May 12, 2026
Contact: Janese Heavin, heavinj@missouri.edu
At the University of Missouri, we celebrate greatness. Mizzou’s most prestigious recognition, honorary doctorates, are awarded to trailblazers whose influence reaches far beyond campus, shaping Missouri, the nation and the world.
Meet the Spring 2026 honorary degree recipients.
Hayes Barnard
As an entrepreneur, business owner and philanthropist, Hayes Barnard, BSBA '95, has dedicated his life and career to innovation, service and the belief that business can be a powerful force for good.
Barnard is the founder, chair and CEO of GoodLeap, the largest financial technology company in the U.S. focused on home improvement. GoodLeap’s proprietary software and financing tools have helped more than 200,000 contractors and manufacturers offer a broad suite of solar panels, battery storage, efficient roofing and other sustainable solutions to millions of homeowners across the country. GoodLeap has been ranked No. 30 on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in the World list and No. 10 on Forbes’ Fintech 50 list.
Barnard is also the founder, chair and CEO of GivePower, an award-winning nonprofit that provides clean electricity and safe drinking water to more than 2 million people across 32 countries by partnering with hundreds of companies.
In 2020, Barnard founded GoodFinch, an asset management company specializing in sustainable investments. Mirroring his previous successes, the company has since become the largest finance platform for solar and home improvement assets.
Barnard graduated from the University of Missouri with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Barnard and his wife, Jessica, have three children and reside in Austin, Texas.
Barbara Stubbs Cochran
Barbara Stubbs Cochran is an award-winning journalist whose career has included top jobs in the print, broadcast and nonprofit worlds.
Cochran is currently president of the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation, which is working to build a monument in Washington, D.C., to honor journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
Cochran served for nine years as the Missouri School of Journalism’s Curtis B. Hurley Chair in Public Affairs Journalism and directed the school’s Washington program, which brings students to the nation’s capital for hands-on learning. At Mizzou, Cochran also worked with the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute and the Committee of Concerned Journalists in Washington to continuously improve the practice of journalism through research, consulting and training.
Cochran previously spent 12 years as president of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), where she championed First Amendment rights and journalism ethics. During her tenure there, RTDNA received the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism.
Cochran has been recognized with numerous awards including The Media Institute’s Freedom of Speech Award, the AWC Matrix Foundation’s International Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Library of American Broadcasting’s Giants of Broadcasting Award, the RTDNA’s First Amendment Award and two DuPont-Columbia Awards.
Cochran has a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York.
Rodger O. Riney
Rodger O. Riney, BS CiE ’68, MBA ’69, is a business leader and philanthropist best known as the founder of Scottrade, and for his and his wife Paula’s longstanding philanthropic endeavors in Missouri and across the country.
In 1980, Riney founded Scottsdale Securities in Phoenix, Arizona, joining the emerging discount brokerage industry. By 2000, the business had moved predominantly online, and the firm became known as Scottrade, Inc., maintaining a business model centered on low commissions, accessible branch offices and a strong emphasis on customer service.
In 2015, Riney announced that he had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, for which there is no known cure. The following year, he sold Scottrade to TD Ameritrade.
Riney and his wife established the Paula and Rodger Riney Foundation to support research aimed at improving the understanding and treatment of multiple myeloma and related cancers, as well as other philanthropic causes, primarily in Missouri. Through the foundation, the Rineys have funded more than 200 projects at more than 20 institutions, including theranostics and nuclear medicine for cancer treatment at the University of Missouri and the Mayo Clinic, and research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Riney graduated from Mizzou with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master of business administration. He and his wife live in St. Louis and have three children and six grandchildren.
