Bellarmine University honored four outstanding alumni at a new event, Knight of Excellence, on Oct. 19 at the Omni Louisville Hotel.

 

Knight of Excellence combined two previous signature Bellarmine occasions—Knight of Knights and the Bellarmine University Alumni Awards—into one evening to thank members of the President’s Society, the university’s premier donor-recognition club, and celebrate the importance of philanthropy to Bellarmine’s mission. All proceeds from the event go to student scholarships. 

 

 

 

Sharon Des Jarlais, who received the university’s highest honor, is retired vice president of Finance for American Express (AMEX), where she worked for 25 years. She has served on the Bellarmine Board of Trustees since 2008 and is currently board secretary. She supports Bellarmine’s work with first-generation students and students with learning differences and welcomes the use of technology to stimulate innovative ideas from faculty and students. She is a member of Bellarmine’s Gallery of Distinguished Graduates and was the 2016 Alumna of the Year.

 

 

Dr. Mushtaque Juneja is a distinguished anesthesiologist based in Louisville with over 40 years of experience. He directs multiple medical and chairs the Department of Anesthesiology at Norton Women’s and Children’s Hospital. He is also an entrepreneur, commercial real estate developer, restaurateur and financial consultant. He is a founding member of the Rubel School of Business Advisory Council, and he and his wife, Dr. Samina Juneja, are longtime supporters of Bellarmine University. Their recent $1.725 million gift supports the Bellarmine University Juneja Nurse Anesthesia Program.

 

Dr. Barbra Cave is an associate scientific director in hepatology at AbbVie. She earned a bachelor’s in Biology, an Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree and a Master of Nursing degree at Bellarmine before earning a Ph.D. in Nursing at the University of Louisville. She has worked at Jewish Hospital and U of L’s Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, where she became an assistant professor in 2020. Her focus is patients with viral hepatitis. Cave served on Bellarmine’s Alumni Board for seven years and has been a preceptor for numerous Bellarmine students.

 

 

Fr. George Kilcourse is a scholar in the fields of Thomas Merton studies, ecumenism, and religion and literature and was a Bellarmine faculty member for more than 40 years. As a student, he studied under Msgr. Alfred F. Horrigan and turned a chance meeting with Merton in the library into a lifetime of scholarship. He is the former editor of and a frequent contributor to The Merton Annual and has written dozens of scholarly articles and several books, including the award-winning Ace of Freedoms: Thomas Merton’s Christ.