Ohio State honors five at winter 2002 commencement

COLUMBUS – Five individuals will be honored at Ohio State University's winter 2002 commencement for their contributions to society and academics, and their dedication to the university. Ceremonies begin at 9:30 a.m., March 22, in St. John Arena.

Honorary doctorates will be presented to Ray D. Owen, pioneering researcher in genetics and immunology, Wilford Robert Gardner, preeminent authority on soil science, and Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame. Distinguished Service Awards will be presented to David W. Cole, and Ronald L. Racster, both professors emeritus at the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State.

Ray D. Owen, Doctor of Science

Ray D. Owen is emeritus professor of biology at the California Institute of Technology, where he served for nearly four decades before his 1983 retirement.

A native of Wisconsin, he grew up on a dairy farm, an experience that shaped his career as a geneticist and immunologist. He received in B.S. degree from Carroll College in Wisconsin in 1937 and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1941. While serving as assistant professor of genetics and zoology at Wisconsin, he began his research on dairy cattle blood group inheritance and, in 1945, published a groundbreaking paper in the journal Science on his discovery that blood cells could be transferred in utero between nonidentical twin calves. His discovery led to the theory of acquired immunological tolerance, which has major significance in the modern-day field of clinical organ transplants.
Wilford R. Gardner, Doctor of Science
Wilford R. Gardner is dean and professor of soil physics emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, and adjunct professor of soil physics at Utah State University.

A native of Utah, he earned degrees from Utah State University and Iowa State University. He has taught at Iowa State, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Arizona and the University of California at Berkeley. He also spent 13 years at the U.S. Salinity Laboratory in Riverside, California, as a soil physicist.
His career, spanning half a century, led to pioneering work in soil physics, water movement in soil, and sustainable management of soil and water resources. He is internationally known for his research on water and solute movement and the processes governing transport of chemicals into natural waters from agricultural ecosystems.

Professor Gardner is one of only two soil scientists to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Doctor of Humane Letters
Theodore M. Hesburgh is president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame, having held that position from 1952 to 1987, the longest tenure for a university president in the nation.

A native of Syracuse, New York, Father Hesburgh was educated at Notre Dame and the Gregorian University in Rome, from which he received a bachelor of philosophy degree in 1939. He was ordained a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1943 and continued his study of sacred theology at the Catholic University Of America in Washington, D.C., receiving his doctorate (S.T.D.) in 1945.

He joined the University of Notre Dame religion faculty in 1945 and was appointed department chair in 1948. The following year he was appointed executive vice president and in 1952, at the age of 35, he was named the 15th president of the university.

He continues to be active in university matters, lecturing in classrooms, presiding over residence hall liturgies, and advancing the interests of several Notre Dame academic institutes.

He is co-chair of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, studying reform of college sports. He also serves as chair for a number of fund-raising activities for Catholic and higher education causes.
David W. Cole, Distinguished Service Award
David W. Cole is professor emeritus of finance in the Max M. Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University. He is chair of the Fisher College of Business New Buildings Committee and as academic director of the Academy for Financial Executives.

Professor Cole, who joined the Ohio State faculty in 1965, earned degrees from Capital University, Ohio University in 1962, and Indiana University.

In 1992, he inaugurated Ohio State's Academy for Financial Executives, an executive education program for members of top management of commercial banks and thrifts. Since 1991, he has served as Ohio State's representative to Russia six times, delivering banking and small business seminars, and he was instrumental in developing the business curriculum at three colleges and universities in Tomsk, Siberia.

With Professor Emeritus Ronald Racster, his responsibilities with the Fisher College's New Buildings Committee include working with the faculty, staff, and students, the University Architect's Office, the State of Ohio, and the associate architects in developing requirements and designing the new campus for the college.
Ronald L. Racster, Distinguished Service Award
Ronald L. Racster is professor emeritus of real estate and finance at The Ohio State University, codirector of The Fisher College of Business Center for Real Estate Education and Research, and vice-chair of the Fisher College of Business New Buildings Committee.

He is president and director of the Homer Hoyt Institute, a nonprofit corporation in North Palm Beach, Florida, which promotes useful, practical real estate research.

Nationally sought as an expert consultant and speaker on real estate, Professor Racster is coauthor and contributing author to textbooks on real estate and urban land economics, real estate market analysis, and real estate appraisal.

Along with Professor Emeritus David Cole of the business faculty, Professor Racster has overseen, as owner representative, the construction of the six-building complex for the Max M. Fisher College of Business. Their efforts have ensured that the Fisher College is one of the most effective and visually stimulating classroom, office, and executive residence facilities in the nation.