Skip to main content Skip to navigation

WSU professors Rod Croteau and Linda Randall elected to National Academy Of Sciences

WSU biochemists Rod Croteau and Linda Randall were elected to the National Academy of Sciences. They joined four other WSU researchers in the academy: C.A. “Bud” Ryan, a biochemist; Jim Cook, a USDA plant pathologist at WSU; John Hirth, a materials scientist; and Dieter H. von Wettstein, a plant geneticist.

 

Volleyball coach Cindy Fredrick named PAC-10 Conference Coach of the Year

Volleyball coach Cindy Fredrick concluded her seventh season at WSU by being named PAC-10 Conference Coach of the Year, and was named AVCA District VIII Coach of the Year as well. The team finished 22-7 overall and third in the Pac-10, led by All-American Sara Silvernail.

 

U.S. Army General Shalikashvili speaks at commencement

U.S. Army Gen. John M Shalikashvili, chairman of the U.S. Department of Defense Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke at commencement. His son Brant was one of the graduates.  Shalikashvili served as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Supreme Allied Commander from 1993 through 1997, the first foreign-born American to do so.

Norman Borlaug receives WSU honorary doctoral degree

Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Norman Borlaug, received an honorary doctoral degree from WSU during commencement in 1995.  Borlaug and WSU professor, Orville Vogel, are credited with research crucial to the “Green Revolution” in wheat breeding, which has saved an estimated one billion lives in the twentieth century.

 

Internationally renowned WSU faculty member receives 28th Regents Distinguished Alumnus Award

John Gorham, internationally renowned veterinarian and WSU faculty member, received the 28th Regents Distinguished Alumnus Award. Gorham was the first student to earn a graduate degree from the College of Veterinary Medicine and contributed heavily to the study of feline and canine disease.

WSU alumnus receives 27th Regents Distinguished Alumnus Award for service during the Gulf War

U.S. Air Force General (ret.) Robert D. Russ received the 27th Regents Distinguished Alumnus Award for his service as Commander of Air Force Aviation during the Gulf War. Russ graduated from WSU in 1955 with a B.A. in business administration and entered the Air Force in 1955 as a second lieutenant, serving until 1991 when he retired as general.

RRuss_UA333_B040_F023

Barry Serafin receives the 26th Regents Distinguished Alumnus Award for his career in journalism

Barry Serafin receives the 26th Regents Distinguished Alumnus Award for his career in journalism. Serafin started his career at KWSU and later transferred to the CBS Washington D.C. bureau. He won an Emmy for his contribution to the documentary “Watergate: The White House Transcripts.” He then joined ABC in 1979, covering the Iran hostage crisis, and became a national correspondent in 1981.

Barry Serafin
Barry Serafin

Queen of Denmark appoints Vishnu Bhatia, director of the WSU Honors Program, a Knight of the Dannebrog Order

Queen Magrethe II of Denmark appoints Vishnu Bhatia a Knight of the Dannebrog Order for the decades he devoted to building bridges between the Scandinavian nation and WSU.  Bhatia served WSU for 47 years (1951-1998) and counted among his greatest accomplishments heading the Honors Program (1964-1993) and  directing the Office of International Education at WSU (1973-1990).  The WSU Honors Program, now the Honors College, counts several thousand alumni and is considered one of the best Honors programs in the United States.

Allen C. Wilson receives the Regents 25th Distinguished Alumnus Award for his work in molecular evolutionism.

Allen C. Wilson receives the Regents 25th Distinguished Alumnus Award for his work in molecular evolutionism. Wilson received an M.A. in Zoology in 1957, studying under bird physiologist Donald S. Farner. Wilson came to WSU from his birthplace in New Zealand. During his career, his work was recognized with many prestigious awards, including the MacArthur Fellowship.

Allen Wilson
Allen Wilson

Gary Larson, syndicated cartoonist and creator of the Far Side, receives the Regents 24th Distinguished Alumnus Award and is the Centennial Commencement Speaker.

Gary Larson, syndicated cartoonist and creator of The Far Side, receives the Regents 24th Distinguished Alumnus Award and is the Centennial Commencement Speaker.  His talk is titled “The Importance of Being Weird.”

Gary Larson, 1990
Gary Larson, 1990

 

Neva Martin Abelson receives the Regents 23rd Distinguished Alumnus Award for her work in pediatric medicine.

