NW Missouri Times

Hannah Christian, the director of career services at Northwest Missouri State University, has received this year’s Fred Von Behren Good Citizen Award. The award was presented on September 19 by the Greater Maryville Chamber of Commerce during its annual banquet.

The Fred Von Behren Good Citizen Award recognizes individuals in the community for their volunteerism, dedication, and leadership. Recipients are selected through a nomination process.

"It's just an honor to be nominated because the nomination process is when your peers in the community see you doing your best to make the community a better place," Christian said. "Regardless of winning the award, the nominations themselves are, in a way, part of the award because it shows that someone has recognized you for your contributions in bringing things to the community, through service, professional work and being a member of organizations."

Christian joined Northwest Missouri State University staff in 2015 as an information librarian at B.D. Owens Library and became director of career services in 2021. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology with a botany emphasis and a master's degree in higher education leadership from Northwest. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in visual arts from the Institute for Doctoral Studies in Visual Art.

As director of career services at Northwest, Christian leads programs and student assistance efforts within the university office. Her role extends to helping Maryville and surrounding communities with economic and workforce development initiatives.

Additionally, she is part of the resource team at Northwest Missouri Enterprise Facilitation, a nonprofit organization that supports entrepreneurs across northwest Missouri's six-county region.