On June 2, three winners of the Manheim Township Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award were honored at a breakfast reception held at the Eden Resort. Recipients of the 2022 award were Darla Bair, Class of 1970; Edward F. Gallagher, Class of 1977; and Karen M. Rice (Huber), Class of 1988.

Bair served as co-editor of her senior yearbook. She was a member of the school choir, and National Honor Society, and she was selected for County Chorus. Bair attended Millersville University, where she received a Bachelor of Science in music education in 1974. She earned a master's degree in interdisciplinary arts for children from The College at Brockport in 1999. Bair taught in Rochester, N.Y., where she founded the Amadeus Chorale, a youth choral group, in 1996. In 2015, she was ordained an interfaith minister and formed the Calm in the Chaos Interfaith Center in Brockport, N.Y. She recently returned to live in Lancaster after living in New York state for more than 40 years.

Gallagher participated in basketball, soccer, and Key Club at Manheim Township High School (MTHS), and he volunteered with the Manheim Township Ambulance Association and served as a student police officer with the Manheim Township Police Department. He studied criminology, political science, and Spanish at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, graduating magna cum laude in 1982. He earned his law degree from Villanova University in 1985 and is licensed to practice law in Texas and Pennsylvania. Gallagher moved to Houston in 1985 to serve as an FBI special agent. Since 1990, he has been with the U.S. Attorney's Office serving as an assistant U.S. attorney. He is now a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas in Houston. Having served as chief of the Organized Crime Strike Force and chief of the Major Offenders Division, Gallagher is currently a prosecutor in the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. Gallagher has been recognized by the Drug Enforcement Administration for contributions in drug law enforcement and by the Department of Homeland Security for support of human smuggling and trafficking prosecutions.

Rice is a professor in Millersville University's School of Social Work. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Millersville University, a Master of Social Work from Temple University, and a doctorate from the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She joined the Millersville University faculty as a full professor of social work in 2021. Rice has been a leader in the development and implementation of Millersville University's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategic plan. In 2022, she was appointed as the inaugural faculty fellow for the Office of Diversity and Social Justice. Rice is a recipient of Millersville University's Vanguard Award for support of students transitioning to college and a three-time nominee for Millersville University Educator of the Year.

Readers who would like more information may visit http://www.mtef.net/distinguished-alumni.