The McPherson College Citation of Merit award recipients for 2026 are Elmer Gooding ’63, Craig ’70 and Joanna (Dell) ’72 Little, and Pamela Higgins ‘83.
These recipients exemplify the college’s mission of Scholarship, Participation, and Service through their lifelong commitment to the values they developed as students at McPherson College. The college honored this year’s recipients at the Evening of Recognition banquet hosted by the Advancement Office on April 24 at the Peoples Bank & Trust Welcome Center in the Wise Campus Commons at McPherson College.
The McPherson College Citation of Merit is the highest award recognizing the most distinguished alumni for lifetime accomplishments in service to profession, community, church, and to McPherson College. The recipients are recommended by the Alumni Awards Committee and are approved by the College Board of Trustees.
Elmer Gooding ‘63
Advice from Dr. Wayne Geisert, a professor at McPherson College, convinced Elmer Gooding to apply to graduate school and laid the foundation for his 37-year career as a professor of economics at Arizona State University. Gooding graduated from McPherson College in 1963 and earned a master’s degree and doctorate in economics from the University of Kansas.
He began his academic career as an assistant professor of economics at ASU and eventually attained the rank of full professor. He also held numerous administrative positions, including associate dean of the College of Business and director of graduate programs, assistant provost, acting vice president for academic affairs, loaned executive to the Arizona Board of Regents, vice provost, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, acting president of ASU (spring of 1991).
Gooding retired from ASU as Emeritus Professor of Economics in 2004. After retirement, he served as board member for more than a decade and as president for three years of the ASU Retirees Association. He was associate dean of the ASU Emeritus College for six years and dean for one year.
He is an active volunteer for his local congregation, serving as president and chair of the board of elders at Beautiful Savior Church, and as a member of the board of elders at Gethsemane Lutheran Church for several years, where he served as vice president of the congregation.
While his professional career was at a public university, he was elected and volunteered to serve on several governing boards in support of Christian higher education. He served for 18 years on the Concordia University, Irvine, board of regents, and was chair of the board for 12 years. He served six years as secretary of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod National Board for Higher Education, a board responsible for 10 Concordia Universities and two seminaries. Then he served as chair for six years of the National LCMS Board for University Education, a governing board that was responsible for the 10 Concordia Universities.
Among his many awards and honors, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Concordia University, Irvine, and was inducted into the WP Carey School of Business Faculty Hall of Fame.
Gooding has been a loyal financial supporter of McPherson College, with 35 years of charitable giving to his alma mater. He is a long-standing member of the McPherson College President’s Giving Club.
Craig ’70 and Joanna (Dell) ’72 Little
As a lifelong member of the Church of the Brethren, Craig Little chose to attend McPherson College in part because of a scholarship offered by a family friend, E.J. Frantz, on the condition he pay it forward — something he has done throughout his career. For nearly 50 years, he has worked professionally in environmental radiation protection services and health risk assessment related to environmental contamination.
Dr. Little graduated from McPherson College in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in biology. He earned a master’s degree in radiation biology and health physics and a doctorate in radioecology from Colorado State University – Fort Collins. He has extensive experience in assessing environmental contamination and potential human health risk from facilities such as uranium production sites and locations formerly used by the federal government. His work includes many years at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and Colorado. Since 2006, he has been principal of Two Lines, Inc., which specializes in radiation protection services and health risk management. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Health Physics Society and currently serves as its federal agency liaison.
Like her husband, Joanna (Dell) Little has worked to make the world a better place throughout her career. She spent 10 years in academia as a high school teacher in Colorado and research assistant involved in curriculum development in Tennessee. She later served as the executive director of the Women’s Resource Center in Grand Junction, CO, where she administered a $1.5 million job training grant across four northwest Colorado counties. She was also the principal of Community Resource Systems where she taught organizational development classes to private groups and non-profits. Since 1989, she has been a real estate broker. Joanna formerly served as a member and president of the Colorado Mesa University Foundation Board and on the board of the Colorado Women’s Foundation.
The couple met at McPherson College. Joanna Little went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in consumer education and home economics education from Colorado State University and a master’s degree in vocational education and educational psychology from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Besides their professional activities, they love to travel and have visited more than 60 countries. The couple is involved in several non-profit organizations and Koinonia Church, where they serve on the church board. Dr. Little served on the McPherson College Board of Trustees for multiple terms for over 20 years and was the board’s chair.
In tribute to their parents, Craig and Joanna established the Dell-Little scholarship endowment at McPherson College to provide financial assistance for deserving students majoring in natural sciences, health sciences and behavioral sciences. The Littles are faithful contributors to the President’s Giving Club, members of the college’s Heritage Roll of Honor, and previous fundraising campaign leaders.
Pamela Higgins ‘83
Pam Higgins graduated from McPherson College in 1983 with a degree in biology and German. She earned her medical degree at Indiana University School of Medicine and completed her residency in family practice at Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana.
Three important mentors—and McPherson’s emphasis on the importance of service— were life changing for Higgins. Her brother Kirk Higgins, ’80, a pre-med student at the time, influenced her decision to attend the McPherson College. During her first week on campus, her academic advisor, Dr. Gilford Ikenberry, suggested she consider medicine as a career. And, later that year, Dr. Jan van Asselt convinced her to study abroad in Marburg, Germany—a transformative experience that exposed her to diversity in the world and has served her well in her practice.
Higgins has practiced at the Manchester Clinic in North Manchester, Indiana, for nearly 35 years, providing medical care to the community and to the residents at Timbercrest Senior Living Community, where she also serves as the medical director. She participates in the county’s free medical clinic and volunteered as a physician in a medical practicum in Nicaragua with Manchester College.
An active community volunteer, she has served on the local community foundation that supports initiatives promoting the importance of educational attainment leading to lifelong opportunities. Those priorities have translated into her work as the medical director of her clinic’s Reach Out and Read program, which integrates early literacy training into well child checks from infancy to age 5 and strengthens parent-child bonds.
Higgins is a member of the Manchester Church of the Brethren, where she has served in various capacities, including the Lafiya committee that promotes healthy living and the COVID-19 Ad Hoc committee that guided the congregation through the pandemic.
During her year of study abroad with Brethren Colleges Abroad, she met her husband, Steve Naragon, now Professor Emeritus of Manchester College. They returned twice to live for several months with their children, Emma, Adelyn, and Thomas, while Steve was on sabbatical.
Higgins is a dedicated annual giver to the President’s Club, with over 30 years of charitable giving to McPherson College. She has also contributed to the Ward-Burkholder Endowment Matching Gift Challenge, scholarships for students studying foreign languages, and a building project for the natural sciences department, which she made in honor of her brother Kirk, who died in 1999.
A recording of the Evening of Recognition Awards dinner and program can be found on the McPherson College YouTube channel.