Alumni Association to Honor Four During Homecoming 2024

The University of the Ozarks Alumni Association will honor four of its own during the 2024 Ozarks Awards Ceremony, held in conjunction with this year's Homecoming celebration.

The ceremony is scheduled for 6 p.m., Friday, Oct. 18, in the Rogers Conference Center. Tickets for the event are $25 and can be purchased by visiting: https://ozarks.edu/alumni/homecoming/

The Alumni Association will present (pictured, clockwise from top left) Abby (Asencio) Tucker '22 of Clarksville with the Young Alumni Service Award; Lee Whitaker '93 of Orlando, Fla., with the Alumni Merit Award; Mohd Dzuhari "Dzu" Dr. Mohd Daud '89 of Malaysia with the Alumni Achievement Award; and Jae Lynn Huckaba '18 of Miami, Fla., with the Young Alumni Achievement Award.

Tucker is in her first year of teaching ninth-grade English at Russellville (Ark.) Junior High School. She previously served as vice president of the Clarksville-Johnson County Chamber of Commerce where she trained and managed staff and led the organization in hosting and operating Chamber-related events. While a student at Ozarks, she served an internship at the chamber in the spring of 2022 before joining the organization full-time later that year as community relations director. She was promoted to vice president in 2023. A native of Gentry, Ark., she graduated from Ozarks with a major in English and with Summa Cum laude honors. During the summer of 2024, she married fellow Ozarks alum Jacob Tucker '23.

Whitaker, a business administration major at Ozarks who was also a standout on the men's basketball team, has more than 30 years experience in supply chain solutions and distribution. He has worked in logistics and supply chain industry in areas of freight, warehouse operations, transportation management, and transportation. He is currently the regional distribution manager for Star Pipe Products in Orlando, Fla. He previously served as plant manager for Valvoline Inc., and as operations manager for UPS Supply Chain Solutions in Atlanta, Ga. He and his wife, Lisette, have been married more than 26 years.

Daud, who graduated from Ozarks with a degree in biology, has had a long and successful career in Malaysia in biotechnology, environmental science, technology development, and the music industry. He currently serves as a board director at Cyanocreek, where he helped deploy cutting-edge multi-channel network convergence (MCNC) technology for high-bandwidth, low-latency connectivity in rural Malaysia, along with overseeing drone training under Malaysia's Territorial Army Regiment. He previously developed a medication risk management tool for physicians and implemented Wi-Fi technologies in remote areas using mini mobile ambient power generators. He has also led environmental projects like bio-absorbents and biodiesel from waste oil. In the music industry, he served as CEO of Cooperative Industry Music Malaysia (KOPSTAR), promoting local music and organizing national events.

Huckaba is an associate attorney for Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, a global law firm in Miami, Fla. After earning a bachelor's degree in English and Spanish with high honors from Ozarks in 2018, she attended law school at the University of Miami School of Law. Huckaba was the first student accepted into the University of Miami J.D./M.A. Latin American Studies dual degree program and later became the first student in the history of University of Miami School of Law to graduate from the program. In 2023, she received the E. Randolph Williams award for her "incredible pro bono service." Earlier this year, Florida Super Lawyers recognized Huckaba as a "Rising Star," a rating for lawyers who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Outside of work, Huckaba serves as a board of director for the Miami-Dade Bar Association Young Lawyer Section (YLS) and as chair of the YLS's community service committee.

Topics: Alumni, Alumni Stories