Lockerbie Academy rector to receive Chancellor’s Medal Nov. 14

Lockerbie Academy rector to receive Chancellor’s Medal Nov. 14November 10, 2003Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

Syracuse University will award The Chancellor’s Medal for Exceptional Achievement to Graham J. Herbert, rector of Lockerbie Academy, during the annual Convocation for Remembrance Scholars on Nov. 14. The convocation begins at 4 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

Herbert will be honored for his many efforts to maintain a strong bond between the communities of Syracuse and Lockerbie, Scotland, the small town where Pan Am Flight 103 crashed on Dec. 21, 1988. Herbert has served as Lockerbie Academy’s rector since 1996; he served as deputy rector from 1991-96. Over the past 12 years, he has worked tirelessly to honor the legacy of the 35 SU students lost in the tragedy.

He supports and promotes the Lockerbie/Syracuse Scholarships, a program that promotes cultural and educational exchanges that benefit new generations in Syracuse and Lockerbie. Through the program, two students from Scotland come to Syracuse to study each year as Lockerbie Scholars. The 2003-04 Lockerbie Scholars, Jamie Graham and Erin McLaughlin, will be recognized at the Nov. 14 convocation. “Rector Herbert’s dedication has helped preserve the positive and productive links between Lockerbie, Scotland, and this University,” says Chancellor Kenneth A. Shaw. “We are indebted to him for helping us honor the 35 students we lost in 1988 through the living memorial of scholarships.”

Herbert has also strongly supported research projects in Lockerbie conducted by SU faculty and staff, including a project that will result in a photo essay book about Lockerbie. Herbert also hosts many visitors-including families of those killed on Pan Am 103 and SU faculty and students-in Lockerbie each year.

“In a way, Mr. Herbert represents the kindness and generosity of his community to our Syracuse University family, especially in the context of the Pan Am 103 Air Disaster,” says Melissa Chessher, associate professor of magazine journalism in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, who nominated Herbert for the honor. “In light of the events of Sept. 11, and as the 15th anniversary of Pan Am 103 approaches, it seems fitting to reward and honor someone who symbolizes the good that can come from something as horrible as a terrorist act.”

In her nomination, Chessher writes of Herbert: “He continues to watch over the legacy of our fallen students and sees to it that every year a new group of Scottish schoolchildren learn about Syracuse University, and many Syracuse students learn about Lockerbie.”

The Chancellor’s Medal was first presented in 1967 on the occasion of Chancellor William P. Tolley’s 25th anniversary as Chancellor. In the decades since, the medal has been given to individuals in honor of their extraordinary contributions to the University, to their areas of expertise or to the community.