Bowling Green Independent Schools would like to introduce and congratulate the Bowling Green High School Hall of Honor, Class of 2025: Alan Simpson, Class of 1981; Clinton Lewis, Class of 1995; and Cierra Waller, Class of 2005. The honorees and their families plan to visit BGHS on Friday, September 19, 2025 for a small luncheon, and tour of the school, prior to being introduced on the field at the Homecoming football game.
The Hall of Honor was established to recognize the outstanding character, achievements, and contributions of Bowling Green High School graduates. A distinguished honoree demonstrates the district motto of “Excellence Is Worth The Effort” in their professional careers, civic endeavors, and personal relationships.
More about each Honoree:
Alan Simpson is a 1981 graduate of Bowling Green High School, where he was a 4-year letterman on the Purples baseball team and sang in the a cappella Choir. After high school, he attended the University of Kentucky and earned a bachelor's degree, with distinction, in 1985. Alan is also a 1988 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law. Alan and his wife, and high school sweetheart, Micki, moved back to Bowling Green in 1988, and Alan began his private practice of law.
Alan’s immediate family includes his wife, Micki, (1982 BGHS graduate) and his two daughters, Caroline (BGHS 2009) and Madeleine (BGHS 2012). He enjoys spending time with them, and his grandson Felix and son-in-law Maxx. His two sisters Dewanda Brown and Sharon Payne are also BGHS graduates, as well as countless nieces and nephews.
Alan, and his local band, Bueler’s Day Off, have used their talents on several occasions to organize fundraisers with the American Red Cross, raising thousands of dollars to aid earthquake, flooding, and wildfire victims. Alan also serves as a choir member and cantor at Holy Spirit Catholic Church.
Over the last 37 years Alan has handled hundreds of thousands of cases involving complex civil and high-profile criminal trials. He is the owner and operator of The Simpson Firm, LLC. His passion for helping others, and pursuing justice for all, has garnered several awards. He has twice been recognized by the Bowling Green Warren County Bar Association with the Gwyneth B. Davis Public Service Award and has been voted “Best of Bowling Green” in the attorney category, in the Bowling Green Daily News annual reader’s poll, several times.
Alan is a Purple through and through and is humbled by this award.
Clinton Lewis is a proud 1995 graduate of Bowling Green High School, where he first developed his love for photography while serving as lead photographer and photo editor for both The Beacon and The Purple Gem. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Photojournalism and a master’s degree in Organizational Communication from Western Kentucky University (WKU).
Clinton launched his career in 1997 with the Bowling Green Daily News, starting as lab staff before quickly advancing to staff photographer, a role he held for nearly a decade. After a brief tenure with Earnhart+Friends advertising agency as a graphic designer and photographer, he returned to his alma mater in 2008 as WKU’s official university photographer. In this role, he has captured the life, spirit, and milestones of the Hilltopper community for nearly two decades, capturing some of WKU’s most iconic and memorable moments. Clinton also serves as an adjunct photojournalism faculty member for the School of Media & Communication at WKU and has led study abroad experiences for students across the globe.
Throughout his career, Clinton has received widespread recognition for his work. His honors include multiple Associated Press Member Showcase selections, Best of Show and first-place awards from the Kentucky News Photographers Association and Kentucky Press Association, and numerous grand champion and merit awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). His digital artwork has been featured in the Abound Celebration of the Arts show at the Kentucky Museum, where his digital 24-hour composite image of the WKU Commons received the Best in Show (digital) award in 2024.
Clinton’s work has been featured across Southcentral Kentucky, nationally, and globally. Namely, his images of the Bowling Green tornado destruction of 2021 were featured on CNN and his digitally-enhanced timelapsed capture of the 2023 total solar eclipse was the featured image on NASA’s website to commemorate the celestial event. Also in 2023, the Kentucky Museum hosted a 15-year retrospective exhibit, The Lewis Lens, featuring 70 of his most iconic and beloved photographs of WKU. While some images remain on permanent display, others were auctioned to provide scholarship opportunities for WKU Potter College of Arts and Letters students.
An avid outdoorsman and traveler, Clinton is also well-known for photographs of his travels including those in the mountains of Peru, temples of China, jungles of Costa Rica, and landscapes of New Zealand.
Clinton lives in Bowling Green with his wife, Corie. The Purple Spirit runs deep in the Lewis family, with Clinton’s three children, Meredith, Connor and Cameron, his sister Anne, and stepdaughter Sofia Martin, all having graduated from BGHS. His stepdaughter, Morgan Martin is a current BGHS senior. Clinton offers his most heartfelt thanks to Bowling Green High School for celebrating the arts and encouraging young people in their creative pursuits.
Cierra Waller, a 2005 graduate of Bowling Green High School, earned a Bachelor of Arts in Medicine, Health & Society from Vanderbilt University in 2010 and a Master of Public Administration from Western Kentucky University in 2012. She began her career in higher education as a Student Success Coordinator and Academic Advisor in WKU’s Potter College of Arts & Letters before moving into her current role as Associate Director for Student Success at Western Kentucky University.
Waller has served WKU for 12 years, beginning her full-time career in 2013 after completing her graduate degree. In her current role, she leads initiatives to strengthen student success, including first-generation student programming and Living Learning Communities. In addition to her administrative work, she also serves as an adjunct instructor in the Department of Political Science, where she teaches courses such as Women and Politics. Beyond campus, she is an elected member of the Bowling Green Independent Schools Board of Education and serves as President-Elect of the WKU Alumni Association National Board of Directors.
Her leadership and service have been recognized with numerous honors, including the Trailblazer Innovative Teaching and Learning Award, the NAACP Ambassador of Education Award, the WKU President’s Award for Outstanding Staff Advisement, Southeastern Association of Housing Officers Academic Collaboration Award, ACPA Collaborative Excellence Award for Living Learning Communities, and the Dr. Lloren Foster Lift Every Voice Award from WKU’s Intercultural Student Engagement Center.
Waller is the proud mother of Julian, a current BGHS student-athlete, and she is honored to continue her mother Janet Cosby Waller’s legacy as a BGHS graduate. As a first-generation college graduate and native of Bowling Green, she remains committed to service, education, and community—values that have guided her journey and that she works to instill in the generations to come.