Alumni News | George Shuck '76 Receives Alumni Achievement Award

George L. Shuck was presented the Alumni Achievement Award at the Spring 2010 baccalaureate commencement ceremony. He enrolled at Wayne State in the fall of 1973 in the business school and completed his studies at Wayne State in 1976, graduating summa cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting and a minor in economics.

While at Wayne State, Shuck was vice president of the Student Senate and was a member of the tennis team. After graduating from Wayne State, he attended the University of Kansas, graduating with a master of science degree in accounting in 1977.

Shuck began his career in public accounting with Arthur Andersen & Co. as a staff accountant in the auditing division in the company's Kansas City office in 1980. While at Arthur Andersen, Shuck's primary audit focus was on commercial business enterprises primarily in the manufacturing and retail sectors.

Shuck changed his career path from public accounting to private industry in 1985. He became chief financial officer for a computer hardware and software retailer in Kansas City. Another opportunity presented itself a year later and he became a shareholder and president of a T.J. Cinnamons franchise in Memphis, Tenn. Shuck temporarily relocated to Memphis and was actively involved in the entire business operations of the franchise.

After spending two years away from Kansas City, Shuck returned and joined Ferrellgas, Inc., a national propane retailer in Liberty, Mo., as manager of financial accounting and reporting. He was promoted to director of administration services in 1992. In this position, George's responsibilities included the tax, audit and administrative services departments.

Shuck left Ferrellgas and became president and sole stockholder of a custom metal fabricating company in Kansas City in 1995. He sold the business in 2004 after receiving an offer from a local strategic competitor. Shuck assumed the position of vice president and chief financial officer of Clearwater Natural Resources in 2005 where he continues his employment today. Clearwater was founded in 2005 as a private MLP to acquire coal mining businesses in eastern Kentucky.

George and his wife, Deb, make their home in Kansas City, Missouri. They enjoy golf and supporting their alma maters (Deb is a graduate of Kansas State University). Shuck has been a Trustee of the Wayne State Foundation since 1993 and has hosted two Kansas City alumni reunions.