Ohio State honors three at spring 2009 commencement

Three individuals will be honored at Ohio State University's spring 2009 commencement for their contributions to society and academics, and their dedication to the university. Ceremonies begin at 1 p.m. Sunday (6/14), in Ohio Stadium.

The honorary Doctor of Public Service degree will be presented to Annie Glenn for her lifelong interest in community service.

Distinguished Service Awards will be presented to CBS correspondent Erin Moriarty ('77 JD) and Dr. Ernest Mazzaferri, Sr. ('62 MD), professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Internal Medicine.

Anna C. Glenn, Doctor of Public Service

Annie Glenn has had a lifelong interest in community service, particularly programs for children, the elderly, and the handicapped.

Born in Columbus, she grew up in New Concord, Ohio, where she became a childhood playmate of John H. Glenn Jr. They became high school and college sweethearts, both attending Muskingum College, where she earned her bachelor of arts degree in music and secretarial science in 1942. The couple married in 1943.

Afflicted with a severe stuttering problem since childhood, Mrs. Glenn completed an intensive program at the Communications Research Institute at Hollins College in Roanoke, Virginia, in 1973. Although she does not consider herself "cured," she speaks freely and gives speeches at public events.

In 1983, she received the first national award of the American Speech and Hearing Association for "providing an inspiring model for people with communicative disorders." The National Association for Hearing and Speech Action honored her in 1987 by asking her to present the first annual Annie Glenn Award for achieving distinction despite a communicative disorder.

She is a member of the advisory panel of the Central Ohio Speech and Hearing Association and has served on the National Deafness and Other Communications Disorders Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Health. She is a member of the advisory boards for the National Center for Survivors of Childhood Abuse and the National First Ladies' Library and is a member of the board of directors of the International Longevity Center – USA in New York. With her husband, she serves on the Muskingum College board of trustees and the advisory board of The Ohio State University John Glenn School of Public Affairs. In addition,she is an adjunct assistant professor in Ohio State's Department of Speech and Hearing
Science.

Among her many honors are membership in the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame and induction into the Hall of Excellence of the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges. She also had the honor of christening the U.S.S. Ohio, the first in its class of Trident nuclear ballistic missile submarines.

Ernest L. Mazzaferri Sr., Distinguished Service Award

Ernest Mazzaferri is emeritus professor and former chair of The Ohio State University Department of Internal Medicine.

The Cleveland native earned his bachelor of science degree from John Carroll University in 1958 and his medical degree from The Ohio State University in 1962. After completing his internship, residency, and postdoctoral studies at Ohio State, he joined the university's faculty in 1968, becoming associate professor and director of the division of endocrinology and metabolism in 1973. In 1977, he joined the University of Nevada School of Medicine
as professor and chair of medicine. He returned to Ohio State in 1984 as professor and chair of internal medicine and professor of physiology until his 1999 retirement. In 2001, he became adjunct professor of medicine in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of Florida and was named Courtesy Professor of Medicine in 2007.

During his years on Ohio State's medical faculty, Dr. Mazzaferri focused his clinical and laboratory research activities on the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer, authoring more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, two major textbooks, and a number of other clinical books on endocrinology. He was instrumental in the development of clinical practice guidelines, bringing Ohio State national recognition as a leader in developing this model of
patient care.

As chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, he saw the department grow from approximately 60 to 160 members and oversaw the funding for a new subspecialty clinic, the Stoneridge Medical Center, which eventually became one of the busiest multispecialty clinics in Columbus. Under his leadership, the department also formed a well-respected Thyroid Cancer Clinic.

During his Ohio State tenure, Dr. Mazzaferri became a Master of the American College of Physicians, an award given to approximately 300 people nationally. He was a member of the board of directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine, serving as chair of the board's Subspecialty Board of Endocrinology and Diabetes from 1999 to 2003.

His honors include the prestigious Paul Starr Award for clinical investigators from the American Thyroid Association, the Endocrine Society's Distinguished Educator Award, the Clinician of the Year Award from the American Diabetes Association Ohio Affiliate, and the American College of Endocrinology Distinguished Clinician Award.

Erin F. Moriarty, Distinguished Service Award

Erin Moriarty is an award-winning correspondent for the CBS investigative series "48 Hours" and a two-time graduate of The Ohio State University.

Since joining the television program's staff in June 1990, she has conducted interviews with the famous and infamous in stories that have exposed corruption, explored unsolved crimes, and investigated consumer complaints. Prior to "48 Hours," she was the consumer correspondent for "CBS This Morning," from 1986 to 1990, and for the "CBS Evening News with Dan Rather" in 1990.

Raised in Columbus, Ms. Moriarty earned her bachelor's degree in behavioral sciences and her law degree from Ohio State in 1973 and 1977, respectively. As a young lawyer in Columbus, she became co-host of the local "PM Magazine" news program, launching her career in broadcast journalism. Drawing on her training as a lawyer, she has since explored some of the most important social and legal issues of our day, such as DNA testing in death row cases,
abortion, drug and alcohol abuse, and battered woman's syndrome.

She has returned frequently to her alma mater to share her media expertise with the Moritz College of Law and the university as a whole, dedicating numerous volunteer hours through continuing legal education programs, media relations workshops, promotional videos, and student mentoring. She emceed the 2000 celebration of the completion of the university's successful "Affirm Thy Friendship" fund-raising campaign and, in 2003, moderated the
nationally televised live gubernatorial debate sponsored by the John Glenn School of Public Affairs. In 2004, she served as the university's spring commencement speaker. She serves on the New York Region Major Gifts Committee and has long helped raise funds for student recruitment and scholarships in that area.

Ms. Moriarty has received numerous honors, including nine national Emmy Awards, a 2001 Overseas Press Club Award, and two Association of Women in Radio and Television Gracie Allen Awards for a weekly radio talk show she co-hosted in Philadelphia. She won a third Gracie Allen Award in 2009 for a "48 Hours" report on polygamy. Ms. Moriarty is also the recipient of an Outstanding Consumer Media Service Award from the Consumer Federation of America, and in 2003 she received a Mortar Board Alumni Achievement Award.