CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. (Feb. 20, 2025) – Thomas More University honors three outstanding community members at the 27th Bishop William A. Hughes Award Dinner on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, sponsored by DBL Law. Awards are presented each year to individuals who have demonstrated leadership in the community and made a significant impact on Catholic education. Honorees at this year’s dinner include Melissa Lueke, Kathleen Siobhan Barone, Ph.D., and Garren Colvin ’86.

Lueke receives the Bishop William A. Hughes Award, which recognizes those who have made significant contributions to Catholic higher education in the region. Lueke is a graduate of Notre Dame Academy and Xavier University, and her service to Catholic education spans both sides of the Ohio River. At Thomas More, she has served as chair of the finance committee, chair of the board of trustees, co-chair of the Second Century Campaign, and is the benefactor of an endowed scholarship which honors her late sister who attended Thomas More. Lueke has also served on numerous boards and committees in the community, including the Josephine Heck Foundation, the Diocese of Covington Financial Council, Sisters of Notre Dame U.S.A., and serves as president of the board of trustees for New Perceptions, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the welfare of children and adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. Professionally, Lueke served as executive vice president, chief financial officer and secretary of Meridian Bioscience, Inc., a global medical diagnostics and life science company. Prior to joining Meridian, she was a member of the audit practice at Arthur Andersen.

The Dr. Raymond Hebert Distinguished Service Award honors those who have made outstanding contributions within the University and is awarded to Barone. Barone served Thomas More from 1994 through her retirement in 2022 as an instructor, researcher, and chair of the biology department. During her time as chair, the biology department saw the highest level of external funding in its history. She obtained two competitive National Science Foundation (NSF) Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) grants and two National Institute of Health (NIH) grants. Barone also served as the primary advisor and champion of the pre-medical program and established the University’s pre-med society. Decades of Thomas More graduates have gone on to impressive, meaningful careers in medicine due to Barone’s leadership, support, mentorship, and disciplined preparation. She received the outstanding full-time faculty of the year award in 2009. Thomas More recognized Barone by naming its cell culture laboratory in her honor in 2022, with much of the equipment obtained from Barone’s research and grant awards.

The St. Thomas More Medallion is the highest dedicated service award granted to a member of the Thomas More community, recognizing that individual’s extraordinary service to the University and to the larger community which it serves. Garren Colvin ’86 is honored with this award for 2025, a testament to his leadership both in the University community and the impact he makes across Northern Kentucky as president and CEO of St. Elizabeth Healthcare. Colvin received a strong foundational education at Thomas More, earning a Bachelor of Arts in accountancy and business administration. His career at St. Elizabeth began in 1983 as a co-op student from Thomas More. Across nearly four decades, Colvin has held various roles and titles for the organization, including chief financial officer and chief operating officer. Since being named president and CEO in 2015, St. Elizabeth has opened a state-of-the-art cancer center and a regional heart and vascular center adjacent to its Edgewood campus to address critical health care needs in the region. In 2024, two of St. Elizabeth Healthcare’s hospitals – in Lawrenceburg and Edgewood – each received five-star ratings from The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), two of only three hospitals in the Greater Cincinnati region to do so. In 2022, Colvin was bestowed an honorary doctoral degree in medicine from Thomas More. Colvin and his wife, Susan (Kelsch) Colvin ’89, were previously the recipients of a Bishop Hughes Award in recognition of the outstanding support they have demonstrated to Catholic education in the region.

To purchase tickets, take advantage of sponsorship opportunities, or make a gift honoring the awardees, please visit https://tmuky.us/bhadrsvp.

About Thomas More University

Founded in 1921, Thomas More University stands as a beacon of academic excellence and innovation, challenging students to Make It More. Deeply rooted in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, this timeless foundation supports a transformative educational experience as students looking to Be More are guided in the pursuit of knowledge, ethical leadership, and the integration of faith and reason. Through the high-quality, liberal arts education provided at Thomas More, students examine the ultimate meaning of life, their place in the world, and their responsibility to others which leads to the ability to think critically and contribute meaningfully to the world. Serving more than 2,300 students, Thomas More takes its place as the premier Catholic university in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region, being named one of the 2025 Best Colleges in the U.S. by the Wall Street Journal. For more, visit thomasmore.edu.

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