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College of Liberal Arts and Sciences honors notable alumni, faculty, staff at Homecoming

October 19, 2010

NIU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences held its first Distinguished Alumni, Faculty, and Staff Awards dinner Friday, Oct. 15, in Altgeld Auditorium.

Eleven honorees were selected from the many nominations submitted by fellow faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the college. Eight of the honorees attended.

President John Peters congratulated the honorees and addressed the gathering. Provost Raymond Alden and Dean Chris McCord presented the awards.

In his opening remarks, McCord said “(the honorees) are, in their varied ways, the very best of who we all strive to be: a community of scholars and learners; people who believe deeply in the lifelong quest for knowledge; and who show the transformative power of education.”

Last year, the college celebrated its 50th anniversary with a series of events designed to commemorate the college’s past contributions, current status, and future potential in the university. Among the highlights of this milestone was a fall gala, which honored 50 of the college’s most prestigious alumni — 10 from each decade of the college’s operation.

Last spring, the college honored 10 prominent faculty and staff members for their contributions to the college. Building on the success of these events, the college instituted a combined, annual event.

This year’s honorees were:

Alumni

  • David Beam, M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science, 1967 and 1976, Director Emeritus of the graduate program in Public Administration at Illinois Institute of Technology.
  • Leslie C. Morey, B.A. in Psychology, 1977, Professor of Psychology at Texas A&M University and expert in Psychopathology.
  • John Sall, M.A. in Economics, 1973, Co-founder and Executive Vice President of SAS Institute.
  • Larry Schroeder, M.A. in Economics, 1967, Syracuse University professor and an expert in economics in developing countries.
  • Paul Sereno, B.S. in Biological Sciences, 1979, Professor at the University of Chicago and renowned paleontologist.

Faculty

  • Sue Warrick Doederlein, Department of English faculty member now serving as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs.
  • Joseph E. Grush, recently retired Vice Provost for Resource Planning and Professor Emeritus, Psychology
  • Joel S. Milner, Director Emeritus of the Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault and Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, Psychology.
  • M. Ladd Thomas, Professor Emeritus, Political Science, first head of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies.
  • Alfred F. Young, Professor Emeritus, History, renowned scholar, and writer on the American Revolution.

Staff

  • Ann K. Wright-Parsons, Director of the NIU Anthropology Museum and alumna of the Department of Anthropology.