Neva Martin Abelson receives the Regents 23rd Distinguished Alumnus Award. She is the wife of famed-chemist Phillip Ableson, and co-founder of the global test for Rh blood factor which has saved millions of babies’ lives.  Neva was one of the first women to earn a medical degree from Johns Hopkins University, and the first woman to be in charge of the hospital’s nurseries there. Later she was a professor of pediatrics and pathology at the University of Pennsylvania. Her work in pediatrics piqued her interest in the Rhesus factor and its relation to blood disease in tiny infants, which at the time was a likely cause of death or mental retardation.

Neva Marten Abelson
Neva Marten Abelson

Mary Turner DeGarmo, known for transcribing musical compositions into braille, and William Julius Wilson, sociologist, receive the Regents 21st and 22nd Distinguished Alumnus Awards

Mary Turner DeGarmo, known for her work in transcribing musical compositions into braille, and William Julius Wilson, sociologist, receive the Regents 21st and 22nd Distinguished Alumnus Awards. DeGarmo, who graduated in 1926 with a B.A. in Education, developed the first and only detailed, comprehensive teaching text on transcribing musical compositions into Braille for blind musicians, a volume used worldwide. DeGarmo, the second woman honored with the Regents Distinguished Alumnus Award, passed away in 1995.  Wilson received his Ph.D. in Sociology in 1966 and is known for his research and scholarship on the black underclass. He authored articles and books including, “The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass and Public Policy” and “The Declining Significance of Race.”

 

William Julius WIlson
William Julius WIlson
Mary T DeGarmo
Mary T DeGarmo

Dean Emeritus of the College of Veterinary Medicine receives the 20th Regents Distinguished Alumnus Award

Leo K. Bustad, Dean Emeritus of College of Veterinary Medicine and internationally recognized speaker, humanist, and founder of People & Pet Therapy programs, receives the 20th Regents Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Leo K. Bustad
Leo K. Bustad

Hein, Stevenson, and Bigeleisen receive Distinguished Alumnus Awards.

The Regents 16th, 17th, and 18th Distinguished Alumnus Awards are respectively awarded to Mel Hein, the “greatest all-around player the game of football has seen;” Robert Stevenson, the former head of Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co.; and world-renowned chemist Jacob Bigeleisen.

Mel Hein
Mel Hein
Robert S. Stevenson
Robert S. Stevenson
Jacob Bigeleisen
Jacob Bigeleisen

Gibson, Shroeder, Neill receive the Regents Distinguished Alumnus Awards

Weldon B. “Hoot” Gibson, Charles Schroeder, and Marshall Neill receive the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth Regents Distinguished Alumnus Awards.

Hoot Gibson
Hoot Gibson
Marshall Neill in 1955, while serving as a special assistant AG for WSC
Marshall Neill in 1955, while serving as a special assistant AG for WSC
Schroeder
Charles Schroeder

Orville Vogel, developer of the world’s most productive wheat strains, receives Regents ninth Distinguished Alumnus Award

Orville Vogel, developer of the world’s most productive wheat strains, receives Regents Ninth Distinguished Alumnus Award. Vogel received his Ph.D. at WSU in 1939 and stayed as faculty for several decades. His work helped start the “Green Revolution” in agriculture. He led the research team that produced the first commercially successful semi-dwarf wheats and was known for his inventions of scientific research equipment. He received the National Medal of Science, presented by President Ford in 1975, as well as the State of Washington Medal of Merit in 1987.

Orville Vogel on a on is a small plot combine (designed by Dr. Vogel himself). It was used to harvest small wheat plots.
Orville Vogel on a on is a small plot combine (designed by Dr. Vogel himself). It was used to harvest small wheat plots.

Matsuyo Yamamoto is presented with the Regents Eighth Distinguished Alumnus Award, the first woman honored

Matsuyo Yamamoto is presented with Regents Eighth Distinguished Alumnus Award and is the first woman honored. After receiving her degree in home economics in 1937 at then Washington State College, Yamamoto returned to Japan where she pioneered home economics extension programs, eventually overseeing a staff of 3,000 home advisors that served the rural populations of Japan and other Asian countries. The College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Studies offers the Matsuyo Yamamoto Endowed Scholarship in her honor.

ua333b40f-yamamoto

Howard B. Bowen, president of the University of Iowa, delivers commencement address and receives the sixth Regents Distinguished Alumnus Award

