Ohio State honors four at summer 2002 commencement

COLUMBUS – Four individuals will be honored at Ohio State University’s summer 2002 commencement for their contributions to society and academics, and their dedication to the university. Ceremonies begin at 9:30 a.m., August 30, in the Jerome Schottenstein Center.

Honorary Doctor of Science awards will go to Harold A. McMaster, former research physicist and Optical Glass Laboratory Manager of Libbey-Owens-Ford and founder of McMaster Motor; and Andre Wambersie, chairman of the International Commission on Radiological Units and visiting professor at the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. Distinguished Service Awards will be presented to George W. Hairston, Managing Parter, Baker & Hostetler LLP, and Curtis J. Moody, president and chief executive officer, Moody/Nolan Ltd., Inc.

Harold A. McMaster, Doctor of Science

Harold A. McMaster is the founder or co-founder of four privately held manufacturing companies and the holder of more than 100 patents, primarily for technology in glass manufacturing and solar energy. His current project is McMaster Motor in Toledo, which he founded to research and develop a rotary engine that may eventually be powered by a unique hydrogen fuel source.
After receiving his bachelor and master’s degrees in physics from The Ohio State University, McMaster joined Toledo-based Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass as a research physicist. There he became an expert on the tempering of glass, a process that adds tensile strength to glass by compressing it. In 1948, he founded his own company, Permaglass, Inc., which has since merged with Guardian Industries. From 1971 to 1987, he served as co-founder and chair of Glasstech, Inc., in Perrysburg, Ohio, gaining recognition as the world’s authority on glass tempering. After selling the company, he co-founded Solar Cells Inc. (now First Solar LLC) in Toledo to focus on developing a high-volume, low-cost solar module manufacturing process. He served as the company’s chair until 1999 when he sold his controlling interest.

McMaster and his wife, Helen Clark McMaster, established a foundation in 1988 to help support a variety of philanthropic interests, including higher education, medicine, and the arts. Mr. McMaster serves as a trustee at Defiance College and as a director of the Bowling Green State University Foundation and was a former director of the University of Toledo Foundation. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Bowling Green State University Center for Photochemical Sciences.

McMaster’s ingenuity and entrepreneurial expertise have been recognized with numerous awards, including The Ohio State University Department of Physics Distinguished Alumni Award in 2001, the Ohio Department of Development Entrepreneur of the Year in 1998, the National Glass Industry’s Phoenix Award in 1993, and induction into the Engineering and Science Hall of Fame in Dayton and the Ohio Science and Technology Hall of Fame.

André Wambersie, Doctor of Science

André Wambersie is professor emeritus at the medical faculty of the Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels, Belgium, and guest professor at the University of Vienna in Austria. In addition, he has served as a visiting professor at the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard D. Solove Research Institute at The Ohio State University since 1995.

Internationally renowned for his pioneering work in radiation oncology, Wambersie received his medical degree from the Catholic University of Louvain in 1957 and trained in radiation oncology at the Institut Gustave-Roussy in Paris. In 1964, he joined the Catholic University’s medical faculty, becoming a full professor in 1986. He also served as chair of the radiation therapy department at the University Hospital St. Luc in Brussels, where he built an acclaimed neutron therapy program. He has visited Ohio State on a regular basis since 1987 to teach medical residents.

His expertise in a wide variety of disciplines, including radiobiology, radiation oncology, physics, epidemiology, and medicine, has long placed him in the forefront of research into the healing properties of radiation. He is chair of the main commission of the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements, coordinator of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology’s European Network for LIGHt-ion Therapy (ENLIGHT) program, and chair of the International Advisory Board of the Med-AUSTRON Project. He is a member of numerous scientific organizations, including the New York Academy of Sciences, the Swiss Society of Radiology, the Radiation Research Society, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the International Society for Neutron Capture Therapy. He has also served on the editorial boards of a number of scientific journals.

Among Wambersie’s many honors are the 1990 Roentgen Award, the 1994 John R. Cameron Lecture at the University of Wisconsin, and honorary membership in the Austrian Society for Radiation Oncology and the Austrian Hadron Therapy Group.

George W. Hairston, Distinguished Service Award

George W. Hairston is managing partner of the Columbus branch of Baker & Hostetler, one of the nation’s largest law firms. He maintains an active corporate and litigation practice with an emphasis on health care, insurance, and corporate law, and he is nationally recognized for his work in motor vehicle franchise litigation.

After receiving his B.B.A. degree from Southern Methodist University in 1965, Mr. Hairston earned his J.D. degree cum laude from what is now The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law in 1968. He has remained actively involved with his professional alma mater through the years, serving on the executive committee of the college’s Affirm Thy Friendship fund-raising campaign, as a member of the college’s National Alumni Council, and as chair of its development subcommittee. He has generously shared his time and resources with numerous university-wide programs in addition.

As a leader in the Columbus legal community, Mr. Hairston played a key role in the Columbus Bar Association’s creation of a Minority Clerkship Program, which placed minority Ohio State law students in summer clerkships with the city’s largest law firms. The successful program became a model for similar programs nationwide. Mr. Hairston’s leadership was also instrumental in the establishment of Baker & Hostetler’s Paul D. White Scholarship for minority law students. The scholarship, which includes a paid summer associate clerkship and cash award, is bringing talented Ohio State law graduates into the firm in record numbers.

Hairston is a member of the American, Ohio, and Columbus Bar Associations and has taken an active role in his community through past service on the boards of the Columbus Museum of Art and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and current service as a trustee of Recreation Unlimited.

Curtis J. Moody, Distinguished Service Award

Curtis J. Moody is president and CEO of Moody/Nolan Ltd., Inc., a Columbus-based architectural and engineering firm with offices in Cincinnati and Nashville. He is a registered architect in 25 states.

Moody received his B.S. degree in architecture in 1973 from what is now the Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture at The Ohio State University. After apprenticing for several Columbus design firms, he formed his own firm in 1982, joining with engineer Howard Nolan two years later. Serving as principal-in-charge for more than $1 billion in construction, Mr. Moody has led the firm to becoming the largest minority-owned architectural firm in the nation.

Moody’s commitment to excellence in the design of higher education facilities is clearly evident on Ohio State’s campus. He has served as principal architect for the Jerome Schottenstein Center, the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, the Dreese Laboratory addition, the Library Book Depository, and the Marion Campus Library and Classroom Building. He is currently working on the Larkins Hall Student Recreation Center replacement project. He continues as a strong supporter of his alma mater, helping to sponsor and mentor architecture students. In 1989 Moody used his design fees for Ohio State’s Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center to establish an endowed scholarship for an outstanding minority student enrolled in architecture. He has served on the Knowlton School’s Alumni Board of Governors, the Athletic Council, and the National Major Gift Committee for Columbus.

His many other projects in Columbus include The Martin Luther King Jr. Complex for Cultural & Performing Arts, the Mall at Tuttle Crossing, the Smith Brothers Hardware renovation, and expansion of facilities at Port Columbus International Airport. In addition, he has worked as principal or associate architect on numerous projects for universities and communities throughout Ohio and the nation.

Moody’s expertise has been recognized on the local and national levels with numerous design awards from the Columbus and Ohio chapters of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the National Organization of Minority Architects. In 1997, he received one of the profession’s highest honors by being named to the College of Fellows of the national AIA. He is also the recipient of the AIA’s 1992 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award to an outstanding minority architect.