Carey Hamilton receives highest alumni award
The UNO Alumni Association bestowed its Citation for Alumni Achievement award upon UNO graduate Carey Hamilton during the university’s commencement ceremony Friday, Dec. 15, at Baxter Arena.
Inaugurated in 1949, the citation is the association’s highest honor. It encompasses career achievement, community service, involvement in business and professional associations, and fidelity to UNO. Hamilton is the 175th graduate to have received the award.
Hamilton, is president of Beardmore Chevrolet (Bellevue, Nebraska), which she owns with her husband, Brian. Carey Hamilton earned a BS in business from UNO in 1978. She also graduated from the Executive Management Program of Harvard Business School in 1998.
She has worked in the automobile dealers industry since 1982 when she and her husband opened a dealership in Grand Island. Today she also is vice president of Beardmore Subaru in Bellevue and of GMC Midway Chevy Buick Cadillac and RAM Midway Chrysler Dodge Jeep in Kearney, Nebraska. She is president of Beardmore Insurance Services.
Hamilton and her husband are longtime supporters of the University of Nebraska system, including UNO and UNO Athletics. They provided the lead gift for what became the Hamilton Academic Excellence Room in Sapp Fieldhouse. The student-athlete academic facility includes a computer lab, study loft, areas for group study and tutorial support, and offices for the UNO Student-Athlete Success Program staff. The 5,000-square-foot space opened in 2013.
Hamilton serves several community organizations, including as chairperson of Women Investing in Nebraska. She also sits on the boards of directors for Bellevue University, Assurity Life Insurance, the Nebraska Cultural Endowment and University of Nebraska Foundation.
Hamilton has earned numerous honors in her career, being named a Cadillac Master Dealer and to the General Motors President’s Advisory Council. She also has been honored as the Grand Island Independent’s Woman of the Year, a Grand Island YWCA Woman of Distinction, the Grand Island Arthritis Foundation’s Humanitarian of the Year and the Grand Island United Way’s Citizen of the Year.
The Hamiltons have been married 45 years. They have two daughters and four grandchildren.