Howard B. Bowen, president of the University of Iowa, delivers commencement address and receives the sixth Regents Distinguished Alumnus Award. Bowen received his bachelors of arts in 1929 and masters of arts in 1933 from then-WSC. He served as chancellor of Claremont University, as well as president of the University of Iowa, Grinnell College and the American Association of Higher Education. He researched and wrote extensively on the economics of higher education, and was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson to chair his National Commission on Technology, Automation and Economic Progress.

ua333b37f40_BowenHoward

Republican campaign finance chairman, biochemist receive the fourth and fifth Regents Distinguished Alumnus Awards

J. Clifford Folger, Nixon’s 1960 campaign finance chairman and member of the board of directors of IBM, and C. Glenn King, one of the two biochemists to isolate vitamin C, are selected for the fourth and fifth Regents Distinguished Alumnus Awards. Folger receives his award on June 3, 1963; King on April 11, 1964.

Folger receiving award
Folger receiving award
King receiving his award.
King receiving his award.

Weldon B. “Hoot” Gibson graduates with a B.A. in economics

Weldon B. “Hoot” Gibson graduates with a B.A. in Economics. Gibson attended WSC with the help of his Uncle, Arthur “Buck” Bailey, and was a member of the football team and the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. After graduating from WSC, Gibson studied at the Stanford Graduate School of Business receiving an MBA in 1940 and a Ph.D. in 1950. Gibson was a long-time executive at the Stanford Research Institute from 1947 until 1988. He earned the Legion of Merit in 1946, Commander of the British Empire in 1947, and the Washington State University Distinguished Alumni Award for his role in creating the Washington State University Foundation.

 

22

WSU’s Anjan Bose and Jim Asay join the National Academy of Engineering

WSU’s Anjan Bose, an international expert in the power grid control industry, and Jim Asay, an expert in shock-wave research and high-pressure science, join The National Academy of Engineering.  Bose is internationally known for his development of training simulators and computational tools for reliable power-system operation, and for contributions to education and research on power systems.

 

 

William Julius Wilson, Ph.D. receives National Medal of Science

William Julius Wilson, Ph.D. (’66) received the 1998 National Medal of Science, the highest scientific honor in the United States.Wilson was a behavioral and social scientists and received the medal  “for his innovative approach to studying urban poverty, his dedication to the proposition that rigorous social science change will improve his fellow American’s lives, and his advocacy of policies which reflect more accurately what we have learned from research and which therefore take a broader point of view with respect to the interactions of race, class, and location.”

Wilson received the award at a White House ceremony April 27, 1999.

WSU Veterans Memorial finds home on campus

The WSU Veterans Memorial is dedicated on Veterans Day in 1993, honoring all alumni, faculty, and staff who died during 19th and 20th century conflicts. In 1996, the class of 1949, with help from former registrar James Quann, began a campaign to complete the memorial. It was rededicated on October 7, 2000.

Vogel receives the National Medal of Science for his work in wheat breeding

Orville Vogel (left) and President Gerald Ford
Orville Vogel (left) and President Gerald Ford

On October 18, 1976, President Gerald Ford presented the National Medal of Science to WSU Professor Emeritus, Orville Vogel. Vogel helped develop wheat varieties with stronger stalks and higher yield potential, which now grow on five continents. This research launched the “Green Revolution,” a push in agricultural research to help feed the world’s hungry. Vogel worked at WSU from 1931 to 1973, receiving his Ph.D. here in 1939.

First commencement held at Beasley Coliseum

The recently constructed Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum opened for hosting the 1973 commencement ceremonies. In previous years, commencement ceremonies had been held either in Bohler Gym or, weather permitting, at Rogers Field (now Martin Stadium).

 

Beasley_Performing_Arts_Coliseum

President Taft visits campus

Former United States President William Howard Taft speaks briefly and presents a few student awards at Rogers Field in the afternoon, then delivers a speech titled “Capital, Labor, and the Soviet” that evening in Bryan Auditorium.

The president had previously traveled to Pullman on October 7, 1911 while still in office, but he didn’t make it to campus, as he spoke from his train car at the Northern Pacific depot downtown. The visit appears to be the only time a sitting president has visited Pullman.

 

WSC President Holland, Doc Bohler, former U.S. President Taft.
WSC President Holland, Doc Bohler, former U.S. President Taft.