Ohio State honors four at winter 2005 commencement

COLUMBUS – Four individuals will be honored at Ohio State University’s winter 2005 commencement for their contributions to society and academics, and their dedication to the university. Ceremonies begin at 2 p.m. Sunday (3/20), at St. John Arena.

Honorary doctorates will be presented to Gerald Brown, one of the world’s leading theoretical nuclear physicists, and Eugenie Scott, director of the National Center for Science Education and commencement speaker.

Distinguished Service Awards will be presented to Yvette McGee Brown, president of the Center for Child and Family Advocacy and former judge in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas; and Raymond Miller, alumni coordinator and former dean of student services for the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

Gerald E. Brown, Doctor of Science

Gerald E. Brown, Distinguished Professor of Physics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is one of the world’s leading theoretical nuclear physicists.

A native of South Dakota, Professor Brown received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University. He also holds a D.Sc. degree from the University of Birmingham, U.K., where he taught mathematical physics from 1955 to 1960. In 1960, he was offered a full professorship by Niels Bohr at the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Atomic Physics in Copenhagen, where he continued to hold a visiting professorship until 1985. In 1964, he accepted a professorship at Princeton University, and, in 1968, he moved to Stony Brook to head up a new nuclear theory group. In 1988, he was named Distinguished Professor of Physics.

Professor Brown’s work has been deeply influenced by three renowned physicists, whom he calls the “eagles of physics”: Gregory Breit at the University of Wisconsin; Rudolph Peierls at the University of Birmingham; and Hans Bethe at Cornell University. Over his equally distinguished career, Professor Brown has made seminal contributions to the understanding of the electron interactions in heavy atoms, the nucleon-nucleon interaction, supernovae, and binary stellar systems involving black holes or neutron stars. His more than 370 scholarly papers and four books deal with such diverse fields as astrophysics and atomic, nuclear and particle physics. He has trained more than 60 graduate students, many of whom are professors of physics throughout
the world.

His many awards include the Silver Medal of the University of Helsinki, the Haederpris of the Niels Bohr Institute, the Boris Pregel Award of the New York Academy of Sciences, the Max Planck Medal of the German Physical Society, and the Yale Graduate School Alumni Association’s Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal. He is one of a few physicists to have received two prizes from the American Physics Society: the 1982 Bonner Prize and the 2001 Bethe Prize. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Eugenie C. Scott, Doctor of Science

Eugenie C. Scott is executive director of the National Center for Science Education, Inc., a pro-evolution nonprofit science education organization with members in every state.

Scott received her Ph.D. in biological anthropology from the University of Missouri in 1974. After serving on the faculties of the University of Kentucky and the University of Colorado, she left traditional academia in 1986 to dedicate her professional life to the advancement of scientific literacy in the United States, becoming the executive director of the National Center for Science Education, now in Oakland, Calif. Since then she has worked nationwide to communicate the scientific method to the general public and to improve how science is taught in schools.

She is frequently called upon by the print, radio and television media as a spokesperson for “the scientific view” when conflicts arise between scientific and pseudoscientific explanations. She is nationally recognized as a proponent of church/state separation, serving on the National Advisory Council of Americans United for Separation of Church and State and on the National Advisory Council of Americans for Religious Liberty.

As a human biologist, Scott’s primary research has been in medical anthropology and skeletal biology. The author of “Creationism vs Evolution: An Introduction,” she has many published papers and monographs, has served as chair of the Ethics Committee of the American Anthropological Association, as president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, and has chaired the Anthropology Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Scott is a member of the advisory council of the AAAS Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion committee. She has also served on the board of directors of the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study. An internationally recognized expert on the creation/evolution controversy, she has consulted with the National Academy of Sciences, several states’ departments of education, and legal staffs in both the United States and Australia.

