SU announces 2004 honorary degree recipientsApril 26, 2004Sara Millersemortim@syr.edu
Syracuse University will award honorary degrees to five individuals who have made significant contributions to higher education. Honorary degrees will be presented at the 150th Commencement, May 9 at the Carrier Dome, to Joseph O. Lampe ’53, G ’55, chair of the Board of Trustees; Kenneth A. Shaw, Chancellor; Mary Ann Shaw, associate of the Chancellor; John Brooks Slaughter, president and CEO of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME); and Jozef J. Zwislocki, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of neuroscience.
Joseph O. Lampe ’53, G ’55Doctor of Laws
After serving in the capacity since 1997, Joe Lampe will step down as board chair this summer, marking 16 years of dedicated service on the SU Board of Trustees. His interest in seeing University students succeed is evident in the countless hours he and his wife, Shawn, give serving on University committees, as well as the substantial gifts he has made to help improve the University community.
Under Lampe’s chairmanship, the $20 million Student-Athlete Fund campaign was launched to endow student-athlete scholarships and provide educational services. Today, more than $3.5 million each year is used to help student-athletes attend SU.
Lampe served as a member of the Commitment to Learning Campaign Executive Committee and founded the SU Alumni Association of Southern California. He currently serves on the SU College of Law Board of Visitors and the Chancellor’s Council, and is a lifetime member of the Society of Fellows. Among the honors bestowed upon Lampe are the SU Alumni Award in 1984, the Distinguished Service Award from the College of Law in 1991 and the Arents Pioneer Medal in 2003.
Since 1979, Lampe has been president of Lampe and Co., a diversified real estate development and management firm in Phoenix. His professional affiliations include service as chairman of the board of National Bank of Arizona and Western Bancshares Inc.
Lampe holds a bachelor’s degree in speech and dramatic arts and a law degree from SU.
Kenneth A. ShawDoctor of Laws
In August 1991, Kenneth A. “Buzz” Shaw became Syracuse University’s 10th Chancellor and president. Through his leadership, SU has become one of the nation’s leading student-centered research universities.
SU is one of the few higher education institutions to have improved nearly every facet of campus life during the tough economic times of the 1990s, during which the University faced its own budget cuts of more than $60 million and 600 jobs. Today, the institution enjoys greater financial resources, greater student and faculty diversity, and stronger student enrollment and retention.
Shaw’s leadership extends well beyond campus. He assumed an active leadership role with the NCAA, chairing the Basketball Issues Committee and the Division I board of directors. He also chairs the Commissioner’s Advisory Council on Higher Education for the New York State Education Department, is a member of the New York State Commission on Education Reform and serves on the board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
Locally, Shaw chairs the Metropolitan Development Association (MDA) and has served as 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., University Hill Corp., and the Museum of Science and Technology, as well as the policy council of Success by Six and the executive committee of Syracuse 20/20.
Prior to joining SU, Shaw was president of the University of Wisconsin System (1986-91). He also has served as chancellor of the Southern Illinois University System (1979-86), president of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (1977-79), and vice president and dean of Towson State University (1969-77).
Shaw earned a bachelor’s degree at Illinois State University, a master of education degree at the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. at Purdue University.
Mary Ann ShawDoctor of Humane Letters
Mary Ann Shaw has served as associate of the Chancellor since 1991, working closely with the Division of Institutional Advancement and her husband, Kenneth A. Shaw.
During this tenure, Mary Ann Shaw helped create the Center for Public and Community Service, which promotes and facilitates voluntarism and community involvement as a fundamental part of the University experience for students, faculty and staff. She was an original founder of the SU Literacy Corps and was instrumental in the creation of Arts Adventure, now known as Pulse, a program designed to increase the number of SU students participating in cultural activities.
Locally, Mary Ann Shaw chairs the steering committee overseeing the development of the Central New York Children’s Hospital at University Hospital and also chairs the Children’s Hospital’s capital campaign. She was instrumental in the development of United Way’s Success By Six, a community collaboration to ensure that area children are ready to learn and be successful when they enter school. Currently, she is vice chair of the board of BlueCross BlueShield of Central New York Inc. and serves on the boards of Lifetime Healthcare Inc., the Salvation Army of the Syracuse Area, Syracuse Stage, the Syracuse Symphony and the Central New York Community Foundation.
Mary Ann Shaw was a member of the United Way of Central New York’s board of directors for 10 years, including two years as chair, and she chaired the 1994 United Way Campaign. She has also served as a member of the policy and planning council of Leadership Greater Syracuse and on the boards of the Ronald McDonald House, WCNY Public Broadcasting and Literacy Volunteers of Greater Syracuse.In February 2004, she received an Achievement Award from the Syracuse Post-Standard.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in education at Towson State University.
John Brooks SlaughterDoctor of Science
As president and CEO of the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME), Slaughter continues to promote diversity and equality in education, engineering and the scientific communities. He has served as director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), as president of Occidental College in Los Angeles and as chancellor of the University of Maryland at College Park.
Slaughter’s other academic positions include the Irving R. Melbo Professor of Leadership in Education at the University of Southern California, academic vice president and provost at Washington State University and director of the Applied Physics Laboratory and professor of electrical engineering at the University of Washington.
Slaughter is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Tau Beta Pi Honorary Engineering Society. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
He has been recognized throughout his career with such honors as the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Award in 1997; the Reginald Wilson Award from the American Council on Education; the U.S. Black Engineer of the Year Award; the Distinguished Service Award from the National Science Foundation; and several other professional and scholastic honors.
Slaughter writes and lectures across the country on issues impacting higher education. He earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Kansas State University, a master’s degree in engineering from the University of California-Los Angeles and a Ph.D. in engineering science, also from the University of California-San Diego.
Jozef J. ZwislockiDoctor of Science
A native of Poland, Zwislocki taught and conducted research at SU for 35 years, retiring in 1992 as Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience at the Institute for Sensory Research (ISR). He is recognized as one of the world’s leading auditory researchers, with a teaching and research speciality in the auditory system and its psychophysics, biophysics and psychophysiology.
In 1958, the Institute for Sensory Research at Syracuse University was established under Zwislocki’s direction. He continued to develop the program and faculty, which have become world-renowned for multidisciplinary studies of the structure and function of sensory systems. In 1971, Zwislocki helped establish and structure the first undergraduate program in bioengineering in SU’s L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science.
In 1970, Zwislocki invented the “Zwislocki Coupler,” an artificial ear that determines the amount of current needed in an earphone to produce a particular sound intensity in the eardrum. This is among his 12 patents for hearing aid devices. More recently, his work includes the invention of a sound muffling device for industrial applications.
Zwislocki’s professional memberships include the National Academy of Sciences National Research Council, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Society of Audiology and the American Auditory Society. Among his professional and academic honors are the Chancellor’s Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement from in 1980, the first Bekesy Medal from the Acoustical Society of America in 1985, and election to the Polish Academy of Sciences in 1997.
Zwislocki holds a degree in electrical engineering and an Sc.D. in technical sciences at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland.
