Ohio State honors three at winter 2008 commencement

COLUMBUS – Three individuals will be honored at Ohio State University's winter 2008 commencement for their contributions to society and academics, and their dedication to the university. Ceremonies begin at 2 p.m. Sunday (3/16), at the Jerome Schottenstein Center.

Steven A. Davis, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Bob Evans Farms Inc., will deliver the commencement address.

An honorary doctorate will be presented to Roy J. Glauber, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University and winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Distinguished Service Awards will be presented to Patricia Duke Robinson and Thomas E. Robinson of Troy, who have committed time and resources to many university projects.

Roy G. Glauber, Doctor of Science

Nobel laureate Roy J. Glauber is Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University and adjunct professor of optical sciences at the Univer¬sity of Arizona.

A native of New York City, he was a member of the first graduating class of the Bronx High School of Science. He enrolled at Harvard in 1941, attending undergradu¬ate classes until he was invited in 1944 to join the Theory Division of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, New Mexico, where, at the age of 18, he had the opportunity to work with Robert Oppenheimer, Richard Feynman, Neils Bohr, and Hans Bethe. Following World War II, he returned to Harvard, receiving his BS in 1946 and his PhD in 1949. He did post-doctoral work at Princeton's Institute for Advance Study and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technol¬ogy in Zürich. After a year as a lecturer at the California Institute of Technology, he joined Harvard's physics faculty, becoming professor of physics in 1962 and Mallinckrodt Professor in 1976.

Professor Glauber's groundbreaking research on optical coherence and the behavior of light particles, first published in 1963, was recognized in 2005 when he was awarded half the Nobel Prize in Physics. He is also the recipient of the A.A. Michelson Prize of the Franklin Institute, the Max Born Award of the American Physical Society, an A. Von Humboldt Research Award, the Dannie Heineman Prize of the American Physical Society, and the Willis E. Lamb Medal for Laser Science and Quantum Optics.

Professor Glauber is also known for his work on high energy nuclear collision theory. He is the author of more than 120 articles in refereed journals and has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Mathematical Physics and Nuclear Physics B. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Physical Society, and he is an honorary foreign member of the Royal Society of London and the New Zealand Academy of Sciences.

He has been a visiting professor or scien¬tist at CERN in Geneva, the University of Leiden in Holland, the Collége de France in Paris, NORDITA in Denmark, and director of a session at the Enrico Fermi School in Varenna, Italy.

Patricia Duke Robinson, Distinguished Service Award

Patricia Duke Robinson is president of the board of trustees for the Paul G. Duke Foundation, which was established by and named for her father, founder of the lawn services company, ChemLawn.

Robinson is a longtime supporter of The Ohio State University and currently serves on the university's foundation board. She is a member of the Library Renovation Campaign Committee and, with her husband, Thom, she has made a leadership gift to the William Oxley Thompson Library renovation project. The Robinsons hosted a "Farewell Fiesta" to mark the beginning of construction, an important milestone of the renovation.

A resident of Troy, Ohio, she also serves on The Ohio State University National Major Gift Council for Ohio's Miami Valley. She and her husband have lent their support to the Department of Athletics, where they established the Patricia A. and Thomas E. Robinson Athletic Scholarship Endowment Fund, and to the College of Veterinary Medicine, where they were instrumental in efforts to build a new veterinary medicine academic building. In addition, Mrs. Robinson participated in the "Experience Ohio State Focus Day" for women in 1997.

She is involved in a range of other community and philanthropic activities, including the Future Begins Today, a Troy-based last-dollar grant college assist-ance program that also offers academic and motivational programs for Troy elementary and junior high students. She is a member of the Miami County YMCA board of trustees.

Robinson's honors include the Outstanding Philanthropists Award along with her husband from the National Society of Fund-Raising Executives, the Women of Excellence Award from the YWCA of Piqua, and the Friend of Community Colleges Award.

Thomas E. Robinson, Distinguished Service Award

Thomas E. Robinson retired in 1978 from Dinner Bell Foods, Inc., where he served as area sales manager of southwest Ohio.

A resident of Troy, Ohio, Robinson is an enthusiastic advocate for The Ohio State University with wide-ranging interests. He and his wife, Patricia, have worked tirelessly to generate support for the renovation of the William Oxley Thompson Library and have made a generous lead gift to the effort. In addition, as avid Buckeye fans, he and his wife created the Thomas E. and Patricia A. Robinson Athletic Scholarship Endowment Fund. The Robinsons were also instrumental in gaining support for the College of Veteri¬nary Medicine Building Fund for a new academic building.

Robinson currently serves as chair of the Troy Foundation governing board. He also has served for seven years as a member of the Edison Community College founda¬tion board, participating in major fund-raising efforts for the college. He is currently chair of the Acorn Society Foundation, a support group for the Troy Foundation, which serves the needs of Troy.
The Robinsons' community activities and support extend to the Upper Valley Hospital and regional hospitals in Cincin¬nati and Dayton, the Brukner Nature Center, and the Clear Creek Farm in Sidney.

He attended Troy High School and joined the United States Marine Corps in 1949, serving two tours of duty before starting his business career in 1953.

In 1995, he and his wife received the Outstanding Philanthropists Award from the National Society of Fund-Raising Executives.