Chancellor Shaw to receive fifth honorary degree

Chancellor Shaw to receive fifth honorary degreeMarch 01, 2002A week before awarding almost 5,000 degrees to Syracuse University and ESF graduates, SU Chancellor and President Kenneth A. Shaw will receive one of his own–an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. He also will give the keynote address at SIUE’s commencement ceremonies May 4.

“I’m particularly honored to receive this degree from SIUE because Edwardsville holds a special place in my heart,” says Shaw. “It’s where I grew up–both as a child and an administrator.”

Shaw was named president of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 1977, at the age of 37. Under his leadership, a comprehensive planning program–known as the Problem Identification Process–was established, providing valuable direction to SIUE as it sought to address the challenges of decreasing budgets. He also started the SIUE Presidential Scholars Program and promoted financial support from the private sector.

In 1979 Shaw became the first permanent chancellor of the Southern Illinois University System, providing leadership that affirmed and buttressed the new centralized governance system while protecting and furthering the interests of SIU’s constituent universities. He held that position until 1986, when he was named president of the University of Wisconsin System.

“Buzz Shaw’s vision for higher education and his ability to articulate that vision have served him well as he has risen to national prominence,” says SIUE Chancellor David Werner, who was dean of the SIUE School of Business when Shaw was chancellor. “In the late 1970s, his vision for SIUE to become ‘the best of its kind’ cut to the heart of the university’s vision–focus your resources on your highest priorities; do the very best at what you are supposed to do. His leadership helped lay the groundwork for SIUE to emerge as a premier metropolitan university.”

Shaw, who joined Syracuse in 1991, speaks and writes regularly on issues of leadership, conflict resolution, and multiculturalism and diversity. He is author of “The Successful President: ‘Buzzwords’ on Leadership,” a top seller in the American Council on Education/Oryx Press Series on Higher Education.

Shaw is active in numerous professional and civic organizations. He chairs the NCAA’s Basketball Issues Committee and the Commissioner’s Advisory Council on Higher Education for the New York State Education Department; serves on the boards of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and the Student Loan Marketing Association; and is a member of the TIAA-CREF Hesburgh Award jury.

Locally, he serves as vice president of the board of the Metropolitan Development Association and chair of the MDA’s Health Care and Educational Services Committee. He also serves on the boards of the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, Unity Mutual Life Insurance Co., the University Hill Corp., the Museum of Science and Technology and the Policy Council of Success by Six.

Shaw earned a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University, a master of education degree from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. from Purdue.

He holds honorary doctor of humane letters degrees from Illinois State University (1987), Illinois College (1986) and Towson State University (1979), and an honorary doctor of education degree from Purdue University (1990).