Lawrence University Recognizes 10 Graduates for Distinction, Service at Alumni Reunion Celebration

APPLETON, WIS. -- Billie Pollard of Appleton may have retired from public school teaching more than 20 years ago, but she still makes daily use of the teaching certificate she earned in 1939.

Pollard is one of 10 Lawrence University alumni who will be recognized for distinguished careers and community service Saturday, June 22 during the college's annual Reunion Weekend celebration.

More than 1,000 alumni and guests from as far away as England and Poland are expected to attend the weekend activities, which begin Friday and run through Sunday morning. Five alumni will be recognized with distinguished achievement awards and five will receive service awards at the annual reunion convocation Saturday at 11:10 a.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel.

Pollard and Connie Vanderhyden will receive the George B. Walter Service to Society Award. Established in 1997 in honor of the late George Walter, a Lawrence graduate and education professor from 1946-75, the award recognizes contributions to socially useful ends in the community. Pollard is the first recipient of the award who was also a classmate of Walter's at Lawrence.

After retiring in 1981 from the Appleton School District, where she had spent the last six years of her career teaching English as a Second Language courses, Pollard and two other volunteers founded Literacy Education Services. The adult language program began in 1982 by teaching English as a second language to eight Hmong women. Today, the program, which Pollard still directs, has grown to 75 students with nearly 50 volunteer teachers.

Over the years, Pollard's LES program has taught English to adult students from around the world, including Brazil, China, Finland, Japan, Korea and Poland, among others. In addition to language study, Pollard also teaches classes in geography, hygiene, cultural and social skills and even preparation of American foods.

After earning a degree in English from Lawrence in 1937, Pollard taught in schools in Medford and Hortonville before joining the Appleton School District. She has been recognized with awards three different times by the Lao-Hmong Association and was named one of Wisconsinıs ten most admired seniors by Security Bank in 1993.

Vanderhyden, a Spanish teacher in Viroqua, has spent nearly a decade working on behalf of a community of Mayans who fled Guatemala to the Mexican state of Chiapas. In 1994, a government treaty allowed the refugees to return to Guatemala and Vanderhyden served as an "international accompanier" on the trip to guard against acts of violence and human rights violations.

Her involvement with the refugees led Vanderhyden to organize the Kickapoo Guatemala Accompaniment Project (K-GAP). Since its inception, K-GAP has sent 10 accompaniers to the Mayan community of Neuva Esperanza, established a scholarship program for Guatemalan high school students and sponsored a yearly delegation visit. Vanderhyden is a 1972 graduate of Lawrence.

Fred Sturm, who returns to the Lawrence faculty this fall to direct the jazz and improvisational music department he helped create as a student, will be honored with the Lucia R. Briggs Distinguished Achievement Award.

Bob Landis, Gardiner, Mont., Bonnie Morris, Minneapolis, Minn., and Thomas Steitz, Branford, Conn., also will receive the Briggs Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions and accomplishments in a chosen field.

As a 19-year old sophomore, Sturm conducted the first Lawrence University Jazz Ensemble, paving the way for what would eventually become the jazz studies department within the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music.

Four years after earning his bachelor's degree in music, Sturm returned to Lawrence in 1977 as director of jazz studies, a position he held for 14 years before leaving in 1991 to become professor of jazz studies at the Eastman School of Music in New York. In the 11 years Sturm directed it, the Eastman Jazz Ensemble and Studio Orchestra earned Down Beat magazine's outstanding collegiate jazz ensemble award seven times.

Nominated for a Grammy in 1998, Sturm's compositions and arrangements have been performed by a "who's who" of jazz legends and his works are currently in print with eight music publishers. In addition to writing music, he has written three music texts and wrote the jazz aural training method, "All Ears," which is used by music educators throughout the country.

Landis, a self-employed wildlife cinematographer, has produced more than a dozen films for television programs such as "National Geographic Explorer" and "Nature." His film subjects have ranged from coyote behavior to the life cycle of an elk herd to the recovery of Yellowstone National Park from forest fires. He earned an Emmy award for his work on the PBS special, "Denali: Alaska's Great Wilderness."

A 1962 graduate of Lawrence and former high school math teacher, Landis also has been instrumental in the efforts to reintroduce the gray wolf to Yellowstone after a 60-year absence. Walter Medwig, the executive director of the International Wolf Center, credits Landis for the "huge impact" he has had on the wolf recovery program.

"The quality and uniqueness of his work has brought the art of wildlife photography to a new level and his work has brought major new insights to the world of science and animal behavior," said Medwig.

Morris co-founded Illusion Theater, a nonprofit drama company in Minneapolis two years after graduating from Lawrence in 1972. Nearly 30 years later she continues to serve as the company's producing director. Specializing in "prevention/outreach" productions, Illusion Theater creates works that deal with some of the most sensitive issues of the day: domestic abuse, AIDS, sexual harassment, workplace diversity and justice in housing, among others.

A collaborative effort between Illusion Theater and the Minnesota State Department of Human Resources produced the Peer Education Program, which takes training in fundamental theater skills into the state's schools. The program recently staged 315 performances in 19 communities for more than 28,500 people.

Morris has been recognized with the Minneapolis Award for contributions to the city, the Sally Award for vision and leadership in the arts and the prestigoius Coming Up Taller Award from the President's Council on the Arts and Humanities.

Steitz is the Eugene Higgins Professor and chair of the molecular biophysics and biochemistry department at Yale University. He recently was named a Sterling Professor, a title reserved for a select few of Yale's most distinguished faculty members.

A 1962 Lawrence graduate, Steitz studies protein-nuclei acid interactions as an investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. As a scientist, he is widely regarded for his contributions to the understanding of protein chemistry and his technical virtuosity in the use of X-ray crystallography.

He has been awarded the Pfizer Prize by the American Chemical Society and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Lawrence recognized Steitz' contributions to scientific knowledge with an honorary doctor of science degree in 1981. Steitz served as the keynote speaker at the dedication ceremonies of Lawrence's Science Hall in 2000.

Bass-baritone Mark Uhlemann, New York, will receive the Nathan Pusey Young Alumni Achievement Award, which is named in honor of Lawrence's 10th president who passed away earlier this year.

A 1996 graduate, Uhlemann won the prestigious Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1997 and made his "Met" debut at the age of 25 as Herald in "Otello." In 2000, Uhlemann won the Concert Artists Guild International Competition. He has performed with the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program, covered three roles at the Metropolitan Opera and made his German debut with the Burklins Sommeroper last summer.

Frank Hammer, Arlington, Wash., Kristen Lahner, Stillwater, Minn., and Betty Messenger, Columbus, Ohio, will be presented the Gertrude B. Jupp Outstanding Service Award for exemplary dedication, leadership, commitment and volunteerism to Lawrence.

Hammer, a 1942 graduate, has served two terms on the Lawrence alumni association board of directors. He was instrumental in organizing the regional alumni club in Seattle and played a key role in the evolution of Lawrence's former Placement Center into today's Career Center.

Lahner, who graduated in 1973, is a past president of the alumni association. Since the early 1980s, she has served as program coordinator for all Minneapolis-St. Paul alumni activities, including the 1997 sesquicentennial event. She also has served as a class officer and an admissions officer alumni coordinator.

Messenger, a member of Lawrence's centennial class of 1947, has served as a class agent extraordinaire for the past 13 years. Well known for always adding hand-written notes to every class agent letter she sends out, she sent a personalized invitation to every member of her class encouraging them to attend their 55th reunion this weekend.