Celebrating Accomplishments

GAMBIER, Ohio (April 11, 2006) The Kenyon community came together on Tuesday, April 11, to celebrate the accomplishments of students, teachers, and mentors at the annual Honors Day convocation.

Highlighting the event was the awarding of the Trustee Teaching Excellence Awards, which went this year to Assistant Professor of Biology Wade Powell and Professor of English Ted Mason. The trustee awards are presented each year to one tenured or tenure-track faculty member who has been teaching at the College for fewer than ten years and one who has been teaching at Kenyon for ten years or more.

Powell, who joined the faculty in 2000, was praised for his research on the effects of organic pollution on aquatic animals and for working with more than a dozen students on significant, independent research projects during his time at Kenyon. Mason, who co-founded the College's African and African-American studies program and the Kenyon Minority Dissertation Fellowship, was honored with the senior trustee teaching award. A faculty member since 1988, Mason was praised for earning a "national reputation in the fields of African-American literature and narratology."

Many students were recognized for superior achievement, winning a variety of honors. Awards included the nationally administered Goldwater Scholarships, given to students in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering; the Paul Newman Trophy and Joanne Woodward Trophy, given to drama students; the humanitarian award; and the E. Malcolm Anderson Cup, given to the student who has done the most for Kenyon in the current year. Additionally, Kenyon named 17 Honors Scholars who will receive scholarships based on academic achievement, leadership ability, and community involvement. (View the complete list of Honors Day award winners.)

In addition to those awards, honorary doctoral degrees were conferred upon three people. Helen Zelkowitz, a pioneer in radio and cable in Knox County, Ohio, was recognized for her years of leadership in the local community and her history of philanthropy. Donald Bandler, Class of 1969, was cited for his long diplomatic career, including posts as United States ambassador to Cyprus, special assistant to the president, senior director for European affairs in the National Security Council, chargé d'affairs in the American embassy in Paris, director for Israel and Arab-Israeli affairs in the U.S. Department of State, and political and legal counselor in the U.S. embassy in West Germany. Filmmaker, philanthropist, and inventor Maurice Kanbar, the third honorary degree recipient, was praised as a "poster child for the liberal arts" in recognition of his varied and creative career.