Scott is a Fellow of the AAAS and a member of Sigma Xi. She has been honored by scientific societies, educators and community organizations, including the National Science Board’s Public Service Award, the American Society of Cell Biology’s Bruce Alberts Award, and the Geological Society of America’s Public Service Award. The California Science Teacher Association awarded her its Distinguished Service Award, and she has also been honored by the American Humanist Association, the Skeptics Society, and the Center for Inquiry.

Yvette McGee Brown, Distinguished Service Award

Yvette McGee Brown is president of the Center for Child and Family Advocacy, at Columbus Children’s Hospital. She is a former judge in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.

A native of Columbus, McGee Brown earned her B.S. in journalism at Ohio University in 1982 and her juris doctorate at The Ohio State University in 1985. She began her career in public service as an Ohio assistant attorney general, becoming chief counsel of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and, later, of the Ohio Department of Youth Services. In 1992, she was elected to the Domestic Relations and Juvenile Division of the Common Pleas Court. At age 32, she became the youngest and the first African American elected to this court. As the lead juvenile judge, she spearheaded the SMART program, a truancy and educational neglect prevention program now operating in more than 40 elementary schools. She also initiated the creation of a Family Drug Court.

She left the bench in 2002 to create the Center for Child and Family Advocacy, which works to provide prevention, training, education, research, and advocacy along with treatment to break the cycle of family violence. She speaks nationally on parenting, child welfare and juvenile justice issues, and writes a monthly column in “Columbus Parent” Magazine. She is featured weekly in a segment called “Straight Talk” on WBNS-TV.

McGee Brown has remained an invaluable resource to the Moritz College of Law since receiving her degree, sharing her time and expertise with the college’s Justice for Children Project, serving on educational panels and mentoring and hiring law students. She has served as a member of the college’s National Alumni Council, the National Council for Ohio State Women, and the Alumni Advisory Council. In 2003, she was elected to a five-year term on the Alumni Association board of directors. She is also a member of The Ohio State University Alumni Association Board of Directors.

She has received numerous honors for her public service and community activism, including the university’s William Oxley Thompson Alumni Award, the Champion of Children Award from
the Columbus Montessori Education Center, the YWCA Women of Achievement Award, and the Junior League Community Service Award.

Raymond A. Miller, Distinguished Service Award

Raymond A. Miller became alumni coordinator in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences following his 2002 retirement as assistant dean of student there.

Miller earned his undergraduate degree in agriculture in 1966, his M.S. in agricultural education in 1968, and his Ph.D. in agricultural education in 1976, all from The Ohio State University. Following service in the United States Army, he joined the counseling staff in the then
College of Agriculture in 1972, and, in 1976, became an assistant professor of agricultural education. In 1981, he was named assistant dean of student affairs, where he coordinated student activities, recruitment of students, financial aid programs, alumni programs, and the College
Honors Program. During his tenure as dean, he continued to teach in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

During his more than three decades of service to his alma mater, Miller has had a personal impact on countless students. He served as faculty member of the Ohio Staters service organization for many years, 10 of them as faculty treasurer. He continues to play a leadership role in Alpha Zeta, an undergraduate professional agriculture fraternity, creating an endowment with his wife, Linda, in support of leadership training programs for students. In 1999 and 2000 he served as faculty
director in residence for the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences’ Dominican Republic Study Abroad Programs, and this year he was faculty director in residence for the Alpha Zeta Partners’ winter quarter Brazil Study Abroad Program.

Among his many creative volunteer accomplishments are the Ag College Chorale, which he conducted to provide a constructive outlet for students who love music, and the Ag Fallfest, which brings college alumni back to campus. His professional leadership roles include the presidency of the National Agricultural Alumni and Development Association in 2000-2002 and the presidency of Gamma Sigma Delta International in 1988-90.

Miller’s many honors include the 1992 Ohio State University Alumni Association Jo Failer Award for Student Service, induction into the Farm Science Review Hall of Fame in 2002, and the 2003 National Agricultural Alumni and Development Association Distinguished Service Award.