Sacramento State’s outstanding alumni will be awarded on Thursday with the university’s highest honor.

At the Distinguished Service Awards Dinner, Sac State President Alexander Gonzalez and Alumni Association President Jim Thyken will present each of the 10 recipients with a plaque, Director of Alumni Affairs Craig Perez said.

The Alumni Association board members chose the recipients for a variety of reasons, such as achieving exceptional success in the workplace, earning positive recognition for Sac State and being significantly active in the community.

“You know it when you see it,” Perez said, adding that the recipients’ diverse qualifications are so unique that they cannot be compared.

Retired CIA agent Craig Johnson is among those being honored at the ceremony. Because of the secrecy shrouding his occupation, the Alumni Association only recently learned of his success.

“For a long time, he was under the radar,” said Linda Scott, coordinator of alumni association events.

Scott said that the alumni association did not know about Johnson’s government work until Johnson invited his fellow Sac State graduates to his retirement ceremony.

During his career with the CIA, Johnson served as a staff officer, Special Agent-In-Charge and a mission manager.

As a mission manager, Johnson worked to provide countermeasures after the domestic terrorism incident at Oklahoma City’s John E. Murray Building in Oklahoma City.

During the recent Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts, Johnson helped to provide the U.S. Armed Forces with tactical and strategic intelligence.Johnson, who retired in 2003, received the CIA Career Intelligence Award for his exceptional career.

City councilmember Robbie Waters will also be honored at the ceremony. Waters began his career with the Sacramento Police Department in 1958, and assisted in the arrest of the person who would later be convicted for the attempted assassination of President Ford.

Waters was elected to the Sacramento City Council in 1994, and was reelected in 1998 and 2002.

Teacher Mary Jane Young will be honored for her work with bilingual and migrant elementary students. This year, Young was named San Bernardino County Teacher of the Year, and competed for the California Teacher of the Year award.

Entrepreneur Ken Macias will also be honored at the ceremony. Macias started an auditing company that is now one of the largest in the United States.

Former football coach and athletic director Ray Clemons will receive the Honorary Alumnus Award in recognition for his role as a “founding father” of Sac State, Perez said. This award is presented to a person who did not attend Sac State but has provided the university with exceptional support and service.

In his 24 years of service at Sac State, Clemons served as head football coach, alumni associations director and athletic director. He retired in 1984.

Clemons was a “big picture person,” who enjoyed seeing students become involved in activities at Sac State.

“Most students are not just there to study, but to do other activities,” Clemons said.

Although he boasts one of the best coaching records for football at Sac State, he always considered other activities such as the cheerleaders and the band as part of the football team, Perez said.

“He was a family man, and that showed with his involvement with the football team,” Scott said.

Convinced that Sac State should take advantage of the nearby river, Clemons was involved with the conception and construction of Sac State’s Aquatic Center in 1981. He established the location, and later helped establish Sac State’s rowing team, Perez said.

“He is one of those individuals (who) made Sac State what it has become today,” Perez said. “He will definitely be remembered as someone who made this place different.”

Other recipients of the Distinguished Service Awards are Sacramento artist Fred Dalkey, executive vice president with Cardinal Health Robin Martial; Kayla Gillan, lawyer and activist against corporate scandals; Sacramento public relations firm owner David Mering; Melba Mosher, retired teacher and fund-raiser for ranch workers; Scott Modell, creator of programs for people with disabilities; and Pam Saltenberger, executive director of Girl Scouts of Tierra del Oro.

The emcees for the ceremony will be retired news anchor Stan Atkinson and news anchor Edie Lambert.

The awards banquet will be held at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at the Alumni Center.