Kim Mueller, Departmental Secretary for Army ROTC at Troy University, has been awarded the University’s Vergil Parks McKinley Award.

Mueller was presented with the award by Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., Chancellor, during the annual Faculty/Staff Christmas Luncheon on the Troy Campus. She was nominated by Capt. Jeffrey Gregory, Chair of Military Sciences.

The McKinley Award is the highest honor that Troy University gives to a non-faculty staff member. It is presented quarterly to an employee who has demonstrated outstanding attitude, innovation and work ethic. The award was established by the late John McKinley, former Texaco CEO, in honor of his father, Vergil Parks McKinley, who was a Troy University professor during the early 20th century and was key to the development of the University’s athletic program. Winners of this award receive an engraved clock and a $1,000 stipend.

“When I came here, it was a welcomed change of pace. It was a wonderful to have time to talk to people and get to know students,” Capt. Gregory said. “For all the time that I have been in the Army since 2013, this is the greatest position I’ve ever held. The ability to sit and teach students is a great pleasure. One of the greatest joys that I have had outside of just my students is to meet Kim.”

Capt. Gregory said Mueller considers her co-workers and the cadets her family.

“She is very dedicated to the Army, and there are a number of cadets that if you ask her specifically who they belong to, they are hers because she is the one that got them into the program in the first place,” he said. “I won’t be here much longer because we always rotate through. In the Army, we are constantly moving; we’re nomadic. But Kim’s been here, and she will continue to be here because they are her family. I put her up for this award because she deserves it. I’ve never seen anyone work so hard for not only one program, but for two programs.”

Mueller said she was honored to receive the award and echoed Capt. Gregory’s comments about the University’s family atmosphere. 

“I don’t feel like I come to work. I feel like I come to family,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to be a recruiter, it’s an opportunity to hang out and most importantly it’s an opportunity to better our students’ lives and for that I am deeply grateful.”