|
|
|
|
|
More than 1,700 to receive degrees at IU Bloomington's December commencement
Dec. 6, 2000
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University Bloomington will confer 1,712 degrees during its December commencement. Charles H. Webb Jr., IU professor emeritus of music, will be the commencement speaker and receive the President's Medal for Excellence. The program will begin at 2 p.m. on Dec. 17 in Assembly Hall.
The President's Medal is modeled after the jewel of office worn by IU's president at ceremonial occasions. Criteria for this honor include distinction in public service, service to the university, achievement in a profession, and extraordinary merit and achievement in the arts, humanities, science, education and industry. The first President's Medal was presented in 1985 to members of the Beaux Arts Trio.
Students eligible to participate in Sunday's commencement exercises include degree candidates for December as well as graduate students whose degrees have been awarded on a monthly basis since September. Due to an increasing number of winter graduates, IU Bloomington re-instituted a formal December commencement in 1997, which was its first since 1944.
Conferral of degrees will be led by IU President Myles Brand, assisted by Kenneth Gros Louis, vice president for academic affairs and chancellor of the Bloomington campus, and by the deans of the schools.
The Rev. Barbara Carlson, Unitarian Universalist Church, will deliver the invocation and benediction. The ceremony inducting the graduates into alumni status will be conducted by Lori D. Pearson, a representative of the Student Alumni Association; John D. Walda, president of the IU trustees; and Patrick A. Shoulder, chairman of the Alumni Association. Leading the musical accompaniment will be Douglas F. Stotter, assistant professor of music.
In July 1997, Webb retired from the faculty of IU, having served its School of Music as dean for the previous 24 years. During that time, the school enjoyed international acclaim and was named No. 1 in quality in three independent national surveys. In addition to his administrative duties, Webb also maintained an active performance career as conductor, pianist and organist.
Webb received bachelor of arts and master of music degrees from Southern Methodist University and a doctor of music degree from IU in 1964.
Appointed conductor of the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir in 1967, Webb has conducted the Choir and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in many choral works including Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Creation, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Bach's Christmas Oratorio, and Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms.
In 1969, he directed the premiere of Dave Brubeck's The Light in the Wilderness, and in 1978, he prepared the chorus for performances of Berlioz' Requiem at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center.
Webb is chairman of the Board of Advisors of International Music Festivals Inc., was appointed in 1976 by then Gov. Otis Bowen to the Indiana Arts Commission, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. He also serves as a member of the recommendation board for the Avery Fisher Prize, a director of the Busoni Foundation, a member of the advisory board of the Van Cliburn Piano Competition, and a member of the National Advisory Board of the American Guild of Organists.
He was one of four from IU selected for the 1970 edition of Outstanding Educators in America and is listed in Who's Who in America and Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. In 1980, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Southern Methodist University, and in 1983, he was named a member of the Indiana Academy. He has also served as a judge for international music competitions on several continents, including the Liszt-Bartok Competition in Hungary, the Busoni Competition in Italy, and the Munich Competition, as well as the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris and the Carl Flesch Competition in London.
Webb received the Thomas Hart Benton Medal from IU in June 1987. He has also received three "Sagamore of the Wabash" awards from governors Bowen, Robert Orr and Frank O'Bannon, the highest award that the state gives for meritorious service. In 1997, he was named an honorary member of the Alliance of Distinguished Rank Professors of Indiana University.
More information about the commencement ceremony is available by phone at 812- 855-4664 or on the Web at http://www.indiana.edu/~ceremony/december_2000.html
(George Vlahakis, 812-855-0846, gvlahaki@indiana.edu