Myrna J. Orsini ’68

Professional Achievement (Lifetime)

Myrna J. Orsini ’68 is an accomplished sculptor and master stone carver with 45 years of experience. Besides stone, she also works in wood, clay, steel, glass and bronze, and her award-winning works are now displayed in private, corporate, and city collections in seven different countries. She has attended symposiums all over the world and now teaches her craft to students of all ages. “It’s a wonderful world. It’s a great life,” she marvels. 

In 1989, Orsini attended a symposium in Nikolaev, Ukraine, and was inspired to start a nonprofit contemporary sculpture park like the ones she saw in Europe. Over the following years, she worked tirelessly to bring her vision to life, purchasing five acres of land with her business partner Doris A. Coonrod in Tenino, Washington. In 1998, she opened the free Monarch Contemporary Art Center and Sculpture Park, which includes a butterfly-shaped maze and a sound garden, as her “gift to the community.” 

Some of the most rewarding parts of Orsini’s work have been helping other artists to progress in their careers and the delighted response of the park’s visitors. She can often hear children and families, filled with wonder and joy as they interact with the whimsical sculptures. “The laughter just fills the air in the park,” she says. “It’s amazing, and it’s one of the really poignant parts of my day.”

Mike Purdy ’76, MBA’79

Professional Achievement (Posthumous)

Mike Purdy ’76, MBA’79, who achieved a fulfilling career as a manager, historian, and writer, passed away in 2023 due to stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer. As the recipient of the university’s first posthumous alumni award, Purdy will be remembered as a respected expert in presidential history and politics, as well as an intelligent optimist and deep listener. 

Purdy arrived at Puget Sound in 1972; during the summer of 1973, he served as a congressional intern in Washington, D.C., at the same time as the Watergate scandal, which granted him access to the hearings of the Senate Watergate Committee — an experience that foreshadowed his lifelong interest in politics. In 1976, he graduated with a double major in business administration and public administration, and had served as student body president. 

After graduation, Purdy worked as an admissions counselor, assistant director, and marketing director for Puget Sound before spending the next three decades managing government contracts for the City of Seattle, the Seattle Housing Authority, and the University of Washington. In 2010, he launched a successful public contracting consulting business. He also became a U.S. presidential historian, starting a website (presidentialhistory.com), writing two books, delivering lectures, and acting as a frequent media commentator. “As one who has always loved history, I have often said we make history every day in the small and big choices we make and who we decide to become,” Purdy wrote in his 2023 memoir. “The history of our lives is the cumulation of innumerable decisions and actions.”