Last modified: Thursday, October 28, 2010
School of Education honors alumni for contributions to education and beyond
Annual IU School of Education Recognition Dinner on Friday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 28, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana University School of Education will honor four of its outstanding alumni on Friday (Oct. 29) who have among them had great impact on education, access to higher education, business leadership, and even shaping part of the IU Bloomington campus student services.
The 33rd annual IU School of Education Distinguished Alumni awards go to those who hold a degree from the School of Education and have made a lasting impact through their work since leaving the school. This year's four honorees include the former director of the American College Testing (ACT) program, an adviser to the office of the president of the Republic of Korea, a former college provost and Indiana Department of Education program director, and a longtime leader in some of the largest companies in the U.S.
The newest recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award are:
- Douglas C. Harris, M.S. 1964, Ed.D. 1968, who has had a great impact both on education and the business world since earning his degrees from Indiana University. But one of his earliest achievements came while still a graduate student. Dean of Students Bob Shaffer selected Harris to start an academic advising program, beginning with the School of Business. Its success resulted in the eventual campus-wide program now part of University Division. Since earning a doctoral degree in higher education and counseling, Harris spent more than 30 years in senior management level positions with three of the largest and most recognized companies in the U.S. Harris retired as vice president and chief personnel officer of Knight Ridder, the second-largest newspaper company in the country, when the McClatchy Co. bought it in 2006. His methods as director of personnel were renowned, and managers, editors, and publishers from across the country came to the Knight Ridder headquarters in Miami to study at the training institute he created. Harris was also a management appraisal specialist for United Airlines and a senior personnel manager for Peat Marwick & Mitchell.
- Earlene L. Holland, Specialist in Education 1980, who has enjoyed a long and varied education career ranging from music teacher to university provost. She began a five-decade career as a teacher in the Greater Jasper (Ind.) Consolidated Schools, later became a principal in Bloomfield, Ind., and then superintendent in Linton and Bunker Hill, Ind. Following that experience, she became the associate director of program development for the Indiana Department of Education. She left state government to become a professor, the director of educational graduate programs and the master's of education program, and finally provost at Oakland City University in Oakland City, Ind. Because of her expertise, Holland has assisted colleges and universities nationwide to develop masters and doctorate programs in educational leadership. She is a licensed reading specialist, and her specialist degree from the School of Education was in both school administration and reading. Holland is now a part-time reading consultant for the Middle Grades Reading Network at the University of Evansville, a project designed to promote reading among middle school students.
- Keith J. Jepsen, Ed.D. 1974, who has more than 43 years of experience in higher education finance at international, national, state, and university levels. Jepsen is now president of the Global Student Loan Corp., a company he co-founded 11 years ago to specialize in private student loans for distance learners and international students. He is regarded as a national leader in the areas of strategic use of financial aid and the use of technology to improve service to students and improve financial aid office efficiency. Jepsen is chairman of the board of the National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit organization that maintains a comprehensive registry of higher education student data. For nine years, Jepsen was the assistant vice president and director of ACT, the non-profit that administers the ACT college entrance exam. While there, he created and managed the unit that would become the U.S. Department of Education's Central Processing System for Title IV federal student aid -- the system that processes all applications, calculates eligibility, and notifies students and educational institutions of the results. A generous contributor to the School of Education, he has funded the Keith Jepsen International Study Scholarship. It provides Jepsen Scholars resources to participate in the Cultural Immersions Overseas Project, which sends student teachers to work in 15 countries around the world.
- Youngsoo Kim, Ph.D. 1983, an internationally-recognized expert in the research areas of message design in online learning and instructional design based on cognitive theories and emerging technologies. Kim is a professor of educational technology at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Korea where she has served on the faculty since 1985. She has been Ewha's dean of the College of Education, dean of the Admissions Office, director of Ewha's Multimedia Education Institute, and director of the Institute for Teaching and Learning. Starting last year, Kim became an adviser to the office of the president of the Republic of Korea, serving on the Advisory Committee to the Secretary of Education, Science, & Culture. Since earning her Ph.D. in instructional systems technology from the IU School of Education in 1983, Kim received the 1998 International Contribution Award from the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, among other awards. She has been a visiting professor at the National Institute of Multimedia Education in Japan and a research scholar at San Francisco State University. Kim has served as president of three educational media and technology associations in Korea, being a founding member for the Korean Association for Educational Information and Broadcasting and the Korean Society for Educational Technology.
Recipients will accept their awards during a dinner on Friday night at the W.W. Wright Education Building at IU Bloomington. The ceremony will also honor the new Barbara B. Jacobs Chair in Education and Technology, Professor Tom Brush, as well as the new Martha Lea & Bill Armstrong Chair in Teacher Education, Professor Pete Kloosterman.
