Founders Day Ceremony to honor professors, students

IU will celebrate its 181st birthday this weekend with the annual Founders Day ceremony at 2 p.m. Sunday in Assembly Hall. \nThe University will honor 15 professors and an associate instructor for their outstanding teaching, research or service, as well as students who've earned academic honors in the previous two semesters. IU has kept this tradition alive since its beginning, but not without a few changes along the way. \nJan. 20, 1820, marks the actual founding of the University. The first celebration of IU's birthday, referred to at the time as Foundation Day, was held in January 1889. It was celebrated around this time annually for about 35 years, but the celebration was quite different.\n"I'm told they had a procession over to former President Wylie's house, which is now a museum, and it was considered kind of a way to keep alive IU's traditions and its history," said Robin Gress, secretary of the board of trustees and director of ceremonies.\nIn 1924, the University changed the name to Founders Day and held the celebration later in the semester. Now the ceremony is at the beginning of March and the procession is no longer included.\nGress said almost all of the campuses at IU have honors convocations, but Bloomington's is somewhat special. The faculty members honored can be chosen from IU's Bloomington, East, Northwest, South Bend or Southeast campuses and from IU-Purdue Universities Columbus, Indianapolis and Fort Wayne.\nFaculty members are nominated by their colleagues for University awards and honors. A faculty committee then assesses the nominations and selects the recipients.\n"There are a number of faculty members who receive awards named after various people who endow funds to set up these awards," Gress said. "These are really some of the highest faculty awards that can be given at IU."\nRon Hites, distinguished professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, established the Wilbert Hites Mentoring Award, which is new to this year's ceremony. \nBrian Powell, director of graduate studies and a professor in the IU sociology department, is the first recipient of this award, which honors any student, staff or faculty member who displays outstanding mentoring qualities that help others in their careers or education. Hites established the award in honor of his late father. \n"(My father) grew up in the Depression and was a very bright guy but never managed to finish college because money ran out. He really should've," Hites said. "He was a good mentor to me; obviously my dad took pains to teach me all kinds of stuff."\nThe University will also honor three professors as distinguished.\nGiorgio Tozzi, professor and the Henry A. Upper Chair in Music; Robert A. Harris, chairman of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; and Victoria L. Champion, Mary Margaret Walther Professor of Nursing and associate dean for research and director of clinical research in the School of Nursing, will all be elevated to the rank of Distinguished Professor.\nStudents who have earned academic honors will receive their certificates at a reception in the John Mellencamp Pavilion following the ceremony.\n"These awards are competitive. Thus, the best and the brightest from the undergraduates here and the most successful faculty from the various campuses," Bloomington Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis said. "It is a day to honor our best in a community of learning." \nOther awards have been established in honor of people who have left an impact with their service. \n• Mary E. Fell, associate professor of English at IU East, will receive the Sylvia E. Bowman Award. Bowman was a respected scholar and author and served IU for 34 years as a professor, academic administrator and chancellor for regional campus administration. The award was established in 1994 and honors faculty members in disciplines related to American civilization.\n• The W. George Pinnell Award for Outstanding Service was established to honor the memory of the former executive vice president of the University who also served as president of the IU Foundation and Kelley School of Business dean. The award honors faculty members or librarians who have shown deep commitment and involvement in service to the University, their profession or the public. Susan Eklund, professor of education, Byron A. Root Professor in Aging, director of the IU Center on Aging and Aged, and associate dean of the faculties, is the recipient this year.\n"I have always taken seriously the service part of the research, teaching and service role of a faculty member in the University, so I did not expect to be recognized for that service," Eklund said.\n• The John W. Ryan Award for Distinguished Contributions to International Programs and Studies was established in 1991 to honor faculty members or librarians who have contributed to the University's international programs and studies. The award was named in honor of Ryan, who, as IU's president from 1971 to 1987, initiated IU's commitment to excellence in international education. This year's recipients are Richard A. Fredland, professor of political science, and Lawrence S. Davidson, professor of business economics and public policy.\n"(International programs and studies) are vitally important. We understand ourselves so much better when we put it in a larger context," Davidson said. "For business students it goes beyond that to understanding that so much of business is being driven by international factors."\n• This is the first year the Thomas Ehrlich Award of Service, named in honor of IU's president from 1987 to 1994, will be presented. The recipient is Cathy L. Foos, associate professor of philosophy at IU East.\n• The oldest of IU's teaching honors is the Frederic Bachman Lieber Memorial Award, established in 1954 by Katie D. Bachman in honor of her grandson. This year's recipient is Sharon L. Sims, associate professor of nursing and chair of the Department of Family Health. \n• This year's recipient for the Herman Frederic Lieber Memorial Award, also for outstanding teaching, is Robin K. Morgan, psychology professor at IU Southeast. The award is sponsored by Herman Lieber of Indianapolis.\n• There is also a Lieber Memorial Teaching Associate Award which will be presented this year to Camilla Saulsbury, an IU doctoral student in sociology, who also writes a column for the IDS. The Lieber awards honor graduate students who display outstanding teaching skills and combine advanced study with instructional employment in their schools and departments.\n• President's Award recipients include Jay R. Howard, associate professor of sociology and assistant dean for budget and planning at IUPU Columbus; Patrick J. Ashton, associate professor of sociology at IUPU Fort Wayne; Charles P. Gallmeir, associate professor of sociology at IU Northwest; and Suzanne Konzelmann, associate professor of economics at IU South Bend.