WKU News

A beloved WKU professor and a successful business executive and community leader will join WKU’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni this fall.

The late Dr. Randall “Randy” Capps (’61) and Mary R. Nixon (’77) will be inducted during WKU’s 2022 Homecoming Celebration. The 31st class of noted alumni will be recognized during a luncheon on Oct. 28 at the Eva and Jim Martens Alumni Center. The Hall of Distinguished Alumni is presented by Franklin Bank & Trust, a longtime supporter of WKU. For more information, contact the WKU Alumni Association at 270-745-2586.

Dr. Randall “Randy” Capps (’61)

Dr. Randall “Randy” Capps was WKU Professor Emeritus who joined the University’s faculty in 1962 as an instructor in the Department of English.

In 1968 when the Department of Communication was formed, Dr. Capps was appointed to serve as the Department Head. When he left the role in 1994, the Department of Communication had grown from eight to 40 full-time and adjunct faculty. During his tenure at WKU, he also served as Assistant to the President and as Interim Head of the Department of Psychology. He also consulted with General Motors, the American Council on Education, Whirlpool Corporation and the government of Quebec on management, communication and change management strategies.

From 1994 until his death in 2022, Dr. Capps was a faculty member in the Gordon Ford College of Business, where he taught students in WKU’s MBA and Educational Leadership doctoral programs. He also served as a visiting professor at the University of Lyon, France, where he taught in their International MBA program. 

At WKU, Dr. Capps was instrumental in developing majors in Corporate and Organizational Communication, as well as Communication Disorders, and in creating the M.A. in Communication and the doctoral program in Educational Leadership. He received University awards for research and publication as well as for teaching. In recognition of his work in international business, the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce honored him as its Outstanding Global Advocate. In 1985, he was honored as the outstanding alumnus at Kentucky Wesleyan College, and Sigma Nu Fraternity named him to their Hall of Honor for his service to the fraternity and to education.

Dr. Capps served on the boards of Kentucky Wesleyan College, Greenview Hospital, the Bowling Green Arts Alliance, the WKU Foundation and the Good Samaritan Foundation, and he chaired the Board of River Valley Behavioral Health for 15 years. In addition, he served as National President of Sigma Nu Fraternity and as President of Bowling Green Rotary Club and the Kentucky United Methodist Commission on Higher Education and Campus Ministry. Dr. Capps also served on the Episcopacy Committee for the Kentucky Conference and was Parliamentarian for the WKU Board of Regents for 30 years.

In 1994, Dr. Capps began Leadership Strategies, a management consulting group that worked with local, regional, state and national corporate, education and nonprofit clients across the United States. The author of nine books, Dr. Capps held degrees from Kentucky Wesleyan College, WKU and the University of Virginia, and he completed post-doctoral work at Vanderbilt University. In 2016, he was awarded the Doctor of Humanities degree from Kentucky Wesleyan College. A resident of Bowling Green, Ky., he passed away in February 2022.

Mary R. Nixon (’77)

Mary R. Nixon is a successful business executive and leader in her community of Louisville, Ky.

A native of Lexington, Ky., Nixon received a B.S. in Accounting from WKU in 1977 and has been a Certified Public Accountant since 1979. After graduation, she joined the Louisville office of Ernst & Young and spent nine years doing audit and tax work for financial institutions, health care and manufacturing clients. She joined PNC Bank in 1986 as Corporate Tax Manager and held various finance roles until becoming Controller for the Kentucky and Indiana operations in 1991.

In 1996, Nixon joined KFC as Controller. When PepsiCo spun off KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut in 1997, she joined the Yum! Brands holding company, where she served until her retirement in 2017. Her roles at Yum! Brands included Vice President of Shared Services, USA Controller, Vice President of Global Internal Audit and finally Vice President of Global Tax & Internal Audit.

An active community volunteer, Nixon’s affiliations have included the Metro United Way de Tocqueville Society, Louisville Ballet, Junior Achievement, Leadership Louisville, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Home of the Innocents, Kentucky Derby Host program and more. She served as Co-Chair of WKU’s Investing in the Spirit Campaign, the University’s first comprehensive campaign, which raised more than $102 million. A leadership donor to WKU, she created the Mary R. Nixon Professorship in Accounting and the Mary R. Nixon Endowment for Excellence in the Mahurin Honors College.

In 2001, she was recognized as Volunteer of the Year for her work with the Investing in the Spirit Campaign Cabinet. A Lifetime Member of the WKU Alumni Association, Nixon’s WKU involvement also included the Accounting Advisory Council, the Board of Advisors, the Clinical Education Charter Committee, the WKU Foundation Board of Trustees and the New Century of Spirit Campaign Cabinet.

Professionally, Nixon served as Chairman of the Kentucky State Board of Accountancy. She also served on the Board for Caritas Health Services and on committees for the Kentucky Economic Development Commission, Kentucky Commission on Tax Policy and the Governor’s Economic Roundtable.

Currently, Nixon is Chair of the University of Louisville Board of Trustees, as well as Board Chair for Evolve502. In addition, she is a board member for University of Louisville Foundation, the Kentucky Center for the Arts and 21st Century Parks.

In addition to her undergraduate degree from WKU, Nixon earned an Equine Business Certificate from the University of Louisville Graduate College of Business. Her hobbies include horse racing, cycling, hiking, golf and cooking.

Contact: Anthony McAdoo, (270) 745-2586

-WKU-

Western Kentucky University prides itself on positioning its students, faculty and staff for long term success. As a student-centered, applied research university, WKU helps students expand on classroom learning by integrating education with real-world applications in the communities we serve. Our hilltop campus is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which was recently named by Reader’s Digest as one of the nicest towns in America, just an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tennessee.