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Alumni Awards List

KIMBERLY JOHNSON TRUEBA received a Bachelor of Interior Architecture in 1991. While a student, she returned to her hometown of Wichita, KS, during summers to work at Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey and Associates, P.A. During her fourth year of studies, she interned at Disney Development Company in Florida where she coordinated design and construction for the final phases of Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resort Hotels.

Following graduation, she began working full time for Disney Development Company. Trueba managed the design and development of precedent setting Vero Beach Resort on Florida's Eastern Shore. The Vero Beach project and Disney's first-ever vacation ownership/time-share development, known as Disney's Old Key West Resort, elevated the qualitative barometer for time-share development throughout the U.S. and opened to critical acclaim, in large part due to Trueba's role on both projects. Trueba supported the College's internship program by encouraging Disney to hire the best students. She assisted with the selection of six KSU student interns, several of which were hired by Disney upon graduation.

Trueba transitioned in 1996 from real estate projects to theme park and resort projects, working with Walt Disney Imagineering where she completed Disney's first-ever "department store" with the opening of the award-winning "World of Disney" at the Disney Village Marketplace. Trueba lead the project's large and highly specialized consultant team and was responsible for managing the interface between the company's merchandise divisions, development divisions, in-house design departments, and California-based scenic and fixture fabrication studios.

During her final years with WDI, she managed the company's multi-million dollar synergistic capacity addition venues within the Florida theme parks and resort properties in conjunction with ABC, Hollywood Pictures, and Buena Vista Pictures. These projects capitalized on The Walt Disney Company's diverse business units and operating segments. While in this role, she also took on the assignment as Project Manager for Walt Disney's food and beverage project portfolio.

In 1999, Trueba joined Avery Brooks and Associates of Las Vegas, NV, as Project Director, leading the company's project delivery processes and directing its growing architecture, interior design, and management staff from a team of 16 in 1999 to nearly 30 in 2001. In her role as Director, Trueba has been directly responsible for establishing the company's growing reputation as a progressive new force in the commercial design arena. In addition to her broader responsibilities, Trueba actively participates in multiple projects with her design team and maintains a sharp focus on the core design and project management process.

Trueba met fellow K-State alumnus Humberto Trueba (B.S. 1989) while living in Florida; they were married in 1995. She now resides in Las Vegas and Denver, CO. The couple's 10-month old daughter, Ariana, travels with her.