Ohio State honors four at spring 2014 commencement
Columbus,
Ohio – The Ohio State University will honor four individuals during the
spring commencement ceremony, where 10,200 graduates will receive diplomas.
Commencement begins at noon on Sunday, May 4, at Ohio Stadium.
Honorary
doctorates will be presented to Chris Matthews and Barry Bloom, the Joan L. and
Julius H. Jacobson Professor of Public Health in the Harvard School of Public
Health.
Distinguished Service Awards will be presented to Mac A. Stewart, former vice
provost for Ohio State’s Office of Minority Affairs, who was essential in
promoting the creation of a diverse student, faculty and staff population; and
John B. “Jay” Gerlach Jr., a 1976 graduate and chairman and CEO of Lancaster
Colony Corp., who provides highly engaged leadership to many Ohio State groups.
The commencement ceremony will be available via a live video stream. The stream
begins at noon. Watch: http://commencement.osu.edu/video.html.
In addition, excerpts from the ceremony will be broadcast on WOSU-TV,
Channel 34, at 5 p.m. on Monday, May 5.
Chris Matthews, Doctor of Communication
A television news anchor with remarkable depth of experience, Chris Matthews
has distinguished himself as a broadcaster, newspaper bureau chief,
presidential speechwriter, Capitol Hill chief of staff and best-selling author
during his long career.
Matthews began his professional life in public service, working in the U.S.
Senate for five years for Sen. Frank Moss of Utah and Sen. Edmund Muskie of
Maine; in the White House for four years under President Jimmy Carter as a
speechwriter and on the President’s Reorganization Project; and for six years
as top aide to Speaker of the House Thomas “Tip” O'Neill Jr.
After cutting his teeth in politics, Matthews turned to journalism. From
1987 to 2000, he served as Washington, D.C., bureau chief for the San
Francisco Examiner, followed by a two-year term as a nationally syndicated
columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. During his time as a
reporter, he covered many important historic events of the late 20th century,
including the fall of the Berlin Wall and the first all-races election ever
held in South Africa. In 1994, he began his television career on the NBC-owned
America’s Talking network before launching his popular show, “Hardball with
Chris Matthews,” three years later on MSNBC.
Matthews has received the David Brinkley Award for Excellence in
Broadcast Journalism and the Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Achievement
from the Pennsylvania Society. He is the author of multiple best-selling books,
including Hardball: How Politics is Played, Told by One Who Knows the Game;
Kennedy & Nixon: The Rivalry that Shaped Postwar America; Jack
Kennedy: Elusive Hero; and Tip and The Gipper: When Politics Worked.
A graduate of Holy Cross College, Matthews did graduate work in
economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He worked for two
years as a trade development adviser with the U.S. Peace Corps in the southern
African nation of Swaziland.
Barry R. Bloom, Doctor of Science
For the past half century, Barry Bloom of Cambridge, Mass., has been a pioneer
in the field of global health. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in biology
from Amherst College and his PhD in immunology from Rockefeller University,
Bloom established himself as one of the world’s pre-eminent scientists in the
areas of infectious diseases, vaccines and health policy.
His exceptional body of research – primarily focused on immunology and
the pathogenesis of leprosy and tuberculosis – has shown an enduring commitment
to the application of cutting-edge science to alleviate the infectious disease
burden of the developing world. Through his impressive work, Bloom has improved
vaccine approaches for tuberculosis and discovered crucial breakthroughs in how
immune responses protect against microbial threats. He has published more than
350 articles and continues to provide commentary on current public health
concerns ranging from TB to HIV to obesity.
His fundamental contributions have made him
a trusted public health policy adviser. He served as an adviser to the White
House on International Health Policy, and for more than 40 years, he has been
extensively involved with the World Health Organization, where he chaired the
Research Advisory Committees on Leprosy, Tuberculosis, Malaria and Tropical
Diseases. He also has been a member of the WHO Advisory Committee on Health
Research.
