Pictured are (L to R) Keith Womer, Ray Creely, Audrey Katcher, Steve Moehrle, Basia Najarro and UMSL Alumni Awards Chairwoman Barb Bentrup. Jim Brennan is not pictured.

The College of Business Administration at the University of Missouri–St. Louis recently honored the success of five outstanding alumni with the Salute to Business Achievement Awards. The awards were presented to alumni during a banquet held at UMSL.

The 2010 Salute to Business Achievement Awards Recipients are:

James Brennan, BS in business administration 1974, is the president and owner of McKelvy Homes. After graduating from UMSL, Brennan worked for area firms such as Arthur Andersen & Co., Sverdrup and Chesterfield Financial, before focusing on the home building industry. In 2001, he purchased McKelvy, a St. Louis homebuilder celebrating 112 years in the region. Outside of work, Brennan continues to mentor students at UMSL, is a frequent guest speaker and serves on the boards of several area charities.

Raymond Creely, BS in business administration 1979, is the business development executive for the global technology unit at IBM. Creely started his career as a systems engineer and has held numerous positions including branch manager, director of consulting and services and client services director. He is an active member of the St. Louis community. In 2008 he co-founded the Imagine IT program at UMSL, a weeklong summer academy for high school students wanting to learn more about information technology.

Audrey Katcher, BABA in accounting 1990, is a partner at RubinBrown LLP. She has more than 19 years of public accounting experience in several industries, including higher education, manufacturing and financial services. Katcher serves on UMSL’s Accounting Advisory Board, and she founded an ad-hoc networking group for female chief audit executives in the region.

Barbara Basia Najarro, BSBA in organization behavior 2003, is director of conference services at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel. Previously she has served as manager of special events and marketing for Chase and dividends research administrator for A. G. Edwards. Najarro is a member of the Executive Women International –St. Louis Chapter and the Polish-American Cultural Society & International Folklore Federation.

Stephen Moehrle, BSBA in accounting 1985, is an associate professor of accounting at UMSL. He joined the UMSL faculty in 1999, and is an expert in financial accounting and reporting. He has published numerous articles in prestigious peer-reviewed journals, which led to his position as a senior associate editor of Research and Accounting Regulation.  He served on the American Accounting Association’s Financial Accounting Standards Committee and co-authored the book, “The CPA Profession: Opportunities, Responsibilities, and Services.”

Keith Womer, dean of the College of Business Administration at UMSL, said the college’s alumni are successful in many ways.

“We have so many outstanding alumni, many of whom are here in the St. Louis area,” Womer said. “By saluting our alumni, we are letting them know that we recognize their achievement and are honored to have helped in their journey to success.”