May 13, 2025
Photos by Harriett Copher Haynes, James E. Nave and Stuart A. Wesbury Jr.
The University of Missouri awards honorary doctorates to individuals of exceptional distinction who have provided outstanding service to the University of Missouri, the state of Missouri, the United States or to humanity at large. Honorary doctorates are Mizzou’s highest form of recognition.
Below are the spring 2025 honorary degree recipients.
Harriett Copher Haynes, PhD
Harriett Copher Haynes, BSN ’63, has worked tirelessly as a distinguished psychologist, educator and advocate with a lifelong commitment to mental health, diversity and community service.
Haynes earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Missouri before going on to earn a master’s degree in public health and a doctorate in counseling psychology, both from the University of Minnesota.
For more than four decades, she served as a therapist, trainer and consultant at the University of Minnesota’s Counseling and Consulting Services, where she worked extensively with faculty, staff, students and the community to address issues of diversity, equity, crisis response, conflict management and organizational change. For 15 of those years, she served as the center’s director, leading initiatives to support the mental health of nearly 40,000 students across five campuses.
In addition to her work at the university, she has contributed her expertise to the Minnesota Psychological Association, where she served in numerous roles, including president, treasurer, ombudsperson and chair of the women’s division. She also served on the Minnesota Governor’s Mental Health Council.
Haynes has also been a leader in professional associations at the national level. Those associations include the American Council on Education’s National Identification Program and the Association of University and College Counseling Center Directors, which recognized her many contributions to the organization by naming its diversity leadership mentoring award after her.Haynes has received numerous honors throughout her career. She was selected for the Minnesota Psychological Association Community Involvement Award and was also a Diamond Honoree of the American College Personnel Association.
Stuart A. Wesbury Jr., PhD
Stuart A. Wesbury Jr. has served with distinction in many roles over the course of a long and distinguished career in health care administration, academia and leadership.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Temple University, a master’s degree from the University of Michigan and a doctorate from the University of Florida. In between these degrees, he served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service and then as an executive in several hospitals, leading to his appointment as the director of the University of Florida’s Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics. Wesbury then brought these many years of hospital administration experience to the University of Missouri, where he served as the director and professor in the graduate program for health services management.
Wesbury oversaw great growth in the program, expanding its reach through health planning initiatives across four states. He helped foster relationships with Missouri hospitals, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, and the University of Missouri’s Center for Health Services Research. His influence is still felt through the master of health administration program offered through the College of Health Sciences and a professorship at the college in his name.
He moved on to national leadership as the president and CEO of the American College of Hospital Administrators, leading the organization — which was renamed in 1984 to the American College of Healthcare Executives — for 13 years and overseeing membership growth from 10,000 to nearly 20,000 members.
Wesbury returned to academia in 1994 as a research professor at Arizona State University’s School of Health Administration and Policy and went on to serve as director of the executive education programs at ASU’s College of Business.
Wesbury served in many leadership roles outside of academia. He was chairman of the board for Blood Systems, Inc. and was actively involved in the American Public Health Association, the American Association of Healthcare Consultants and the Pennsylvania Council on Aging.He has been recognized with numerous honors, including induction into the Association for University Programs in Health Administration Hall of Fame and Modern Healthcare’s National Health Care Hall of Fame, citing his support and promotion of ethics, equality and diversity in health care organizations.
James E. Nave, DVM
James E. Nave, BS Ag ’66, DVM ’68, has not only provided essential care to animals of all types but also provided guidance to fellow veterinarians for five decades.
Nave followed his undergraduate studies at the University of Missouri with a doctor of veterinary medicine from the University of Missouri in 1968. After earning his degree, he joined the U.S. Army and served with distinction as a captain during the Vietnam War. He was awarded a Bronze Star.
Shortly after his service, Nave opened the Tropicana Animal Hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1974. Through his practice, he mentors countless young veterinarians and went on to create the Nave Veterinary Group, which now operates 21 freestanding veterinary hospitals in southern Nevada.
Nave has served veterinary organizations at both the state and national levels. He was president of the Nevada Veterinary Medical Association and the American Veterinary Medical Association. During his term for the AVMA, he helped establish a mentorship program for new graduates, as well as the National Council on Veterinary Economic Issues. He also served as vice president of the Nevada Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.
Besides veterinary medicine, Nave is dedicated to athletics. He served as a member of the Nevada Athletic Commission for 12 years, including numerous terms as its chairman. He was the North American Boxing Federation’s Boxing Commissioner of the Year in 1990, and he was the World Boxing Council’s Boxing Commissioner of the Year five separate times in the 1990s.
Nave has been recognized with honors from various organizations. He was awarded the AVMA President’s Award in 2003, the AVMA Award in 2009 and the AVMA Global Veterinary Service Award in 2022. He was named Nevada Veterinarian of the Year in 1988. Nave also was selected as the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Alumnus of the Year in 1987 and was a recipient of the Mizzou Alumni Association’s Faculty Alumni Award in 2001.
