Ohio State honors five at autumn 2003 commencement

COLUMBUS – Five individuals will be honored at Ohio State University’s autumn 2003 commencement for their contributions to society and academics, and their dedication to the university. Ceremonies begin at 2 p.m. Sunday (12/14), in St. John Arena.

Honorary doctorates will be presented to Geradus ’t Hooft, Nobel laureate and professor of physics at the University of Htrecht in The Netherlands; The Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones, who retired as judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 2002; and Mark B. Rucker, a baritone who has earned an international reputation as a performer in some of opera’s most challenging roles.

Distinguished Service Awards will be presented to Norman M. Stanley, retired assistant director for institutional services and personnel administration at The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI) in Wooster; and Charles C. Warner, a graduate and friend of the Moritz College of Law.
Marnette Perry, senior vice president with The Kroger Company, will deliver the commencement address.

Gerardus ’t Hooft, Doctor of Science
Nobel laureate Gerardus ’t Hooft has been professor of physics at the University of Utrecht in The Netherlands since 1977.

Born into a family of scientists, ’t Hooft grew up in The Hague. His granduncle, Frits Zernike, won the 1953 Nobel Prize for Physics, and his uncle, Nicholas Godfried van Kampen, was professor of theoretical physics at the University of Utrecht. ’t Hooft received his doctorate in theoretical physics in 1972 from the University of Utrecht.

Beginning with his thesis work in the 1970s, ’t Hooft has gained an international reputation as one of the most influential particle theorists in history, playing a leading role in the renaissance of high-energy physics in the late 20th century. In 1999, he and his thesis advisor, Martinus Veltman, won the Nobel Prize in physics for their work establishing the standard model of high-energy physics. His continuing work on string theory and black holes continues to inspire many advances aimed at quantizing gravity. He has authored more than 175 scholarly works in scientific books and journals.

A member of the Dutch Academy of Sciences since 1982, ’t Hooft has received a number of other awards, including the 1979 Dannie Heineman Prize from the American Physical Society and the 1982 Wolf Prize for his work on renormalizing gauge theories. He is a foreign associate of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Internationally sought as a visiting lecturer, ’t Hooft has visited Ohio State’s Department of Physics several times and gave the 2000 Alpheus Smith lecture. He has also been a guest lecturer or visiting professor at Harvard, Stanford, Boston, and Duke universities and the California Institute of Technology.

Nathaniel R. Jones, Doctor of Laws
The Honorable Nathaniel R. Jones retired as judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 2002, having been appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979. He now serves as senior counsel for Blank Rome LLP in Cincinnati.

A native of Youngstown, Jones received his A.B. in 1951 and his L.L.B. in 1956 from Youngstown State University. Following graduation, he was executive director of the Youngstown Fair Employment Practices Commission before being appointed assistant United States attorney for the Northern District of Ohio in Cleveland, a position he held from 1960 to 1967. In 1967 he was named assistant general counsel to President Johnson’s National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, also known as the Kerner Commission, investigating the urban riots of the 1960s. In 1969, he began a 10-year tenure as general counsel of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

While with the NAACP, Jones coordinated the attack against segregation in northern schools, directed the legal response to attacks on affirmative action, led an inquiry into discrimination against African American servicemen, and supervised the NAACP’s defense in the Mississippi boycott case. The Mississippi case led to a landmark Supreme Court decision that officially recognized the First Amendment rights of individuals and organizations to engage in protests.

During his 23 years as a federal judge, he frequently addressed the themes of the relationship of American justice and the American legal system to minority concerns. In addition, he gained international renown as a civil rights activist, playing an important role in abolishing apartheid in South Africa.

Jones has authored numerous legal publications and is the recipient of many honors and awards, including the Ohio Bar Medal from the Ohio State Bar Association, the 2002 Thurgood Marshall Award from the National Bar Association’s Judicial Council, and induction into the National Bar Association Hall of Fame. In February 2003, the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution officially naming the Nathaniel R. Jones Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Youngstown.

Mark B. Rucker, Doctor of Music
Baritone Mark B. Rucker has earned an international reputation as a performer in some of opera’s most challenging roles.

