Last modified: Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Hoosiers for Higher Education presents annual awards
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 21, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University President Adam W. Herbert today (Feb. 21) presented a veteran Indiana state legislator with Hoosiers for Higher Education's Welsh-Bowen Distinguished Public Official award. Organization leaders also announced the inaugural recipient of the Sue H. Talbot Distinguished HHE Award and presented the Welsh-Bowen Scholarship Award.
The awards were presented in Indianapolis before an audience of some 500 HHE members who were participating in the organization's 15th Annual Statehouse Visit. This event affords students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of Indiana University the opportunity to meet with lawmakers and urge their continued support for IU and other state-supported colleges and universities.
The Welsh-Bowen Distinguished Public Official Award
Representative Larry Buell (R-Indianapolis) was named this year's recipient of the Welsh-Bowen Distinguished Public Official Award. The award is named for former Indiana Governors Matthew Welsh and Otis Bowen, who served as co-chairs of the Hoosiers for Higher Education state advisory committee at the organization's inception in 1991.
Buell, a retired certified public accountant, was elected to the House of Representatives in 1980, serving until 1992, then was re-elected in 1994. He serves on the House Ways and Means Committee as budget chair and on the Local Government Committee. Buell had previously worked in accounting for Magnavox and Ernst & Ernst, and also served as treasurer for both Marion County and the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County. He received his MBA degree from Indiana University.
The Welsh-Bowen Scholarship Award
The Welsh-Bowen Distinguished Public Official Scholarship was awarded to Greta Schenkenfelder, a freshman at the IU Herron School of Art and Design at IUPUI. Schenkenfelder is majoring in fine arts and plans to pursue a career as an illustrator for children's books. While working and going to college full time, she assisted Scecina High School in staging its fall musical and also served as its volunteer high school tennis coach and a retreat coordinator. She is the daughter of Mike and Paul Schenkenfelder of Indianapolis.
The Sue H. Talbot Distinguished HHE Member Award
The inaugural Sue H. Talbot Distinguished HHE Member Award was presented to Emil "Lucky" Reznik of South Bend. This award recognizes a volunteer member who has provided dedicated leadership in advocating for IU and higher education. Reznik is a HHE Community Captain and a lifetime member of the IU Alumni Association. He has served as a member of the IU South Bend Board of Advisors and is an ex-officio member of the IUSB Alumni Board. He received the IU South Bend Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1982, as well as the IU Alumni Association President's Award in 1998. Reznik received his master's degree in education from IU South Bend.
This award was developed to honor the contributions of Sue H. Talbot, the founding director of Hoosiers for Higher Education. Talbot, who is a current member of the IU Board of Trustees, was responsible for the development and execution of the master plan that created HHE, one of the first university-based grassroots organizations in the country. Under her leadership, HHE has been recognized as one of the "best practices" government relations programs in the United States. Over 9,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of IU from throughout the country are now members of HHE.
