2015 Northern Excellence Awards go to Tilleman, Veis

The Montana State University-Northern 2015 Founders' Excellence Award winners has been revealed to be Mike Tilleman and Gerry Veis.

The awards are given out yearly to members of the community who have gone above and beyond in their support of the college.

"I'm very humbled by it," Veis said. "It's very wonderful of them. Let alone to get the nomination, but to get the award is pretty cool."

Nominations for the Excellence Awardcome from people in the community who write a letter of recommendation to the Northern Alumni Foundation.

"Whoever it was, I'm very much appreciative of it, and I can't thank them enough for giving me that honor," Veis said.

He added that he is an avid Lights fan. When caught between the age-old Montana argument of Griz vs. Cats, he said he chooses Lights.

"I love Northern," he said. "Northern is true and dear to my heart."

Veis attended Northern from 1981 to 1983 and was a star player on the basketball team. He was named All Conference and Most Valuable Player of the Frontier Conference and was also the first player chose for All-District, according to a press release from the university. In 2001, he was elected to the MSU-Northern Alumni Hall of Fame.

He graduated with one of the first business degrees offered by Northern, he said. He began working at Bear Paw Credit Union in 1983, two days after he graduated and works there to this day.

"As he often jokes, Gerry has been employed at the Bear Paw Credit Union longer than most Northern students have lived," the press release reads.

During his time in Havre, he has played a part in Northern several times. He was a member of the Alumni Association Board, including a stint as president, and the Northern Foundation Board.

Tilleman grew up in Chinook and was a standout football player. He played for the University of Montana and spent 11 years with the National Football League, playing as a defensive lineman for the Vikings, Falcons, Oilers and Saints. After the NFL, he returned to the Hi-Line and made roots in Havre after purchasing the local Chevrolet dealership.

He has played a large role with Northern since then, including donating equipment to Northern's programs and hiring many Northern alumni. Tilleman Motors offers scholarships to Northern for employee family members as well, the press release reads.

"It's truly an award for everybody in the community, not for me," Tilleman said. "If you didn't have everybody behind you when you were doing it, you couldn't accomplish anything."

In addition to this, he has also spent time on the Northern Foundation board and was one of the founding members of the Northern Lights Athletic Scholarship Foundation, which has provided more than $1 million in support to athletic scholarships and programs.

"I just try to give back," Tilleman said. "It's a wonderful school with wonderful people. It's got good programs, and the students are great kids."

He said that all he wants is to give young students and athletes a chance to excel.

"We're trying to help give them an opportunity in life," he said.

A ceremony to honor the recipients will be held May 1 on the campus, in conjunction with the Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony in the Student Union Building ballroom.

Tickets are $30 per person and dinner is included. To buy tickets, people can call the Alumni Foundation at 265-3711.