From ESPN to C-Span to NBC, BYU alumni’s successful lives personify the stone words, “The world is our campus.”
During BYU’s 2011 Homecoming, 10 alumni with significant professional accomplishments will be honored with College Alumni Awards. Today, nine of these recipients will speak at their respective colleges at 11 a.m.. The 10th recipient, Elder Steven E. Snow, will speak at 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 18.
Charlene Winters from the BYU Executive Homecoming Committee said there are two purposes to the award. The first is to thank past students and the second is to help current students.
“The college award is given annually because it is so important,” Winters said. “It’s inspirational. It’s powerful for students to see someone who graduated from his or her college do very well, and then have them come back and share their expertise and advice.”
The dean’s office from each college personally selects their honoree. Due to much considerate thinking from the various deans’ offices, students have the unique opportunity to benefit from specific messages.
Andrew Gibbons, IP&T Department Chair, shared his thoughts in selecting an appropriate speaker for students. For the David O. McKay School of Education they chose M. David Merrill, who assisted in the founding of the Department of Instructional Psychology and Technology at BYU.
“Dr. Merrill has contributed so much to the department and to the culture of BYU that he was a natural choice,” Gibbons said. “He is one of the founders of the field and a noted authority whose influence is felt around the world. More than that, he has great stories and is a great story teller. You don’t want to miss hearing him speak.”
In the College of Family, Home and Social Sciences, Don H. Staheli, a licensed clinical social worker and current secretary for the Quorm of the Twelve, will speak.
FHSS’s Outreach Coordinator, Kim Reid, recognizes that Staheli’s significance is strong on and off BYU campus.
“Our college is indebted to Don Staheli for his role in creating the Marjorie Pay Hinckley Endowed Chair in Social Work and the Social Sciences,” Reid said. “Funds from this chair continue to bless the students in the college through internship grants, mentoring opportunities, visiting scholars and research conferences.”
Different speakers will add insights for the various colleges. Michael D. Bahr, speaking at the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, is the current president of Coventry Health and Life Company and will teach students about his first-hand experience in the health insurance industry.
Del T. Scott, chair from the Department of Statistics, feels Bahr will help students close the gap between the world of textbooks and the career field.
“Mike’s presentation will allow individuals with strong mathematical and analytical skills to see applications to the business of insurance,” Scott said. “His presentation will build a bridge between solutions to textbook problems and dealing with an ever changing set of regulations for the providing of insurance coverage to a broad range of individuals.”
In addition to the nine colleges hosting lectures today, BYU will be honored to hear from a general authority and BYU graduate on Oct. 18, Elder Steven E. Snow.
Lectures
M. David Merrill, David O. McKay School of Education, 115 MCKB, “First Principles of Instruction.”
Thomas R. Warne, Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology, 140 JSB, “Future Engineering — More Than Engineering.”
Don H. Staheli, College of Family, Home and Social Sciences, 250 SWKT, “It’s the Principle of the Thing.”
David T. Warner, College of Fine Arts and Communications, Madsen Recital Hall, “More of Our Own Giants.”
Lew W. Cramer, College of Humanities, B092 JFSB, “So How Did a Humanities Graduate End Up Putting Cell Phones Across the Former Soviet Union?”
Elder Steven E. Snow, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Oct. 18, Moot Courtroom, “Musings of a Small Town Lawyer.”
David P. Mindell, College of Life Sciences, 446 MARB, “Evolution in the Everyday World.”
Eric M. Varvel, Marriott School of Management, W408 TMRB, “Adapting to Change.”
Debra F. Hobbins, School of Nursing, B190 JFSB, “Deb’s Notes on Nursing: Lessons From a Rollercoaster Life.”
Michael D, Bahr, College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, 1170 TMCB, “Actuarial Science in a Post Reform World.”
