Alumni Hall of Fame Awards

About the Alumni Hall of Fame Awards

Sponsored by the Owens Community College Foundation, the Alumni Hall of Fame Awards are prestigious honors presented annually to recognize the achievement of outstanding Owens alumni who have excelled personally and professionally, making a continued and significant difference in their community on a local, state, national or international level.

Class of 2025 Alumni Hall of Fame Award Recipients

Diane T. Keil-Hipp is Chief Operations Officer of Knight Insurance Group, in Toledo, Ohio. She earned her Ph.D. from Bowling Green State University in August 2024, where she also holds a Master of Organization Development. Diane also holds degrees from Lourdes University and Owens Community College.

Diane has practiced organizational development principles at her firm for over 25 years. Her research interests include organizational decline, resistance to change, corporate culture and leadership. She has published numerous articles in professional magazines and academic journals.

A lifelong resident of Northwest Ohio, Diane has served the community in various capacities. She is currently president of the Catholic Charities board, a nonprofit organization that serves the poor and neglected. For 10 years, Diane was president of Toledo Warehouse District Association, an organization that brought attention to the unique historic neighborhood in downtown Toledo.

Sharon Crawford discovered her passion for helping others while volunteering with the Special Olympics during her junior year of high school. That experience ignited a lifelong commitment to supporting families and empowering youth, ensuring they recognize their value and potential.

Sharon earned an Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education from Owens Community College, equipping her with the skills to serve as a Preschool Specialist at the Family House Homeless Shelter, where she provided quality education despite the challenges residents faced. Her dedication was recognized when a local radio station selected her nomination for a no-cost classroom renovation, transforming the space with much-needed furnishings, toys, educational materials and computers. Sharon then spent eight years as Program Director for the House of Emmanuel, where she developed and led programs for high-risk boys. For the past 12 years, Sharon has served as a Family Support Partner for Toledo Public Schools; she coordinates and implements family and community partnerships, focusing on goal setting, family engagement, and connecting families with essential resources. Along with her full-time positions, she has held roles providing support and clinical services to chemically dependent and chronically ill youth and their families. Sharon has worked for non-profit organizations, treatment centers and in the education field with one thing in common: supporting and building up the youth and families of our community.

In addition to her Associate Degree from Owens, Sharon holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Grand Canyon University. These degrees have fueled her success across education, mental health, behavioral health, chemical dependency and family engagement. Passionate about early intervention and leading by example, she remains deeply involved in her community, volunteering with the Toledo Youth Commission, The Josh Project, The Social Butterfly Health and Business Expo, YMCA, Inspire to Reach Higher Youth Projects and Partners in Education.

Brittany Moore graduated with her Associate Degree in Applied Science, Dental Hygiene, in 2006 from Owens Community College. Upon graduation, she attended the Ohio State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s (2009) and was one of the first in the state of Ohio to receive a Master’s Degree in Dental Hygiene with a specialization in dental hygiene education from OSU (2015). Her successful journey with distance learning was featured in an article in Ohio State University Magazine and her thesis was published in the Journal of Dental Hygiene (2016). To empower students to serve others and to improve access to dental care, she has continued her education by recently completing the Community Dental Health Coordinator certificate program through the University of Cincinnati Blue Ash (2023).

Brittany has been an Adjunct Faculty at Owens Community College in the Dental Hygiene Program since 2009. She is currently the course director for Tooth Morphology, Head and Neck Anatomy, Community Dental Health I and II, Trends in Practice and Practice Management. She has served as the Owens ADHA Student Chapter Co-Advisor for 5 years and at the state level she has held the position as ODHA Delegate, Toledo Trustee (2007-2011), Global Outreach Scholarship Committee Chair (2009-2014), Student Council Committee Co-Chair (2012-2015) and has served as the Clifford Jones Outreach Grant Committee Chair since 2014. In addition to working at Owens Community College, Brittany has worked in pediatric dentistry since 2006. She was employed at Small Smiles of Toledo, a public dental health clinic, for 5 years and at Blanchard Valley Pediatric Dentistry for 12 years; currently a substitute dental hygienist in Findlay, Ohio. In 2024, she held the position of an Oral Health Screener for the Ohio Department of Health – traveling across the state to provide oral health screenings and gather data on dental disease rates for third graders in the state of Ohio. She is motivated to increase dental literacy and advocate to improve access to dental care. She encourages and inspires her students to provide service and outreach to the community, having volunteered alongside students at the African American Male Wellness Walk, YMCA Health Fair, Miles for Smiles, and Tent City, as well as organized countless oral hygiene drives to benefit area nonprofits. Brittany partnered with Lucas County Early Head Start to implement an ongoing outreach program providing free oral screenings and fluoride applications to over 200 children ages 0-3 years old at all five centers in Toledo. She has organized numerous community education events and oral health presentations to over 40 schools.

Brittany’s personal volunteering efforts have included participating in the majority of events that she has organized for her students, in addition to the Findlay City Mission, Children’s Mentoring Connection, and Salvation Army. In 2023, along with family, she began the organization “His Shining Lights,” blessing more than 250 children in Hancock County with birthday and Christmas gifts. Most recently, their organization was able to partner with the Salvation Army and oversee that nearly 100 teenagers in Hancock County were blessed with Christmas gifts. Brittany lives in Findlay, Ohio, with her husband of 18 years, Nicholas, and children, Cohen, Micarah and McLane.

Steve Flowers demonstrated his passion for mentorship early on, guiding fellow classmates while earning his Associate Degree in Wide-Area Networking Technology from Owens Community College in 2012. His career has since taken him through roles at Computol Inc., Owens-Illinois and a Chicago financial startup before bringing him back to Owens as a Senior Systems Engineer. For the past five years, he has served as a Senior Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft, where he leads the Center of Excellence for modern NoSQL databases and authored his first book, Designing and Implementing Cloud-Native Applications Using Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB.

Beyond his professional achievements, Steve has remained deeply committed to mentoring those looking to break into the tech industry—both in his career and through a thriving online community he founded. His dedication to service extends to board membership with Elias Aden’s Comforting Hearts and volunteer work with St. Jude Children’s Hospital. His family’s philanthropic efforts primarily support Make-A-Wish and Victory Center—organizations that played a pivotal role in his own life when he underwent chemotherapy and radiation for a rare form of childhood cancer during his sophomore year of high school.

Despite the challenges he has faced, Steve has excelled alongside highly accomplished colleagues at Microsoft, and he credits Owens Community College as the foundation of his success. His unwavering advocacy for education and his commitment to giving back continue to inspire and impact countless lives.

Linda Lear’s journey at Owens Community College began in 2019 when she enrolled in the CDL program, determined to build a better future. Facing personal challenges that left her feeling cornered, she knew she had to make a change. After obtaining her license, she spent the next two years on the road as a truck driver. Initially, she worried she would be one of the only women in the industry, but she soon discovered otherwise. In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of female truck drivers has doubled over the past 20 years, with women now making up 8 percent of that workforce.

In 2023, Lear returned to Owens as an instructor, motivated by a passion for helping students overcome their own obstacles. Lear said her biggest responsibility is safety, both for students and other motorists on the road.

Beyond trucking, Lear has continued to push herself academically and give back the community. After earning her CDL at Owens, she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from Walden University and is now working toward her Master’s in the same field. She is a mentor to survivors of domestic violence, an active participant in an empowered sister circle, and a dedicated supporter of those in recovery.

Through resilience and determination, Linda Lear has not only transformed her own life but is also inspiring others to do the same, proving that setbacks don’t define you; perseverance does.