'I had tears in my eyes'
Feb 15, 2008
Honorees and audience members share their thoughts on today's Founders Day celebration:
"I was overwhelmed to be nominated, and then to be chosen was pretty special. I feel like I have some of the best students I've ever had here at OU."
-- Connie Esmond Kiger, one of two Presidential Teacher Award recipients
"This institution has a rich and unique history that informs its life today, and that ought to be cherished. Together with many people in the audience, I had tears in my eyes at times."
-- President Emeritus Charles Ping, who led the university from 1975 to 1994
"I'm very grateful to be honored among Ohio's top students and faculty."
-- Elizabeth Nalepa, winner of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship, which goes to only three students nationwide each year
"It's wonderful to have an award where students get to voice their opinion. It's great to get to be recognized as a teacher they feel is doing an outstanding job in classroom."
-- Art Trese, who is among this year's five University Professors
"Founders Day gives me a chance to get recognition in front of my peers, which makes receiving the award even more exciting." -- Heather Lawrence, another of this year's University Professors
"It inspires you. It invigorates your determination. It embodies what the university stands for - knowledge and education."
-- Nneka Agwuegbo, a graduate student from Nigeria, on the significance of today's ceremony and why she snapped photos throughout it
"Being a recipient of the Templeton Scholarship has inspired me to achieve higher academic goals, and it has given me the mindset to strive for the best in everything I do."
-- First-year student Ashley Hayes, who hopes to joins the Peace Corps after graduation
"It's always nice to get a little recognition for something you've done. It was also great to be honored among so many other distinguished faculty and students on a day that honors our university's history."
-- Senior Bob Arnold, the state of Ohio's only 2008 Marshall Scholarship recipient
"It's a wonderful feeling to be recognized by my colleagues on the five regional campuses."
-- Sheida Shirvani, one of two regional campus faculty members named Outstanding Professor
"It gave me the chance to go to China, and I was able to see all of the major cities there. Anyone can do what I did if they just put the effort in."
-- Senior Matt Bush on winning the David L. Boren/National Security Education Program Graduate Fellowship
Michelle Davey, Janelle Huelsman, Katie Taybus, Jennifer Krisch and Mary Alice Casey contributed to this compilation.
Tours earn geography professors Vision OHIO Excellence Awards http://www.ohio.edu/outlook/07-08/October/339.cfm
Founders Day recognizes academic achievements, contributions http://www.ohio.edu/outlook/07-08/October/341.cfm
Published: Feb 15, 2008 01:09 PM