Commencement Honors - 05/28/96

FIVE RECEIVE SPECIAL COMMENCEMENT HONORS AT OHIO STATE

     COLUMBUS -- The achievements of an author, a scientist, an 
engineer, a businessman and a former athletic trainer will be 
recognized with special honors during The Ohio State University's 
spring quarter commencement ceremonies June 7 in Ohio Stadium.

     Honorary doctorates will be presented to author John Jakes, 
scientist Neal Lane and engineer Chang-Lin Tien.

     The Distinguished Service Award will be presented to 
businessman John Schiff and posthumously to athletic trainer 
Billy Hill.

John Jakes, Doctor of Humanities 

     A 1954 Master of Arts graduate of Ohio State in American 
literature, John Jakes has been called the "godfather of 
historical novelists" by the Los Angeles Times and has published 
200 short stories and some 60 books.

     Born in Chicago in 1932, Jakes began writing professionally 
during his freshman year at Northwestern University.  He enrolled 
in the creative writing program at DePauw University, where he 
graduated in 1953.  From 1954 to 1960, Jakes worked for Abbott 
Laboratories as a copywriter and as a product promotion manager.  
In 1960-61, he worked as a copywriter for Rumrill Company, an 
advertising agency in Rochester, N.Y.  He worked as a freelance 
writer of advertising copy until 1965, when he was employed as a 
senior copywriter for the Kircher, Helton & Collett advertising 
agency in Dayton. 

     Jakes left advertising in 1971 and began writing full-time.  
His first major success was the Kent Family Chronicles, an eight-
volume series published during the nation's bicentennial which 
was used to tell the story of America. Jakes made publishing 
history in 1975 by being the first author to have three books 
(Volumes II, III, and IV of the Chronicles) on the New York Times 
bestseller list within a single year.

     Between 1982 and 1987, Jakes published a trilogy about the 
Civil War, North and South (1982), Love and War (1984), and 
Heaven and Hell (1987), which was made into an ABC mini-series, 
one of the 10 highest rated miniseries of all time. Homeland 
(1993), the first of a new cycle of novels about a fictional 
family in the twentieth century, became Jake's thirteenth 
consecutive New York Times bestseller and was named by the Times 
as one of its notable books of 1993.

     Jakes resides in Hilton Head Island, S.C., and is a research 
fellow in the Department of History at the University of South 
Carolina.

Neal Lane, Doctor of Science

     Widely recognized as a scientist and educator, Neal Lane is 
the director of the National Science Foundation, the independent 
government agency that provides federal support for research and 
education in science, mathematics and engineering.

     A native of Oklahoma, Lane earned his undergraduate, 
graduate and doctoral degrees from the University of Oklahoma.  
In 1966, Lane joined the faculty of Rice University in Houston as 
an assistant professor of physics. He later became a professor of 
physics, space physics, and astronomy, and served as provost.  
>From 1984-86, he served as chancellor of the University of 
Colorado at Colorado Springs.

     Lane has authored or co-authored some 90 scientific papers 
and publications, including a textbook on quantum physics.  His 
research has focused on theoretical atomic and molecular physics 
with an emphasis on collision phenomena.

     Lane is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the 
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science.  He is also a member 
of the American Association of Physics Teachers.

Chang-Lin Tien, Doctor of Engineering

     As chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley, 
Chang-Lin Tien is the first Asian-American to head a major 
research university in the United States.

     Born in Wuhan, China, Tien was educated in Shanghai and 
Taiwan.  He earned his undergraduate degree from the National 
Taiwan University and came to the U.S. in 1956.  He earned his 
master's degree at the University of Louisville and a second 
master's and his doctoral degrees from Princeton University.

     He joined the Berkeley faculty in 1959 as an acting 
professor of mechanical engineering, later becoming professor and 
chairman of the department.  He left Berkeley in 1988 to serve as 
executive vice chancellor at the University of California at 
Irvine.

     Internationally known for his work in heat transfer 
technology, Tien has authored some 300 scholarly articles and 
books, and served as editor of three international journals.

     Tien is a fellow of the National Academy of Science and the 
American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  He is a member of the 
National Academy of Engineering and recipient of numerous awards, 
including the Max Jacob Award, the highest and most prestigious 
award given in the field of heat transfer.

Billy Hill, Distinguished Service Award

     Billy Hill was a member of Ohio State's Department of 
Athletics staff from 1971 to 1995, serving as head athletic 
trainer for football from 1974 until his untimely death in 
February 1995.

     Hill had extensive experience in track, serving as head 
trainer for the United States' track teams at the 1984 Olympics 
in Los Angeles, the 1975 Pan American Games in Mexico City, and 
the 1983 World Track and Field Championships in Helsinki.  In May 
1993, he was appointed to the U.S. Olympic Committee's Sports 
Medicine Council and was to have played an integral role in 
establishing the sports medicine policies for the 1996 Olympics 
in Atlanta.

     A native of Memphis, Tenn., Hill served three years in the 
U.S. Army, including a tour of duty as a medical specialist in 
Vietnam, before enrolling at Ohio State.  He graduated in 1973 
with a Bachelor of Science degree in education.

     Hill served as president of the Ohio Athletic Trainers 
Association.  The organization named Hill University and 
Collegiate Trainer of the Year in 1988 and posthumously inducted 
into him into their Hall of Fame in 1995, at which time he was 
also inducted into the Ohio State Athletic Hall of Fame.  The 
Ohio State football team played their 1995-96 season in his 
honor.

John Schiff, Distinguished Service Award

     John Schiff is the founder of the Cincinnati Financial 
Corporation and serves as chairman of its executive committee.  
He is also chair of the executive committee of the Cincinnati 
Insurance Company, which he co-founded in 1950.

     A native of Cincinnati, Schiff earned his Bachelor of 
Science degree in commerce from Ohio State in 1938.  He served as 
assistant logistics commander, U.S. Naval Forces, Germany, during 
World War II. He was discharged a lieutenant commander and 
retains close ties to the Navy, serving on the national board of 
directors of the Navy League of the United States.

     A loyal alumnus, Schiff has been actively involved with Ohio 
State since his graduation.  He is a life member of The Ohio 
State University Alumni Association and a past president of the 
Cincinnati Ohio State Alumni Club.  He has served two terms on 
the executive committee of The President's Club and became a 
member of the Dean's Advisory Council of the Fisher College of 
Business in 1989.  He serves on the Ohio State Foundation Board 
and on the National Major Gift Committee in Cincinnati.

                             #

Contact:  Tracy Turner, University Communications, (614)688-3682.


[Submitted by: Von Reid-Vargas (ereid@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
               
Wed, 29 May 1996 16:35:32 -0400]
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