Published on Show Me Mizzou Dec. 16, 2022
Ann Covington, former chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court, served as the first woman appointed to the Missouri Court of Appeals. She became the first woman appointed to Missouri’s Supreme Court, as well as its first female chief justice, and was recognized by the American Bar Association as a Women Trailblazer in the Law.
After retiring from the Supreme Court, Covington was a partner at Bryan Cave LLP in St. Louis, and from 2012 to 2015, served on the University of Missouri board of curators. She continues to serve as a member of the Truman Scholarship and Mark Twain Fellowship committees, as well as through mentorship of MU law students. Among many honors, she has received the Mizzou Alumni Association’s Faculty-Alumni Award (1993) and Geyer Award (2020). Covington earned her Juris Doctor from the School of Law in 1977.
Jim Fitterling, chairman and CEO of Dow Inc., serves as chair of the National Association of Manufacturers and the Alliance to End Plastic Waste. As a corporate leader, Fitterling is widely recognized for his work supporting LGBT+ workplace equity; he was ranked the world’s top LGBT executive by the Financial Times in 2018 and inducted into the OUTstanding Hall of Fame in 2021.
Across 38 years with Dow, Fitterling has held many leadership positions and was named chief executive officer-elect in March 2018, a position he officially assumed in July 2018. He served as keynote speaker for the College of Engineering’s 2016 commencement ceremony, received MU’s Faculty-Alumni Award in 2018 and served on the university’s NextGen advisory board. Fitterling is a life member of the Mizzou Alumni Association (MAA) and graduated from the College of Engineering in 1983.
Jim Nave opened Tropicana Animal Hospital in 1974. Today, the Nave Veterinary Group includes more than 21 freestanding veterinary hospitals in southern Nevada and is dedicated to the mentorship of young doctors who share the group’s vision of veterinary medicine. Nave is active in veterinary medicine at both the state and national level, serving as past president of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Nevada Veterinary Medical Association and the Western Veterinary Conference. In 1987, the College of Veterinary Medicine named him their Alumnus of the Year, and in 2001, he received the Mizzou Alumni Association’s Faculty-Alumni Award. Nave is a life member of MAA and graduated from the College of Veterinary Medicine in 1968.
The late John Gordon, former deputy director of the CIA and first administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, retired from the Air Force in 2000 as a four-star general. He served as director of operations for Air Force Space Command, commander of 90th Missile Wing and senior director for policy on the National Security Council at the White House as well as assistant to the president and Homeland Security adviser.
Gordon and his wife, Marilyn (BS Ed ’66), met as undergrads at Mizzou, where he earned a diploma from the College of Arts and Science in 1968. He was recognized as an A&S Distinguished Alumnus in 1998, served as grand marshal of Mizzou Homecoming in 2000 and received the Mizzou Alumni Association’s Faculty-Alumni Award in 2003 as well as the Golden Quill Alumni Excellence Award in 2019.
Nischelle Turner, co-host for Entertainment Tonight, is the first Black woman host in the show’s 40-year history and a seven-time Emmy Award-winning journalist. She is the host and producer of Secret Celebrity Renovation, which recently concluded its second season on CBS; co-hosts The Big Podcast with Shaq, a weekly podcast starring former NBA player Shaquille O’Neal; and is a frequent contributor to various CNN programs.
After graduation, Turner worked at a number of local TV affiliates before landing at KTTV in Los Angeles. She covered Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath for Good Day LA, winning several journalism awards for her coverage of the disaster. As a Columbia native, she makes it a point to “talk Mizzou” with any fellow alumni she meets on the red carpet. Turner graduated from the Missouri School of Journalism in 1998.
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