Midland University recently honored to two distinguished alumni during Homecoming and Family Weekend festivities. Alumni Jeff Scherer and Dr. Sharlay Butler were recognized for their achievements during a banquet on Friday, Sept. 15.

The Midland University alumni awards are presented to individuals who have exemplified outstanding professional success and service to their community.

Jeff Scherer of Beemer, Nebraska, Class of 1987, was presented the Alumni Achievement Award. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, majoring in Accounting. While in college, he was active in Blue Key Honor Fraternity. After graduation, he began working in the accounting industry and became a Certified Public Accountant in 1989. In the early 1990s, Scherer became the Controller for Smeal Fire Apparatus Company of Snyder, Nebraska, later becoming Chief Financial Officer for the premiere manufacturer of fire apparatus. He currently presides over Best Point Properties, Inc., in West Point, Nebraska, and Scherer Land and Cattle Co.

Scherer is a longtime Nebraska businessman. He was an inaugural member of Leadership Nebraska, a program aimed at engaging emerging leaders for the well-being of the state. He has aspired to help shape the economic development of Nebraska by raising awareness, funds and providing leadership to countless organizations. He is a former chairman of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a former Nebraska Diplomat President; is past chairman of the board of directors for the Northeast Nebraska Economic Development District, serves as a board member of “4 Lanes 4 Nebraska,” Accelerate Nebraska, Nebraska Advanced Manufacturing Coalition, and is the Northeast Nebraska Area Director for the Dream It—Do It Initiative, highlighting paths for young Nebraskans to find successful careers in manufacturing.

Scherer was an Executive in Residence at Wayne State College in 2010, the Greater Omaha Chamber’s Co-Volunteer of the Year in 2011, Nebraska’s Diplomat of the Year in 2013, Nebraska Society of Public Accountants’ Outstanding CPA in Business and Industry in 2014, and 2016’s Ambassador Plenipotentiary, the highest honor given by the Nebraska Diplomats, for his exemplary service to Nebraska.

A father of four adult children, Scherer and his wife of 25 years, Lori, are members of St. Leo’s Catholic Church in Snyder.

Dr. Sharlay Butler of Chicago, Class of 2010, was honored with the Outstanding Young Alumni Award. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, minoring in Chemistry and Spanish. She continued her education at the University of Washington School of Medicine, becoming a Doctor of Medicine in 2015. She currently is a Physician Resident in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Dr. Butler had a non-traditional start to her career in medicine. She grew up in poverty on a Native American reservation in Idaho where she cared for her siblings while her mother, a single parent relying on government assistance to raise three children, worked and attended night school. When her mother became ill and couldn’t work, Butler experienced firsthand how illness and poverty often correlate. Butler pursued her education and growing interest in medicine, receiving an athletic scholarship to Midland. While in school, she earned Dean’s List recognition, was a mentor through the MATCH program, and served as Student Orientation Committee Co-Chair, Student-Director of Intramural Sports, President of the Cultural Unity Club, Publicity Chair for the Midland Association of Students in Health, and Captain of the Women’s Basketball Team.

Butler attended medical school at the University of Washington where she excelled academically and was elected to the Gold Humanism Honor Society, receiving the Virginia Mason Outstanding Student Award upon commencement. Throughout medical school she received numerous awards for her commitment to service, leadership, advocacy, and community medicine. Butler was a George F. Odland scholar, McCleary Scholarship Award recipient, Hearst Foundation Scholar, and received the UW Summer Medical and Dental Education Program Mentorship Award and the UW School of Medicine Service Award. She also served as President of the Student National Medical Association at UW, and participated in the Medicine Wheel society, Cross Cultural Curriculum Committee, and was the Co-chair of the WWAMI Outreach Committee.

Most recently, Dr. Butler received the 2016 Dr. A.A. Goldsmith Intern Honorarium Award from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where she is a Resident Physician in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Established in 1970, the award is an honorarium given by the medical staff each year to the Northwestern University McGaw first-year resident who exemplifies the traits that highlighted the career of Dr. A.A. Goldsmith and include kindness and consideration toward the patient, genuine humaneness, and greater empathy toward his patient and the patient’s family.

Butler, who was unable to attend the Homecoming ceremony, married Dr. Eriberto Michel in 2017 in Walla Walla, Washington. They are completing their residencies at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.