Dr. Louis Agnese, UIW president, presents Brune with the Alumni of Distinction award.
The University of the Incarnate Word’s 2015 Alumni of Distinction for Service in Mission recipient is Rebecca “Becca” Brune ’91 BA, the senior vice president of strategic planning and growth at Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc. (MHM). Prior to joining MHM, Brune was vice president of strategic alliances at Goodwill Industries. She spent eight years at United Way as director of family self-sufficiency and served on the national United Way of America Strategic Planning Committee.
Throughout her career, Brune has sought to build innovative, strategic partnerships and promote public-private collaborations to improve programming and inspire systems change within the communities and organizations she serves. Her drive for parity has fostered 20 years of experience creating innovative, evidence-based, community-wide, regional, national and international initiatives in the areas of social service delivery, community development, health care and economic sustainability. Brune has worked and informed research projects in Bangladesh, India, Mexico and Nicaragua. She has been a part of several medical mission teams providing eye care, wound care, and women’s health education in Costa Rica, Mexico, Ghana, and West Africa.
Graduating magna cum laude, Brune had many formative academic and leadership experiences at Incarnate Word. In 1989, she spent a year as an international exchange student in Kumamoto, Japan, attending Kumamoto University and in summer of 1990, Brune attended Carnegie Mellon University, School of Public Policy and Management. After graduation, as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, Brune earned a master’s degree in public affairs from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. In 2009, as a Bill Greehey Scholar, Brune earned a master’s degree in business administration from St. Mary’s University, commissioned as a distinguished graduate.
She is married to Devlyn Lovell, and they have two children, daughter Rory and son Ryder.
Brune was awarded the Alumni of Distinction award during a commencement ceremony held at the Joe & Harry Freeman Coliseum on Dec. 6. UIW conferred degrees to nearly 1,000 professional, doctoral, graduate and undergraduate students making it the university’s largest fall commencement to date. The commencement address was delivered by Moody Professor Dr. Elda Martinez, associate professor of teacher education.
