Lawrence Today magazine, Fall 2002
Five alumni were recognized with distinguished achievement awards, and five others received service awards at the annual Reunion Convocation.
Bob Landis, '62, Bonnie Morris, '72, Thomas Steitz, '62, and Fred Sturm, C'73, received the Lucia R. Briggs Distinguished Achievement Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions and accomplishments in a chosen field.
Landis, a wildlife cinematographer from Gardiner, Montana, has produced more than a dozen films for television programs such as "National Geographic Explorer" and "Nature," on subjects ranging 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 for his work on the PBS special, "Denali: Alaska's Great Wilderness."
Morris co-founded Illusion Theater, a nonprofit drama company in Minneapolis, in 1974 and continues to serve as its producing director. Specializing in "prevention/outreach" productions, Illusion Theater creates and stages 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.
Steitz is the Sterling 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, and is highly regarded for his contributions to the understanding of protein chemistry and his technical virtuosity in the use of X-ray crystallography.
Sturm joined the Lawrence faculty 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. This fall he has left Eastman to again direct the jazz and improvisational music program at Lawrence.
Bass-baritone Mark Uhlemann, C'96, received the Nathan Pusey Young Alumni Achievement Award, given to recognize the early-career achievements of individuals who graduated from Lawrence 15 or fewer years ago.
Uhlemann won the prestigious Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1997 and made his Met debut at the age of 25 as the Herald in Otello. In 2000, he 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.
Wilhelmine "Billie" Harms Pollard, '37, and Constance Pfitsch Vanderhyden, '72, received the George B. Walter Service to Society Award. Established in 1997 in honor of the late George Walter, '36, professor of education professor from 1946-75, the award recognizes contributions to socially useful ends in the community.
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, with 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.
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.
Frank J. Hammer, '42, Kristen Olson Lahner, '73, and Betty Thompson Messenger, '47, were honored with the Gertrude B. Jupp Outstanding Service Award for exemplary dedication, leadership, commitment, and volunteer service to Lawrence.
Hammer has served two terms on the Lawrence University 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 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 has served as a class agent 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.
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