Maura Thomason and Grant Goad have been awarded the 2023 Founders Awards at Williams Baptist University. Thomason is from Sidney, Ark., and Goad is from Jonesboro, Ark. WBU President Dr. Stan Norman presented the awards during the university’s commencement exercises on Saturday, May 6.

Founders Award winners are selected from each graduating class at Williams.  Recipients are chosen by a vote of the faculty and administration as outstanding representatives of the university and its ideals.

Thomason, a summa cum laude graduate and a Coe Scholar, graduated with a double major earning both a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. She has been accepted into the NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine school in Jonesboro on the campus of Arkansas State. She is the daughter of Shannon and Elizabeth Thomason. 

Goad received his Bachelor of Arts in Christian Ministries and plans to further his studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo., where he will pursue a Master’s of Divinity with a concentration in Counseling. He is the son of Wiley and Kim Goad.

WBU is a private, Christian university in Walnut Ridge, Ark.