Wittenberg Recognizes Academic Achievement During Annual Honors Convocation
April 25, 2010
Filed in Campus Headlines, Headlines
A full house was present for Honors Convocation 2010.
Springfield, Ohio — Wittenberg University celebrated the achievements of students and faculty members at the annual Honors Convocation Friday, April 16, in Weaver Chapel. The convocation, held with faculty in full academic regalia, recognizes high achievement of students and faculty members in academic and co-curricular activities.
During the ceremony, John D. Morris, class of 1983, presented the 2010 Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teaching to Olga Medvedkov, professor of geography. The award was established in 1960, and it is the highest recognition Wittenberg bestows on its faculty. It is accompanied by a stipend of $2,000. Candidates must have taught at Wittenberg for more than five years and are nominated by students, alumni, faculty and staff.
Marisa Perez was named Alma Mater, an honor bestowed upon a junior woman on the basis of character and integrity, service to the community, concern for others and high standards of scholarship. Brendan Corrigan was named Alma Lux, an honor bestowed upon a junior male student who possesses qualities of leadership, scholarship and service.
Megan Hentges received the Heimtraut Dietrich Award, which was established in 1981 to recognize the student who best emulates the spirit of the late associate dean of students’ devotion to Wittenberg through faith and service.
The M. Alice Geiger Award was presented to Erin Slattery. The award, named for Wittenberg’s first woman graduate, recognizes a senior woman for outstanding contributions to the campus in the areas of performing or literary arts, athletics, co-curricular leadership, new programming, special academic pursuit or through special representation at any time during her college career.
The John F. Mitchell Award, honoring the senior man who best represents the liberal arts tradition at Wittenberg, was presented to Brad Folta. The award goes to a top student who is a positive force in academic, cultural and social aspects of the campus.
The Alpha Delta Pi Scholarship Award, created in 1990 by the Springfield Alumnae Association and Chi Chapter of Alpha Delta Pi sorority, recognizes two junior women, one Greek and one non-Greek, who best exemplify the characteristics consistent with the ideals and goals of the sorority. This year’s recipients are Natasha Elliott (non-Greek) and Kirsten Midgley (Greek).
The Global Awareness Award, instituted in 1992, recognizes seniors who contribute to greater global awareness within the Wittenberg University community. This year’s recipients are Melissa Cederqvist and Anna Joy Tibby.
The Charles J. Ping Student Community Service Award is presented in recognition of outstanding leadership and ability to meet the needs of the community by working in partnership with members of the community. It recognizes the student’s effort to create an organization to lead and to involve others. Ohio Campus Compact, a statewide membership organization that serves to promote community service initiatives at colleges and universities, sponsors this award. This year’s recipient is Betty Cheney.
Anna Joy Tibby and William McKelvey are the recipients of the Martin Luther King Jr. Award for positive examples to members of the African American community and to the university.
Natasha Elliott received the Broadwell Chinn Award, named for one of the first African American students to enroll at Wittenberg in the 1870s. The award honors the student holding the highest grade point average among African American juniors.
The Omicron Delta Kappa Award for outstanding teaching by a professor who has been a Wittenberg faculty member five years or less was presented to Michelle McWhorter, assistant professor of biology.
Jessica L. Crews and Valerie P. O’Brien were recognized as Fulbright Scholars, and Betty Cheney, Patrick Killian, Valerie P. O’Brien and Alison Thompson were recognized as Smith Scholars.
Presidential Scholars, named for former presidents of Wittenberg, are the junior students having the top 12 grade point averages of their class. Those students are Laura McLaughlin, David To, Kathryn Cammarn, Alexander Griffith, Jennifer Cahall, Danielle Springer, Teresa Coda, Hope Parker, Kelley Herde, Kelly Foley, Haylee Barbo and Keith Meyers.
In addition, two new institutional awards were introduced at the 2009 Honors Convocation. The Lillian C. Franklin Diversity Award is granted each year to honor a student and a faculty/staff member who have made outstanding contributions in promoting and furthering our goal of rich diversity in the Wittenberg community. Candidates must uphold the tradition of diversity embodied by the award’s namesake, demonstrate high standards of personal integrity, commitment to the education of the whole person, global vision and leadership. The 2010 student recipient is Betty Cheney, and the 2010 faculty/staff member recipient is Miguel Martinez-Saenz.
The Community Service Champion Award recipient was Heather DeSantis, and Rick Incorvati received the Excellence in Community Service Award.
This year the Environmental Sustainability Award has been renamed to honor the work of Emeritus Professors Lou Laux. Professor Laux came to Wittenberg in 1959 and spent the next 32 years teaching ecology, ornithology, evolution, and environmental topics on this campus. Decades before many of us were aware of the impact of human activity on the environment, Professor Laux was studying the way that birds adapted to urban settings, he was integrating sustainable sources of energy into his own household, and he was experimenting with methods of “urban home food production.” When he retired from Wittenberg in 1991, Lou and his wife Ann moved to Georgia where they built an energy-efficient home which included recycled and reclaimed construction materials, solar panels, and a four season greenhouse. Lou and Ann have returned to the Springfield area and now reside at Oakwood Village where they designed and helped maintain a system of raised-bed gardens which grow vegetables for the community there.
The Lou Laux Environmental Sustainability Award recognizes one student and one faculty/staff member for their effort and creativity devoted to cultivating a spirit of environmentalism on campus. This year’s recipients include two students, Megan Hentges and Kelsey Swindler, and faculty member Ken Irwin.
Click here to view a complete list of individuals recognized at the 2010 Honors Convocation.
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