Bloom has received many honors for his lifelong dedication to infectious
disease research and education, including the first Bristol-Meyers Squibb Award
for Distinguished Research in Infectious Diseases and the Robert Koch Gold
Medal for lifetime research in infectious diseases. He is a member of the
National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine and the American
Philosophical Society. He is currently a Distinguished Service Professor and
Joan L. and Julius H. Jacobson Professor of Public Health at Harvard
University, where he served as dean of the School of Public Health from 1999 to
2008.
John B. Gerlach Jr., Distinguished Service Award
John B. “Jay” Gerlach Jr. of Columbus has been an engaged and dedicated
supporter of Ohio State since his graduation more than three decades ago. After
receiving his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Ohio State,
Gerlach upheld his family’s legacy of philanthropy and public service while
serving in various capacities at Lancaster Colony Corp., a specialty foods
manufacturer and marketer founded in 1961 by his father and grandfather.
Gerlach’s service history is diverse and robust. In 1997, the same year
he was named chair and CEO of Lancaster Colony Corp., he also was elected to
the University Foundation board of directors, where he served as board chair
from 2009 to 2013. He currently serves as a board member for Huntington
Bancshares, Nationwide Children's Hospital and the Recreation Unlimited
Foundation. He has been chair of the Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital board since
2004, and for almost two decades, he has served on the Dean’s Advisory Council
at Fisher College of Business.
Nearly every year since 1979, Gerlach and
his family have supported a variety of initiatives, from scholarships and
building projects to medical, polar and wetlands research. They contributed
generously to Fisher and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center,
supporting the medical center expansion and the creation of Fisher’s
state-of-the-art business campus. Gerlach and his wife, Aleusha, also have
provided charitable backing of the medical center’s Neurosciences Program,
which has enabled physicians and scholars to embark on innovative research to
improve patients’ lives.
By giving of his time and resources, Gerlach has helped shape the future
of Ohio State, and he has strengthened the university’s relationship with the
Columbus corporate community. As a natural ambassador for the university, he
has championed the Ohio Scholarship Challenge, and served on multiple
committees supporting Ohio State’s Affirm Thy Friendship and But for
Ohio State campaigns.
Mac A. Stewart, Distinguished Service Award
Though Mac A. Stewart retired in 2010, his
visionary leadership at Ohio State left a lasting impression on the entire
community. As a much-admired administrator, scholar and mentor, Stewart
dedicated his 40-year career at Ohio State to improving the delivery of
educational services for socioeconomically deprived and culturally different
students.
Stewart joined Ohio State as a residence hall director and doctoral
student in the early 1970s. After earning his doctorate in higher education
administration, he became assistant dean of University College, where he spent
27 years and ultimately served as dean.
During his tenure, he developed programs to recruit and retain a diverse
student body. While serving as vice provost for minority affairs and special
assistant to the president for diversity, he was instrumental in the creation
of the acclaimed Todd A. Bell National Resource Center on the African American
Male.
An icon of service, Stewart served on more than 30 committees at Ohio
State, including two presidential search committees, University Senate and the
Council of Deans. He also served on external evaluation teams for various
higher education institutions, and on numerous boards, such as the Buckeye Boys
Ranch, Columbus Academy, Mount Carmel College of Nursing, Nationwide Children’s
Hospital and the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help.
Stewart has received many honors, notably the Josephine Sitterle Failer
Award from Ohio State’s Alumni Association and the Frederick Patterson Award
from the Greater Columbus United Negro College Fund. As a faculty member
in the College of Education and Human Ecology, he published widely in a variety
of professional journals. In 1983, he was selected as a member of the editorial
board of The Negro Educational Review, where he also served as chair of the editorial board and
editor-in-chief.
A practicing psychologist for decades, Stewart received a bachelor’s
degree in sociology from Morehouse College and a master’s degree in counseling
from Atlanta University.
About The Ohio State University
The Ohio State University is a dynamic community of diverse resources, where opportunity thrives and where individuals transform themselves and the world. Founded in 1870, Ohio State is a world-class public research university and the leading comprehensive teaching and research institution in the state of Ohio. With more than 63,000 students (including 57,000 in Columbus), the Wexner Medical Center, 14 colleges, 80 centers and 175 majors, the university offers its students tremendous breadth and depth of opportunity in the liberal arts, the sciences and the professions.