When the Chicago native sang the role of Renato in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera with Luciano Pavarotti for the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opera magazine called him “a major addition to the ranks of genuine Verdi baritones.” As winner of the second Pavarotti Competition in 1986, Rucker was seen not only in the Philadelphia production, but also in the PBS telecast of the opera later that season. Since then, he has performed to high praise in a large repertoire throughout North and South America, as well as Europe and Asia.

Rucker’s New York debut was the title role in Rigoletto for New York City Opera. He also sang the title role in a new production of Rigoletto for his Netherlands Opera debut, made his Vienna Staatsoper debut as Alfi o in Cavalleria Rusticana, and sang the title role in Nabucco for two consecutive summers at the Bregenz Festival.

His debut in Germany was the role of Amonasro in Aïda on tour for the Arena di Verona. Rucker sang the same role in Dublin, which was recorded on CD and released on the Naxos label. He has also recorded Gomes’ Fosca with Opera Ebony and an Anthology of Songs by Lena McLin, and he has appeared as guest soloist with the Baltimore Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, Des Moines Symphony, and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra.

Rucker is an active participant in helping to train aspiring opera performers and recommending them for performance opportunities. During an appearance as Scarpia in an Opera Columbus production of Tosca, he agreed to teach a vocal master class in Ohio State’s School of Music. After becoming involved with the American Singer’s Opera Project in New York City, he recommended several Ohio State singers for acceptance to the program and has continued to promote them to opera companies, conductors, and directors.

Norman M. Stanley, Distinguished Service Award
Norman M. Stanley is retired assistant director for institutional services and personnel administration at The Ohio State University Agricultural Institute (ATI) in Wooster.

He holds a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from the Department of Agricultural Education at Ohio State with an emphasis on educational administration. After receiving his doctorate in 1973, he was named an administrative assistant to Jerry Halterman, the founding director of ATI, then in its planning stages. In 1976, Stanley was named assistant director for institutional services and personnel administration, a post he held until his 2001 retirement.

During his tenure at ATI, Stanley planned and coordinated the construction of five major building programs valued at $15 million. He coordinated the construction of a $5 million conference center and a $1.2 million equine center, and he was responsible for the oversight of a 55-acre main campus and an 1800-acre farm/laboratory including swine, beef, crops, dairy, and horse enterprises. He was responsible for supervising the staff functions of finance, purchasing, personnel, public safety, plant operation and maintenance, planning, inventory, and farm operations.

Through his active membership in the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce, Stanley was instrumental in bringing thousands of business, industry, and community leaders to the ATI campus. As campus judicial officer, he counseled and coached troubled students. He played leading roles in developing the international program at ATI and the campus interfaith program. With a strong commitment to agricultural education worldwide, he twice served as a consultant for the Midwestern University Consortium in International Activities (MUCIA) in the Dominican Republic, and he conducted a three-week study tour to Ecuador regarding an AID Rural Development Project.

His service to Ohio State has been recognized with the university’s Distinguished Staff Award, the National Institute of Staff and Development Excellence Award, the ATI Outstanding Staff Award, and the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award.

Charles C. Warner, Distinguished Service Award
Charles C. Warner is a partner in the Columbus law firm Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur where he serves as revenue management partner and claims counsel and loss prevention coordinator.

After receiving his undergraduate education at Yale University, Warner served in the Peace Corps before enrolling in Ohio State’s College of Law, where he was chief justice of the Moot Court Governing Board and a member of the National Moot Court Team, earning his J.D. cum laude in 1970.

A member of the Moritz College of Law National Alumni Advisory Council since 1994, Warner became president of the council in 2002. Since then, he has taken the lead in creating the Robert J. Nordstrom Designated Professorship, honoring a former faculty member, by soliciting former Moritz Law alumni at Porter Wright. In addition, he has created a plan for increasing annual giving to the law school by implementing a class agent and peer solicitation plan that is now underway for six pilot classes.

He and his firm have played an active role in recruitment and placement activities in the College of Law and are full participants in the Columbus Bar Association’s Minority Clerkship Program, designed to enhance placement opportunities for the city’s minority law students. As president of the Columbus Bar Association in 1991-1992, Warner helped promote and expand this program, now a model for bar associations throughout the nation.

He has provided advice and counsel to three Ohio State presidents as a member of the university’s Alumni Advisory Council, often serving as a facilitator for group discussions. He has also served as president of the Law Alumni Society, where he chaired a successful moot court reunion, and as a member of the dean search committee for the Moritz College of Law.