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Alumni Awards List

RHONDA (DILLON) HILEMAN's family background strongly contributed to her interest in interior architecture. The granddaughter of an architect and the daughter of the owners of a custom cabinetry showroom, Rhonda grew up with designers who interacted with customers to create unique cabinetry. She developed an early interest in interior design and notes that on her high school visit to K-State, she "connected instantly" with what she experienced in the College of Architecture, Planning and Design.

A Topeka native, Rhonda graduated from Seaman High School. She originally planned to minor in marketing while she pursued her interior architecture degree, but instead she completed many business courses and balanced those with part-time employment that brought her into contact with customers in a variety of settings. In addition to working with KSU Facilities for a year, Rhonda was a hostess for K-State's Director of Athletics in the football stadium sky suites for two years where she gained exposure to people not connected with the design fields. This experience served her well in her later role as a customer solutions manager with Cessna Aircraft Company, where she interfaced daily with customers, one of which included actor Harrison Ford, of that company's Citation aircraft. After spending two and a half years in this position, Rhonda recently returned to the design department where she began her career at Cessna.

While pursuing the Bachelor of Interior Architecture at K-State, Rhonda served as president of the Environmental Design Student Association. During her fourth year of studies, she interned for nine months with Gensler and Associates Architects in Denver. Mock interviews held in the spring of her fifth year played a critical role in Rhonda's career direction. She had signed up for a meeting with Cessna, hoping to learn more about facility management. A heavy snow storm caused Cessna to cancel their participation. Later that spring while in Wichita, Rhonda followed through with Cessna's representative for an informal interview. As a result of that meeting, she was invited to stay in touch as Cessna developed a new design position, one for which she was subsequently interviewed and hired!

After graduation, Rhonda joined Cessna Aircraft Company in Wichita as an interior designer in advanced design/production design. This past summer, Rhonda accepted a position as the interior design group leader in production design, where she oversees the management of aircraft interiors from definition to completion, ensuring they meet customers' specific expectations. In addition she is a member of the interior focus team, which consists primarily of marketing personnel, to maintain communication between the groups and to meet with Citation customers regarding interior and exterior aircraft design. Rhonda has a real appreciation for the "team environment" of the marketing division, where she worked with members from avionics, contracts, sales and interiors, gaining a wealth of knowledge regarding manufacturing, schedules, contracts and more. Prior to her role in marketing, she has been part of a team who developed the "Single Engine Restart Design" for both the interior scheme and an exterior stripe design. One scheme was published in Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Pilot magazine. She has traveled three times as a Cessna representative to the National Business Aviation Association's convention.

Rhonda has a strong connection to K-State, as her grandmother graduated with a home economics degree in the 1940s. Her grandmother introduced Rhonda to a "passion for purple." Some of Rhonda's childhood memories include listening to K-State football and basketball games at her grandmother's house while her grandmother taught her to sew. Rhonda's grandmother still listens to those games and on occasion has the opportunity to attend them.

Rhonda's husband, Rob, also has strong ties to K-State, as his grandfather worked for KSU Facilities as a welder and his father was the first in the family to obtain a college degree, which was from K-State. Rhonda and Rob met while both were attending K-State. They have two children—Madison, age 7½, and Jack, 2½, both avid K-Staters. Rhonda delights in capturing her children in photos, tackling home improvement projects with Rob, attending K-State football games and serving as youth sponsors at their church.