SIUC to hold commencement exercises May 12-13

April 20, 2006

SIUC to hold commencement exercises May 12-13

by Tom Woolf

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois University Carbondale's spring commencement exercises are set for Friday and Saturday, May 12 and13.

There are 3,015 candidates for undergraduate degrees, 350 candidates for master's degrees, 117 candidates for law degrees and 41 candidates for doctoral degrees.

SIUC's graduation ceremonies are open to the public and tickets are not required.

Commencement speakers include a chief pilot for American Airlines and the president/CEO of Children's Healthcare in Atlanta.

Nine alumni will receive Alumni Achievement Awards as part of individual college and school ceremonies. These awards represent the highest honor the SIU Alumni Association bestows.

Achieving excellence in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs is among the goals of Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment, the blueprint for the development of the University by the time it celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2019.

College of Agricultural Sciences: 11 a.m., Saturday, May 13, Shryock Auditorium.

Larry Fischer, vice president for instruction at John Wood Community College in Quincy, will give the address and receive the Alumni Achievement Award.

Fischer, who grew up on a grain and livestock farm east of Quincy, earned a bachelor's degree in agriculture education in 1968 from SIUC and a master's degree in education in 1974 from the University of Illinois.

He served as director of agriculture at John Wood Community College for 26 years, and became vice president for instruction four years ago. Fischer serves on the SIU Alumni Association board of directors and on the Illinois Council for Food and Agriculture Research, based in Urbana. He traveled extensively and studied in Japan, Taiwan and western European countries involved with the 1992 General Agreement on Trade and Tariff.

College of Applied Sciences and Arts: 11 a.m., Saturday, May 13, SIU Arena.

Jay Rud, one of three chief pilots for American Airlines in Chicago, will give the address and receive the Alumni Achievement Award.

A native of Sandwich, Rud enrolled at SIUC in 1980 and graduated in three years with a bachelor's degree in technical careers and an associate degree in aviation technologies. By that time, he also held an airframe and power plant mechanic's license and numerous pilot ratings from the Federal Aviation Administration.

He became an American Airlines pilot at age 23 and became captain at age 29. He led crews of Fokker F-100s and Boeing 727s on flights throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. Rud subsequently earned a promotion to pilot/check airman in recognition of his technical expertise. In that role, he taught newly hired first officers and upgraded captains. In 2002, he began piloting Boeing 767s to Europe, the Caribbean and Hawaii, and now supervises approximately 1,600 American Airlines pilots at O'Hare International Airport.

College of Business and Administration: 4 p.m., Saturday, May 13, SIU Arena.

James Tally, president/CEO of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, will give the address and receive the Alumni Achievement Award.

Tally is a three-degree graduate of SIUC. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1965 in history and business, his master's degree in education in 1971 and a doctorate in higher education administration in 1977. The College of Business and Administration named Tally its Executive of the Year in 2004. He is a member of the college's advisory board.

As president/CEO of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Tally oversaw the merger of Egleston Children's Health Care System and Scottish Rite Children's Medical Center in February 1998. He led a successful integration of key system support areas including financial and satellite operations, a call center, human resources, marketing, public relations and care support.

Child magazine ranks Children's Healthcare as one of the nation's top 10 children's hospitals. U.S. News & World Report ranks it among the top pediatric hospitals, and Children's is the first and only pediatric health care system in the nation to rank among FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best" employers.

Tally previously held several positions with SIUC's medical school and he served as vice chancellor for administration and fiscal affairs at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.

College of Education and Human Services: 8:30 a.m., Saturday, May 13, SIU Arena.

Henry H. Scherich, president/CEO of Measurement Inc. in Durham, N.C., will give the address. Arthur M. Horne, distinguished research professor at the University of Georgia, will receive the Alumni Achievement Award.

Scherich earned his doctorate in educational psychology-educational measurement and statistics in 1975 from SIUC.

He founded Measurement Inc. in the basement of his Durham home in 1980. Today, the firm, which is totally employee-owned, boasts 4,000 employees in 14 offices across the United States. It is a full-service educational testing company that provides development and scoring of achievement exams for students in kindergarten through college and professional levels through state departments of education, local school districts and other educational agencies.

Before starting Measurement Inc., Scherich was a teacher, coach, guidance counselor and university instructor, and served in positions at two other testing companies.

Horne earned his doctorate in educational psychology-counselor education in 1971 from SIUC. He taught at Indiana State University from 1971 until 1989, serving as a member of the faculty and director of training for the counseling psychology program. He also was a member of the marriage and family therapy program and twice served as acting department head.

In 1989, Horne moved to the University of Georgia, where he served as department head for the counseling psychology program for four years and director of training for the program for eight years. He also served as coordinator of a certificate program in marriage and family therapy for 13 years.

