Tom Walker, executive director of the American Village, spoke to 220 graduates at the University of Montevallo&8217;s fall commencement last Friday.

Walker&8217;s own past, present and future are very much intertwined with the University, his alma mater. Besides being a graduate, Walker is also a former student leader and past employee.

Walker earned his B.A., with honors, from Montevallo in 1975. Since then, he worked as UM&8217;s special assistant to the president from September 1990 through December 1999.

Walker is only the person ever to receive Montevallo four highest honors. He is a past president of both the Student Government Association and the National Alumni Association.

Walker has also received the Alumnus Loyalty Award and was named the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year in 1996.

Besides establishing the American Village, Walker has been active in public service and education administration at both the local and state levels.

He is a past two-term vice-president of the Alabama PTA and a founder of the Alabama Higher Education Partnership.

He is also the author of a textbook on state and local government and has written and spoken extensively on education, leadership and civic involvement.

For his work, Walker was named the Montevallo Civic Leader of the Year in 1999. In 2000, the Greater Shelby Chamber of Commerce and the Leadership Shelby Alumni Association named him Business Person and Citizen of the Year, respectively.

In addition, Walker was named the Shelby County Reporter&8217;s Person of the Year in February 2006.

Walker and his wife, the former Betty Ann Driver of Montgomery, have three children.

Their son Matt is a 2002 graduate of the University; their son Jeff is a junior at UM; and their daughter Jane received her M.Ed. while her father was on stage at Friday&8217;s ceremony