BIG RAPIDS – John Hare and Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick will receive honorary doctoral degrees from Ferris State University during spring commencement exercises in May, with Eva Maddox receiving an honorary doctoral degree from Kendall College of Art and Design. The action was approved during a regular meeting of the University's Board of Trustees today (March 21).
Hare served as president of ABC Radio's 72 stations nationwide from February 1999 until his retirement in the spring of 2007. Previously, he was group president of ABC-Owned Radio Stations since 1997. In this capacity, he was responsible for stations in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Detroit and Washington, D.C.
A Detroit area native, Hare graduated from Ferris State University with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing. He and his wife, Joanne, are the parents of four children.
Now in her sixth term serving Michigan's 13th Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Kilpatrick oversees the budgets of more than 20 governmental agencies, including the Treasury Department, National Credit Union Administration, Postal Service and the Small Business Administration. As a member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee, she helps determine funding for the Department of Homeland Security. She is also a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee and its newly created Financial Services Subcommittee.
Born and raised in Detroit, Kilpatrick did undergraduate work at Ferris State University, where she earned the first of her three college degrees. She has two children and five grandsons.
Maddox is a renowned architect and interior designer who established Eva Maddox Associates, a Chicago-based firm, in 1975. In 2002, her firm became part of Perkins+Will, now known as Perkins+Will/Eva Maddox Branded Environments. She has worked with a wide variety of clients, including Haworth in Holland, and was elected to the Design Hall of Fame in 1992. Other honors include an honorary doctoral degree from her alma matter, the University of Cincinnati, and receiving a Purpose Prize Fellow, an award recognizing social innovators.
In other business, the board also approved 17 faculty sabbatical requests for the 2008-09 academic year. For Fall 2008, they include Daniel Ding, Languages and Literature; Jay Hettiarachchy, Accounting, Finance and Information Systems; James Walker, Humanities; Karen Norman, College of Education and Human Services; Maureen Watson, Optometry; Ahmed Mekky, Marketing; Katherine Manley, College of Education and Human Services; Jonathan Taylor, Languages and Literature; and Michael Ropele, Automotive.
For Fall 2008 and Spring 2009, they include Phillip Sterling, Languages and Literature; Sandra Balkema, Languages and Literature; Gary Gerber, Architectural Technology/Facilities Management; and Bo Lou, Physical Sciences. For Spring 2009, they include Gloria Lukusa-Barnett, University College; Philip Watson, Biology; and Gordon Reynolds, Languages and Literature. For 12 months from 2008-09, it includes Eunice Merwin-Beck, University College.
The board also approved the appointments and re-appointments of the following members to Ferris authorized charter schools:
21 March, 2008