He has co-authored five books and co-edited five, and served on editorial boards of seven journals. For the past 10 years, Horne has conducted the Bully Project in Athens, Ga., through which he worked with schools in several states and wrote four books on bullying, as well as several research and educational publications.

College of Engineering: 1:30 p.m., Saturday, May 13, SIU Arena.

Howard Lo, CEO of Mastersoft Inc. in San Carlos, Calif., will give the address and receive the Alumni Achievement Award.

Lo, who was born in Hong Kong, immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of six. He is a two-degree graduate of SIUC, earning a bachelor's degree in 1984 and master's degree in 1986, both in engineering.

He is a veteran of aerospace and commercial emerging technologies. Previous experience included working for General Dynamics in Fort Worth, Texas, (now Lockheed Martin), where Lo won an Extraordinary Achievement Award for creating a series of computer aircraft analysis technologies.

Lo founded Mastersoft Inc., a business process software company, in 1997.

Graduate School: 7 p.m., Saturday, May 13, SIU Arena.

Traditionally there is no guest speaker for this program. The Alumni Association will present its Outstanding Thesis Award to Joshua Der.

School of Law: 4 p.m., Saturday, May 13, Shryock Auditorium.

Dr. Marsha G. Ryan, Carbondale surgeon, assistant professor of clinical surgery in the SIUC medical school and adjunct professor in the law school, will give the address. Edward Light, Winnebago County assistant public defender, will receive the Alumni Achievement Award.

Ryan, a past president of the SIU Foundation Board, also serves as campaign chair for SIUC's first comprehensive capital campaign, "Opportunity Through Excellence." She earned her law degree from SIUC in 1987.

Light earned his law degree from SIUC in 1981.

College Liberal Arts: 5 p.m., Friday, May 12, SIU Arena.

Buzz Spector, professor and chair of the art department at Cornell University, will give the address and receive the Alumni Achievement Award.

Spector earned a bachelor's degree in art from SIUC in 1972 and an MFA from the University of Chicago in 1978. He is an artist and writer whose studio practice includes drawing, print- and papermaking as well as photography and installation. His work has been exhibited in the United States and internationally, including at such museums and galleries as the Art Institute of Chicago, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the Palazzo Falconieri in Rome, Italy.

He co-founded WhiteWalls, a magazine of writings by artists, in Chicago in 1978 and served as the publication's editor until 1987. He has since written extensively on topics in contemporary art and culture, contributing reviews and essays to a number of publications. He is the author of "The Book Maker's Desire," critical essays on topics in contemporary art and artists' books, and numerous exhibition catalogs.

College of Mass Communication and Media Arts: 1:30 p.m., Saturday, May 13, Shryock Auditorium.

William P. Livek, co-CEO of Simmons Market Research, will give the address and receive the Alumni Achievement Award.

Livek earned his bachelor's degree in radio-television in 1976. He has more than 29 years of experience in the media and marketing information industries in the sales and marketing areas. In 1992, he co-founded Simmons' parent company with Bill Engel, his business partner of 27 years, Symmetrical Resources, which bought Simmons Market Research Bureau in 1998.

Simmons is a leading provider of information about American consumers, from the products they buy, the brands they prefer, to their lifestyles, attitudes and media consumption.

Previously, Livek served as president and CEO of ADcom Information Systems, Inc., which electronically measured local cable television viewing for the purpose of allowing advertisers and agencies to use the power of "highly targeted television" more effectively. In the 1980s and early 90s, he was president and CEO of Birch Scarborough Research. Birch Scarborough Research pioneered new techniques for measuring radio listening, through Birch Radio Ratings, with specialties in measuring the listening of highly targeted groups such as the African-American and Hispanic markets.

Prior to Birch Scarborough, Livek was vice president of marketing for the Arbitron Co.

College of Science: 8:30 a.m., Saturday, May 13, Shryock Auditorium.

Roy C. Heidinger, professor emeritus in the zoology department, will give the address and receive the Alumni Achievement Award. He has been in Southern Illinois for many years, but claims Gillespie as his hometown.

A three-degree alumnus of SIUC, Heidinger's association with the University spans 45 years. He served 13 years as director of SIUC's Fisheries and Illinois Aquaculture Center and three years as chair of the zoology department.

In 2005, the American Fisheries Society, the premiere national organization in his field, honored his lifelong scientific achievements by his induction into the Fisheries Management Hall of Fame.

Heidinger is a national and international authority on largemouth bass. His work on the culture of hybrid sunfish in farm ponds helped create a new industry in the United States. During his career, Heidinger mentored more than 50 graduate students who now serve as a significant core of the nation's expertise in the field of fish management. Though he retired in 1999, Heidinger remains an active researcher and continues to obtain external grants for his research.

Arthur Horne