The College of Graduate and Professional Studies will host a sesquicentennial event Sept. 8 to celebrate graduate education and highlight Sycamore alumni success.
"From preparing leaders in grad school to now, graduates are doing things all over the world," said Chris McGrew, director of the center for Global Engagement and chair of the planning committee for the event.
From successful nurse practitioners and manufacturing directors to corporate presidents, the sesquicentennial event is aimed at showcasing the diverse alumni hailing from the college.
"It's an important part of our story, of ISU's 150 years," McGrew said. "Each of the academic colleges is recognizing some of the outstanding work that's coming out of the college, represented by individuals who are leaders in their area."
Coordinated by the college's sesquicentennial planning committee, the event will consist of a reception held in Tirey Hall's Heritage Ballroom beginning at 5 p.m., followed by the program at 6 p.m., in which the speakers will take part in celebrating graduate education's 90-year history at State.
During the program, each of the deans from the College of Graduate and Professional Studies colleges will introduce a graduate who embodies exemplary leadership and excels in their field to receive an award.
"We went in with the mindset of, ‘We're celebrating excellence from each one of the colleges, and here's an outstanding leader,'" McGrew said. "Graduates were chosen by their academic college to represent truly what the college is focused on -- a representation of the quality, service and scholarship of the folks that come from our graduate programs. There will be an opportunity to talk about who they are and how they reflect the goals of those academic programs."
The keynote for the College of Professional and Graduate Studies' sesquicentennial event will be given by former Dean Mary Ann Carroll.
"Dr. Carroll was the longest serving dean, graduated from here and provided leadership for a long time, so the whole celebration is being organized around her," McGrew said.
Carroll earned her bachelor's in math and chemistry from Indiana State Teachers College in 1950 and a master's in 1955. Earning a doctorate for education from Indiana State College in 1963, she returned in 1964 to serve as assistant dean of graduate studies. Later, she was selected as dean of the School of Graduate Studies in 1976.
Carroll is nationally recognized for her work in graduate education and served as chairman of the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools and as a member of the executive committee of the Council of Graduate Schools and the Graduate Record Examinations Board. Carroll is active in the international society for education Kappa Delta Pi and served as a national officer in Chi Omega. Following her retirement from Indiana State, Carroll served as assistant to the dean of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
Alumni honorees include:
• Todd Bess, GR '05, Ph.D. '09, executive director of the Indiana Association of School Principals;
• Samuel Goward, Ph.D. '79, research professor/emeritus professor of geographical sciences at the University of Maryland;
• Debra Vincent, FNP '96, associate professor, advanced practice nursing at Indiana State;
• Dean Bartles, Ph.D. '13, director of the John Olson Advanced Manufacturing Center at the University of New Hampshire;
• Justin Woodruff, MBA '10, president of Integrity Title Services.
The university's sesquicentennial era started two years ago, marked by the Bayh College of Education's celebration event in 2015 and continuing with the College of Arts and Sciences' last year.
"We have a four-year long sesquicentennial celebration; this is CPGS's turn," McGrew said.
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Writer: Kayla Carmicheal, media relations assistant, Office of Communications and Marketing, Indiana State University, 812-237-3773 or kcarmicheal@sycamores.indstate.edu