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Leaders in service to receive honors on Commencement weekend
Four individuals who have excelled in public service, special
education, research and teaching in economics, and varied
philanthropic causes will receive Distinguished Service Citations
May 16 at the All-University Supper, during the University's
Commencement Weekend celebration. The DSC, which recognizes
outstanding professional and community service, is the highest
honor given by the University and the Alumni Association.
Since 1941, it has been presented to men and women whose lives
and careers have helped benefit humanity.
This year's three alumni recipients are George L. Brown,
j'50, Arlington, Va.; Liliana Mayo, g'89, PhD'96, La Punta-Callao,
Peru; Vernon L. Smith, g'52, Arlington, Va. The fourth recipient,
Adele Hall, of Mission Hills, a 1953 graduate of the University
of Nebraska, will also be designated an honorary KU alumna.
The four have been invited to march in the Commencement procession
May 18 and be recognized during the ceremonies.
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George Brown
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George Brown began working as a journalist with the Denver
Post, but he soon became a public servant. Elected to the
Colorado House of Representatives in 1955, he later completed
five consecutive terms in the Colorado State Senate, where
he was the first African-American to serve in that body. As
former director of the Denver Housing Authority, Brown developed
senior citizen health programs, youth recreation activities
and oversaw the construction of family housing developments
and community centers.
Brown in 1979 was hired as senior vice president of Grumman
Corporation, overseeing the firm's worldwide regional offices.
He has also served as director of Prudential Securities' Washington
Public Finance office and was a banker for Greenwich Partners,
a Connecticut public finance firm.
Throughout his career, Brown has dedicated himself to community
service. He is a trustee for the widely acclaimed Boys and
Girls Choir of Harlem, as well as the Joint Center for Political
and Economic Studies. Brown has received the Adam Clayton
Powell Award from the Congressional Black Caucus and the Metro
Denver Man of the Year award, and the George Brown Urban Journalism
Scholarship was established in 1976 at the University's School
of Journalism. A veteran of World War II, he was a member
of the famed Tuskegee Airmen fighter pilots.
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Adele Hall
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For Adele Hall, helping those in need has long been a way
of life. She has spent decades involved in philanthropic efforts
that have made her family name synonymous with charity.
After being named the first female president of the Heart
of America United Way in Kansas City, Hall went on to found
the Women's Public Service Network to provide a forum for
social issues.
Her dedication to public service earned her the title Kansas
City Philanthropist of the Year in 1993, and she has received
an Image Award from the Urban League and the Junior League
Volunteer of the Year Award.
Guided by an enduring interest in children's welfare, Hall
currently serves as a board member for the American Academy
of Pediatrics Partnership for Children and Children's Mercy
Hospital; she is also an advisory board member for De La Salle
School and Genesis School. Hall displays her commitment to
higher learning through membership on the KU School of Nursing
Advisory Board and as a member of both the Alumni Association's
Jayhawks for Higher Education and KU Endowment Association's
Chancellors Club.
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Liliana Mayo
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Thousands of Peruvian families struggling with autism have
benefited from the life's work of Liliana Mayo, the founder
and driving force behind the Centro Ann Sullivan del Peru,
a school for children with autism in Lima. After receiving
her master's and doctoral degrees from KU, Mayo returned to
her home country, where she has led a local movement to involve
the families of autistic children in the educational process.
Mayo now teaches at the University Cayetano Heredia and the
Catholic Pontificate University in Lima, and has been an honorary
associate professor in KU's department of human development
and family life since 1996.
For her dedication to community health issues, Mayo has received
the Peruvian Professional Excellence award, the Cuban Medal
of Honor and the Queen Sofia of Spain International award.
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Vernon Smith
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Vernon Smith, long hailed as the father of experimental economics,
won the coveted Nobel Prize in his discipline in 2002. After
receiving his master's from KU in 1952, he went on to earn
his doctorate from Harvard University. He recently accepted
a one-year appointment as Rasmuson professor of economics
at the University Alaska in Anchorage. He also is a professor
of law and economics at George Mason University, where he
is a research scholar in the Interdisciplinary Center for
Economic Science and a fellow of the Mercatus Center. His
work has been funded in part by the Koch Foundation of Wichita.
For his innovative research, Smith was elected to membership
in the National Academy of Sciences, and he is a distinguished
fellow of the American Economic Association and a Ford Foundation
fellow. Long dedicated to the success of future economists,
Smith earlier in his career taught at the University of Arizona,
Purdue University and Brown. He serves on the board of editors
for the American Economic Review, Science and The Journal
of Risk and Uncertainty.
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