nominations reviewed by the Alumni Council, which established the awards program in 1954.
The 2024 award recipients include the following Franklin College alumni and friends:
Jared Applegate, Franklin College Class of 2009, is the recipient of the Young Alumni Award. Applegate has already achieved remarkable success in his career and has yet to celebrate his 40th birthday. Over the past decade with Barnes & Thornburg law firm in Indianapolis, he has led a variety of strategic functions, including business development, legal operations, pricing and practice management. Each role helped him gain a deep understanding and hands-on experience in areas critical to effectively serving clients and colleagues.
In his sixth year as the firm’s chief legal operations officer, he oversees a team of more than 40 professionals and provides leadership that supports more than 800 of the firm’s attorneys and legal professionals. In 2021, Applegate and his Legal Operations colleagues were recognized as the nation’s Best Business Team with an industry award from Law.com and The American Lawyer. In addition to his internal contributions, Applegate also plays a pivotal role in advising the firm’s largest clients on structuring, assessing and implementing changes within their legal departments. His team’s work in this space has been recognized by Forbes and Bloomberg publications, among others. Applegate’s professional accomplishments are paralleled by his positive impact on the broader legal community. He is a Fellow at the College of Law Practice Management and formerly a chair of the Legal Value Network and an executive board member of the Joseph Maley Foundation.
As a first-generation college graduate, Applegate embodies the qualities honored by the Franklin College Young Alumni Award. His strong commitment to professional excellence and his alma mater is evident through his active recruitment and hiring of Franklin students and graduates, as well as his generous support of the Grizzlies’ baseball program, which he proudly participated in throughout his college career. He and his wife, Lyndee, reside in Bargersville, Indiana, and have a son, Callan.
Gordon Cox, Franklin College Class of 1982, is the recipient of the Hail to Franklin Award. Cox exemplifies unwavering dedication to Franklin College. Since 1984, he has operated his own successful company, Gordon Cox Design, achieving significant milestones such as being commissioned for an Indianapolis 500-winner lithograph series and serving as the primary graphic design consultant to Alumax Inc. and Tony Bettenhausen Motorsports. His clientele has expanded outside the racing industry in recent years, and his longstanding commitment to Franklin College as a client has been unwavering.
For more than 30 years, he has contributed his exceptional graphic design skills to a variety of Franklin College branding projects, recently developing a new primary logo and other visual assets for the athletics division. His loyalty to the College extends beyond his professional contributions. As a member of the Touchdown Club Board of Directors since 2006, and its president since 2012, Cox has tirelessly supported the Grizzlies’ football program. His past service on the Franklin College Alumni Council, enduring ties to Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and four years as a letterman in baseball further highlight his lifelong commitment to the College.
Cox’s dedication to his community is equally commendable, as he serves on the athletic booster club board of directors at Center Grove High School, where his children attended school. His contributions have been recognized with the Trojan Service Award for outstanding support of athletics. A faithful alumnus, Cox has attended nearly every Franklin College Homecoming since graduation and is a regular participant in the Roy E. Tillotson Golf Outing. His fidelity to Franklin College, coupled with his professional achievements and community service, make him a distinguished Grizzly. Cox carries on a proud Franklin College family legacy that includes his late parents, David Cox, class of 1951, and Margaret (Novikoff) Cox, class of 1952, as well as two of his three sons, Matthew, class of 2011, and Chris, class of 2015. His youngest son, David, joins the family in cheering for the Grizzlies. Gordon and his wife, Janet, reside in Greenwood, Indiana, and enjoy doting on their grandchildren, Ashley Kate and Callum Michael.
Scott Gudeman, M.D., is the recipient of the Associate Alumni Award. Gudeman has been a dedicated and enduring supporter of Franklin College, demonstrating exceptional loyalty and service despite not being an alumnus. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a doctorate in medicine from Indiana University, and he completed a fellowship at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine/Wallington Orthopaedic Program. His distinguished career as an orthopedic surgeon with a subspecialty in knee and shoulder arthroscopy and sports medicine spanned from 1994 to 2022. He practiced at OrthoIndy where he built a reputation for excellence in patient care and surgical expertise, earning him a prestigious “Top Doc” recognition in Indianapolis Monthly magazine.
Gudeman’s commitment to the health and well-being of student-athletes is evident through his 22 years of service as the team physician for Franklin College, along with providing medical care for student-athletes at Indian Creek, Center Grove, Greenwood and Franklin Central high schools in Johnson County, Indiana. His dedication to Franklin College extended to serving as a guest clinical instructor and lecturer in the Master of Science in Athletic Training Program. Additionally, he served on the Franklin College Board of Trustees for six years, contributing to the institution’s governance and strategic direction.
In retirement, Gudeman continues to serve his community by volunteering at the St. Thomas Clinic, a free medical facility for low-income and uninsured individuals, and by actively participating in the John Whittenberger Society at Indiana University-Bloomington. He and his wife, Nancy, reside in Greenwood, Indiana, where they enjoy spending time with their five grown children, Andrew, Kevin, Colleen, Brian and John, and their two grandchildren, Landon and Luke.
Don Miles, Ph.D., Franklin College Class of 1963, is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award. Miles exemplifies dedication, excellence and professional achievement. After honorably serving in the U.S. Navy, Miles began his academic journey at Franklin College, majoring in biology and participating in Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity on his way to graduating cum laude. His passion for science led to Indiana University (IU), where he earned a doctorate in plant physiology, and then he pursued postdoctoral research in bioenergetics at Cornell University.
Miles’ early academic career included teaching assistant positions at Franklin College and IU, followed by prestigious postdoctoral fellowships with the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. He later joined the University of Missouri-Columbia as an assistant professor of botany, quickly advancing to associate professor. After a visiting professorship at the University of California, he returned to the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he became director of the division of biological sciences and later associate vice provost for research, capping a career spanning over 30 years.
Renowned for his groundbreaking research in photosynthesis, Miles earned national and international recognition, significantly advancing the field of botany and laying the foundation for future research. He also mentored numerous doctoral and postdoctoral students who have since excelled in academia and biosciences. Throughout his illustrious career, Miles consistently represented Franklin College with distinction.
He is also a lifelong aviation enthusiast, having earned his pilot’s license in high school. While attending Franklin College, he worked part time as a commercial pilot and flight instructor. His dedication to aviation was honored with the FAA Master Pilot Award, recognizing over 50 years of safe flying. He and his wife, Judy, live in Columbia, Missouri, and have a son, Tom.