14
August
1994
|
18:00 PM
America/New_York
Commencement Speaker and Honors
HEAD OF NATIONWIDE TO ADDRESS SUMMER GRADUATES
COLUMBUS -- D. Richard McFerson, president and chief
executive officer of Nationwide Insurance Enterprises, will be
the commencement speaker for summer quarter graduates of The Ohio
State University on Sept. 1. About 1,600 of the 2,000 persons
receiving degrees 1 are expected to attend the commencement
ceremonies, which begin at 9:30 a.m. in St. John Arena.
An honorary Doctor of Science degree will be awarded to
Willy Burgdorfer, an eminent microbiologist. The university's
Distinguished Service Award will be presented to Daniel M.
Galbreath, businessman, community leader and loyal alumnus; and
posthumously to Joseph F. Stranges Jr., a former student
financial aid administrator at the university.
D. Richard McFerson
McFerson has been president and CEO of the Nationwide
Insurance Enterprise, a $42 billion business based in Columbus,
since December 1992. He heads an organization that includes 27
insurance companies, including many of the country's largest
home, life, auto and specialty insurers; Nationwide
Communications Inc., which operates 14 radio and four television
stations; and Nationwide Financial Services, a mutual funds
organization.
McFerson joined Nationwide in 1979 as vice president of
internal audits. He was named vice president of individual life,
health and tax-sheltered products in 1980 and promoted in 1983 to
senior vice president of finance. Prior to joining Nationwide,
he was senior vice president and controller of New England Mutual
Life Insurance Co. in Boston and senior vice president of finance
for Surety Life Insurance Co. in Salt Lake City. Before entering
the insurance field in 1970, he was with the accounting firm of
Ernst and Young.
A native of Los Angeles, McFerson earned a Bachelor of
Science in business education in 1959 from UCLA and a master's
degree in public administration from the University of Southern
California in 1972. He is a certified public accountant and
holds the chartered life underwriter professional designation.
McFerson is immediate past board chairman of the Insurance
Information Institute, co-chair of the board of Advocates for
Highway and Auto Safety, and past board chairman of the Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety. He is a member of the board of
trustees for the National Commission Against Drunk Driving and is
on the executive committee of the American Red Cross national
board, currently serving as chair of the Biomedical Services
Board.
His community service is extensive. He is board chairman of
Ohio Dominican College, vice chairman of the Center of Science
and Industry (COSI) and co-chair of the center's building
committee, and is on the boards of the Columbus Area Chamber of
Commerce, BalletMet, Children's Hospital, and Greater Columbus
Convention Center. He chaired the Franklin County United Way
campaign in 1990. He served from 1980 to 1988 as president of
the Columbus North Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
Day Saints and is a regional representative of the church.
Willy Burgdorfer
One of the world's eminent microbiologists, Burgdorfer has
laid the groundwork for much of the research being performed
today on tick-borne diseases. His work has focused on the
interactions between animal and human disease agents and their
transmitting arthropod vectors, particularly ticks. His
contributions cover a wide field of investigations on relapsing
fevers, tularemia, Colorado tick fever, Rocky Mountain spotted
fever, and other rickettsial and viral diseases. Burgdorfer
devised a simple test to determine whether persons bitten by
ticks should receive preventive treatment for spotted fever. He
discovered the tick-borne spirochete that is the cause of Lyme
disease and related disorders, leading to better diagnosis and
treatment of these widespread inflammatory diseases. In
recognition of his discovery, the causative agent was named
Borellia burgdorferi.
Born and educated in Basel, Switzerland, he came to the
United States in 1951 on a Public Health Service post-doctoral
fellowship at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Hamilton, Montana.
In 1954, he was named a research associate at the laboratory, and
following his naturalization as an American citizen in 1957, he
joined the staff as a medical research entomologist. He served
the laboratory in various research and administrative positions
until his retirement in 1986.
As a scientist emeritus, he remains very active in numerous
collaborative projects and lectures regularly in North America
and Europe. He has been a guest lecturer on epidemiology at Ohio
State's intensive Acarology Summer Program for more than a
decade.
Daniel M. Galbreath
The chairman, chief executive officer and president of The
Galbreath Co., Daniel M. Galbreath is both a community leader and
loyal alumnus
A 1950 graduate of Amherst College, Galbreath received his
M.B.A. degree from Ohio State in 1952. He then joined his
father, John W. Galbreath, in running The Galbreath Co., a
Columbus-based real estate development, management and leasing
company. During the 1950s and 1960s he assumed leadership of his
father's other business interests, including the Pittsburgh
Pirates baseball team. Under his ownership, the Pirates captured
the 1971 and 1979 World Series pennants. The family sold its
majority interest in the team in 1985. He continues the family
involvement in owning and breeding Thoroughbred race horses.
Today, The Galbreath Co. has projects in more than 30 U.S.
cities with management and leasing responsibilities for 65
million square feet of office space. The company has offices in
16 U.S. cities, Mexico City, and London.
Galbreath has been involved with numerous business and civic
ventures in central Ohio and elsewhere. He is a director of the
National Realty Committee, Borden Chemicals and Plastics
Partnership, Churchill Downs Inc., Keeneland Association, the
Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, and
the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. He chairs the
Wildlife Conservation Fund of America and is a trustee of the
Breeders' Cup. He and his family were instrumental in restoring
the Ohio Theatre.
Ohio State has benefited through the years from Galbreath's
counsel as a member of the Board of Trustees (1978-87), the board
of directors of the Development Fund (1978-80), the National
Campaign Committee (1985-90), the University Hospitals Board
(1980-83), and The Ohio State University Foundation Board (1985
to present). He is a member of The Presidents Club Cabinet and
has supported a wide variety of projects at the university,
including the College of Veterinary Medicine equine program, the
John W. Galbreath Chair in Real Estate, and the School of Music.
Joseph F. Stranges Jr.
As a key administrator in the Office of Minority Affairs for
more than 20 years, Stranges helped countless students negotiate
the intricacies of Ohio State's financial aid system, enabling
them to remain in school.
A native of Holloway, Ohio, he earned bachelor's, master's
and doctoral degrees in education from Ohio State. He taught and
coached in the Columbus Public Schools for eight years before
joining the Ohio State staff in 1966 as director of loans in the
Office of Student Financial Aid. In 1968, he was named director
of counseling in that office, and from 1970 to 1983 he served a
dual appointment as associate director of counseling services in
Student Financial Aid and director of student financial aid in
the Office of Minority Affairs. At the time of his retirement in
1988, he was director of student financial aid in the Office of
Minority Affairs. He died in October 1993.
During his tenure at Ohio State, Stranges was known for his
compassion and his expertise in financial matters. He conducted
workshops for financial aid officers and counselors for such
groups as the College Scholarship Service, the American College
Test, and the Midwest Association of Student Financial Aid
Administrators. A tireless volunteer, he worked with the Jacob
Ashburn Youth Center in Columbus and did counseling for agencies
such as Columbus Education Resources, Tomorrow's Education Now,
the Columbus Urban League, the NAACP, the Columbus Public Schools
and the Columbus Metropolitan Area Community Action Organization.
Toward the end of his life, he did volunteer counseling with
individuals with end-stage kidney failure.
#
Contact: Ruth Gerstner, University Communications, (614) 292-8424
[Submitted by: REIDV (reidv@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu)
Mon, 15 Aug 1994 11:59:21 -0500 (EST)]
All documents are the responsibility of their originator.
