Four distinguished alumni to receive Arents Medals June 7April 28, 2003Mark Owczarskimaowczar@syr.edu
Four Syracuse University alumni will be honored June 7 with the 2003 George Arents Pioneer Medal for outstanding accomplishments, the highest alumni honor the University bestows. The medals will be presented during the University’s Reunion Weekend at the annual Arents Award Dinner.
Recipients are Gil Cates ’55, G’65; Nina Fedoroff ’66; Ralph Ketcham G’56, H’99; and Joseph O. Lampe ’53, G’55.
Gil Cates ’55, G’65George Arents Pioneer Medal for excellence in the field of television production
A widely respected leader in television, film and theater, Gil Cates is currently producing director of the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, a non-profit professional theatre company.
Cates has received the Jimmy Dolittle Award for Outstanding Contribution to Los Angeles Theatre, and the Ovation Award for best play for directing “Collected Stories.” He has also directed Academy Award-nominated films, including “I Never Sang for My Father” and “Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams.” Cates has further distinguished himself as director or producer of a number of television dramatic specials, and recently produced the 75th Annual Academy Awards show for ABC. It was Cates’ eleventh occasion producing the programs, for which he has already garnered 76 nominations and 17 Emmy Awards.
He served two terms as president of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) from 1983-1987, and has received the DGA’s Robert B. Aldrich Award for extraordinary service and DGA’s Honorary Life Membership.
Cates held the position of dean of the UCLA School of Theater Film and Television (which he founded) from 1990-1998.
Throughout his professional endeavors, Cates has maintained a strong connection with SU. An active board member of the University’s Southern California Alumni Club, Cates received the club’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1985. He frequently hosts the annual Newhouse School Hollywood Seminar, and was the 1987 College of Visual and Performing Arts convocation speaker. He received the University’s Chancellor’s Medal in 1975.
Nina Fedoroff ’66George Arents Pioneer Medal for excellence in scientific research
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from The College of Arts and Sciences, Nina Fedoroff has become one of the nation’s most prominent researchers in the life sciences and biotechnology.
Today, she is the Verne M. Willaman Professor of Life Sciences and an Evan Pugh Professor at the Pennsylvania State University. In July 2002, she stepped down from positions as founding director of the Life Sciences Consortium and as director of the Biotechnology Institute at Penn State to return to her research activities. Fedoroff was a pioneer in the application of molecular techniques to plants; today, her laboratory studies genes that contribute to a plant’s ability to fight off disease, environmental pollutants, and other environmental stresses.
In 2001, President William J. Clinton appointed Fedoroff to the 24-member National Science Board, which oversees the activities of the National Science Foundation. Members are appointed for six-year terms and confirmed by the United States Senate.
In 2002, she became the only woman to hold an Evan Pugh Professorship, the highest distinction that Penn State bestows upon a faculty member.
Fedoroff is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the European Academy of Sciences. She is a member of the boards of directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Company.
Fedoroff has received numerous honors and awards, including a National Institutes of Health Merit Award, the University of Chicago’s Howard Taylor Ricketts Award; the New York Academy of Sciences Outstanding Contemporary Women Scientist Award; and the Sigma Xi McGovern Science and Society Medal.
Ralph Ketcham G’56, H’99George Arents Pioneer Medal for excellence in education
An internationally recognized author, scholar and teacher of early American history, Ralph Louis Ketcham has given 50 years of exemplary service to SU and the Maxwell School and shaped the way historians view American political thought, comparative government and contemporary public life.
Ketcham began his career at SU as a graduate fellow in 1951. After completing his Ph.D. at the Maxwell School in 1956, he was named professor of American studies and public affairs in 1963, professor of political science in 1965, professor of history in 1968, and Maxwell Professor of Citizenship and Public Affairs in 1994. He directed the American Studies Program from 1963-1979.
In 1987, Ketcham was named the CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) national Professor of the Year and received the first-ever Chancellor’s Award for Excellence from SU in 1979.
He has published seminal books on the U.S. Constitution and early American history, including “Framed for Posterity: The Enduring Philosophy of the Constitution” (University of Kansas Press, 1993), “Presidents Above Party: The First American Presidency, 1789-1829” (University of North Carolina Press, 1987), and acclaimed biographies of James Madison and Benjamin Franklin.
He has been a Fulbright lecturer in India, Japan, and the Netherlands; an American Bicentennial Speaker on the U.S. State Department’s 1976 European tour; and a guest lecturer at institutions around the world.
Ketcham has been elected to the American Antiquarian Society, served on the Council of the Institute of Early American History and Culture and received honorary degrees from Allegheny College, McKendree College and SU.
Joseph O. Lampe ’53, G’55George Arents Pioneer Medal for excellence in business and service to the alma mater
Those who know Joseph O. Lampe feel his overwhelming passion for SU. Throughout his adult life, Lampe has applied the same leadership and professional skills successfully used in business to advance and improve the University he loves so much.
After Lampe received his bachelor’s degree in speech and dramatic arts in 1953 and a J.D. from the College of Law in 1955, he served as an officer in the United States Air Force until 1957. Following his tour of duty, he practiced law in Phoenix, Ariz., until 1964, then moved to Los Angeles, where he held executive positions with major real estate corporations and founded a real estate development firm.
Since 1979, Lampe has been chairman of Lampe and Company, a diversified real estate development and management firm based in Phoenix. In addition, he founded and is a partner in the largest owner/operator of mobile home and recreational vehicle parks in the state. He served as chairman of the board of directors of the National Bank of Arizona and Western Bancshares for more than eight years.
Throughout his professional career, Lampe’s involvement at SU has been equally impressive. A member of the Board of Trustees since 1987, Lampe has been board chair and chair of its executive committee since 1998. He served as a member of the executive committee of the recently completed $375 million “Commitment to Learning Campaign” and was a member of the national committee for the University’s first ever capital campaign, “The Campaign for Syracuse.”
He is a past president and founder of the SU Alumni Association of Southern California and hosted the first Newhouse School Hollywood Seminar. He has served on the College of Law’s Board of Visitors since 1984 and as the volunteer chair of the University’s Student Athlete Fund since its inception.
A lifetime member of the Society of Fellows and member of the Chancellor’s Council, Lampe received the SU Alumni Award in 1984 and the Distinguished Service Award from the College of Law recognizing his service to the University in 1991. He and his wife Shawn serve several other charitable causes, including Free Arts of Arizona and the Thomas Pappas School.
