Meritorious Achievement Award
This award is presented to an individual who has made an important contribution to the Association or to the profession. To receive a Meritorious Achievement Award the individual should have made either an important single contribution to the Association or the profession; or significant multiple contributions to the Association or the profession.
2024 Meritorious Achievement Award Winners
Heather Boutell, Director of Student Financial Aid, Vanderbilt School of Medicine
Heather Boutell has served the profession well for 30+ years. She has held leadership positions at the state, regional and chaired and served several positions at the national level. Most recently, she was named the Chair of the Leadership and Management Pathway for the 2025 Leadership conference after serving on this task force for several years. She is an advocate for her students and has participated with the NASFAA Policy Pipeline. She is engaged as a speaker for states and regions outside of her own and remains on the short list for needs in SASFAA or TASFAA.
S. Kay Lewis, Assistant Vice Provost, Enrollment & Executive Director of Financial Aid, University of Washington
Kay Lewis has a long history of service in her professional associations and has mentored and supported other professionals throughout her career. She started her professional career as a financial aid counselor at the University of Washington in the early 1980s, she left the UW to work at Western Washington University and Whitworth College, before returning to the UW over 30 years ago to lead the Office of Student Financial Aid.
With over 40 years administering financial aid programs, she has developed a deep understanding of the issues that students face in paying for college. Kay is involved in the national conversations regarding the improvement and reform of financial aid programs and processes. She is the past Chair of the Higher Education Loan Coalition and has served on this board since 2009. She formerly led the Coalition of State Student Aid Administrators (COSUAA) and is currently the treasurer for this organization. Kay is a former board member of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) and has been active in the state and regional associations in numerous capacities. Kay attended Centralia Community College and Western Washington University for her degrees in history and her Master in Education in the area of Student Personnel Administration.
