Five to Receive Commencement Honors - 12/03/96

FIVE RECEIVE SPECIAL COMMENCEMENT HONORS AT OHIO STATE

     COLUMBUS -- A businessman, an administrator, a scientist, an 
attorney and a former philanthropist will be recognized with 
special honors during The Ohio State University's autumn quarter 
commencement ceremonies Dec. 13 in St. John Arena.

     Honorary doctorates will be presented to businessman John 
Ong, administrator Lawrence Barnett, and to agricultural 
scientist E. Travis York.

     The Distinguished Service Award will be presented to 
attorney Arthur I. Vorys and posthumously to philanthropist Sally 
Moore Nitschke.

John Ong, Doctor Of Humanities

     John Ong, chair and chief executive officer of the 
BFGoodrich Co., is a 1954 Master of Arts graduate of Ohio State 
in history.  He is credited for transforming BFGoodrich -- a 
manufacturer of tires, rubber products and plastics -- into a 
profitable provider of aircraft systems and services and a 
producer of specialty chemicals.

     After earning a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1957, 
Ong began his career with BFGoodrich in 1961 as assistant counsel 
for the corporation.  In 1966, he became administrative assistant 
to the president of International BFGoodrich, vice president of 
that division in 1969 and president in 1970.  He was named group 
vice president in 1972, and executive vice president and a member 
of the board of directors the following year.  He served as vice 
chair from 1974-75 before being elected president in 1975.  Ong 
has been chair and CEO since 1979.

     Ong is the director of several other major corporations 
including Ameritech, ASARCO, Cooper Industries, the Geon Co., The 
Kroger Co., and TRW.  An advocate for business involvement in 
civic and cultural activities, Ong is a director of the Chemical 
Manufactures Association and serves as trustee of the University 
of Chicago, the Musical Arts Association, and the John S. and 
James L. Knight Foundation.

     In addition, Ong plays a leadership role in a number of 
organizations involved with education and the competitiveness of  
American business.  He serves as an honorary member of Ohio 
State's Humanities Development Council and received the College 
of Humanities' first Alumni Award of Distinction in 1994.  He is 
a member of the Business Roundtable, chair of the Ohio Business 
Roundtable, a senior member of the Conference Board, and a member 
of the Business Council.

Ong resides in Hudson, Ohio.

Lawrence Barnett, Doctor of Fine Arts

     Lawrence Barnett, entrepreneur, community leader and 
philanthropist, was one quarter away from graduation from Ohio 
State when illness forced him to withdraw.  More than 50 years 
later following a successful career as a corporate executive, he 
returned to the university to earn his Bachelor of Science in 
Business Administration degree in 1988.

     A native of Orrville, Barnett worked in the talent 
department of the Columbia Broadcasting System and the Music 
Corporation of America.  He became head of MCA's talent division, 
handling such bands as Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman.  In 1936, 
Barnett became president and director of MCA, a position he held 
until 1963.

     In 1963 he was named chair and president of General Artist 
Corporation and director of Baldwin-Montrose Chemical 
Corporation, parent company of General Artists and Chris-Craft 
Industries.  In 1967,, he assumed the executive vice presidency 
of Chris-Craft, retiring in 1988.  He remains a director of 
Chris-Craft.

     Barnett is serving as co-chair of the university's current 
five-year national fund-raising campaign.  He was instrumental in 
establishing a master's degree program in arts policy and 
administration through the College of Arts and the Fisher College 
of Business.

E. Travis York, Doctor of Science

     E. Travis York, scholar, academician, and scientist has made 
notable contributions to the field of agriculture. 

     A member of the University of Florida faculty since 1963, 
York is a Distinguished Service Professor emeritus and chancellor 
emeritus of the State University System of Florida.  He earned 
his bachelor and master of science degrees from Auburn 
University, and received his doctorate in soil science from 
Cornell University.

     After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, York 
joined the agronomy faculty at North Carolina State University in 
1949, becoming department chair before he was 30.  While at North 
Carolina, York fostered the development of a strong soil 
fertility and plant nutrition research program recognized 
nationally for its excellence.

     He was named eastern director of the American Potash 
Institute in Washington, D.C., in 1956 and became director of 
Auburn's Cooperative Extension Service in 1959.  In 1961, he was 
the administrator of the USDA Federal Extension Service.  He was 
recruited by the University of Florida as provost for 
agriculture, serving as vice president for agricultural affairs, 
executive vice president and interim president.  In 1974 he was 
named chancellor of the State University System of Florida.

     York resides in Gainsveille, Fla., and is involved in GREAN, 
an initiative to solve the problems of hunger, environmental 
degradation, and poverty in the third world.

Sally Moore Nitschke, Distinguished Service Award

     Sally Moore Nitschke was an Ohio State alumna and served on 
a number of philanthropic organizations until her death in 1995.

     Nitschke retained close ties to her national women's 
fraternity, Kappa Kappa Gamma, for more than 40 years, serving as 
a local, regional and national volunteer. She served as national 
president of the 115,000-member fraternity from 1980 to 1984, 
becoming well-known for her pioneering work in programs for 
collegiate women on such topics as ethics and values, leadership, 
personal safety, and self-esteem.

     Board of Directors in 1977.  She served two terms on 
the Alumni Advisory Council, including a stint as the first woman 
chair of the council.  She was a board member of the Student Loan 
Foundation, a member of the Distinguished Alumni Teaching Awards 
Committee, an adviser to the Student-Alumni Council, and was 
active in planning Ohio State's Women's Day.

     A founding member of the Volunteer Action Center in Columbus 
and the Worthington Resource Center, Nitschke also served as 
president of the Junior League and the Childhood League.

Arthur I. Vorys, Distinguished Service Award

     Arthur I. Vorys is former senior partner and currently of 
counsel in Columbus's largest law firm, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and 
Pease.

     A native of Columbus, Vorys served as a lieutenant in the 
U.S. Marine Corps Reserve during World War II.  In 1949, he 
earned his law degree from Ohio State and entered the private 
practice of law with Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, a firm 
founded by his grandfather.  With the exception of a two-year 
stint as superintendent of insurance for the state of Ohio in 
1957-59, he has remained in private practice.

     Vorys played a leadership role in cementing the relationship 
between the Ohio State College of Medicine's Department of 
Pediatrics and Columbus's Children's Hospital, where he served as 
board president from 1978-82.  He was named to the University 
Hospitals Board at its inception and worked tirelessly to recruit 
volunteers to support the Medical Center's continuing 
development.  He is a past president of the Hospitals board, and 
a supporter of the College of Law, leading the efforts to raise 
funds for the college's new wing during its Centennial Campaign.

                            #

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


[Submitted by: Von Vargas  (vargas.12@osu.edu)
               
Tue, 3 Dec 1996 09:35:20 -0500 (EST)]
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