UW College of Arts and Sciences to Honor Top Alumni and Former Faculty

May 2, 2005 -- Outstanding University of Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences alumni and former faculty members will be honored Friday, May 13, at the college's annual awards banquet.

Sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences Board of Visitors, the event, open to public, begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30 in the Wyoming Union Yellowstone Ballroom. For more information call the College of Arts and Sciences Advancement Office at (307) 766 2755, or e mail asdean@uwyo.edu.

Alumni award winners for 2005 are Jeffrey L. Cummings, M.D. (B.S. zoology and physiology, 1970); William U. Hill, Wyoming Supreme Court chief justice (B.A. English, 1970) and Martha Brown Wyrsch, CEO, Duke Energy (B.A., English, 1980).

Outstanding former faculty are: R. Owen Asplund, Department of Chemistry; Richard Evans, Department of Art; Aven Nelson (posthumous), Department of Botany; and Horace "Bill" D. Thomas (posthumous), Department of Geology and Geophysics.

Cummings graduated from the University of Washington Medical School in 1974 and entered an internship in the Yale affiliated Hartford Hospital, Hartford, Conn. After completing a neurology residency and fellowship in behavioral neurology at Boston University, he received a research fellowship in neuropsychiatry and neuropathology at the National Hospital for Nervous Disease in Queen Square, London. In 1980, Cummings joined the faculty of the University of California, Los Angeles. He received an endowed chair, becoming the Augustus S. Rose Professor of Neurology. Cummings' career is dedicated to the improved characterization and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Hill graduated from the UW College of Law in 1974. His contributions to the legal profession and the public sector include: private practice in Riverton, Cheyenne and Seattle, serving as chief of staff counsel to Sen. Malcolm Wallop; working as an assistant United States attorney, specializing in prosecuting major drug cases and violent crimes; and Wyoming attorney general under Gov. Jim Geringer. Appointed to the Wyoming Supreme Court in 1998, Hill was sworn in as chief justice in 2002.

After graduation, Wyrsch joined Sen. Alan Simpson's staff, serving as a legislative assistant, primarily focusing on transportation, public works and banking issues. She then attended George Washington University School of Law, graduating in 1986 and eight years later graduated from the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program. After practicing law with a Denver firm, she then joined KN Energy, Inc. (now known as Kinder Morgan, Inc.) in 1997 and was named vice president, general counsel and secretary. Wyrsch moved to Duke Energy Corporation in 1999, first as senior vice president and general counsel for Duke Energy Field Services in Denver and then as group vice president, general counsel, and secretary for Duke Energy Corporation, in Charlotte, N.C. Five years later she was named president and CEO of Duke Energy Gas Transmission and is responsible for the company's integrated natural gas businesses.

Asplund came to UW in 1958 and was one of two biochemists in the Department of Chemistry. His teaching and research career spanned 35 years. A dedicated educator, Asplund taught a variety of courses, including general chemistry and organic courses for non chemistry majors. He served on several departmental committees and the Faculty Senate, was an active member of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and served as president of the Wyoming Section in 1967.

Nelson is one of UW's original faculty members. He came to UW in 1887, and retired in 1942 after 55 years of service. A devoted teacher, Nelson shared his expertise with UW students, as well as the Wyoming public. As secretary of the State Board of Horticulture, Nelson wrote numerous publications geared toward the lay population. In 1893, he founded the Rocky Mountain Herbarium -- today one of the finest in the United States. Nelson served as president of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, Phi Kappa Phi, and the Botanical Society of America. Nelson also was president of UW between 1917 and 1922. Nelson's achievements led to his receiving an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Colorado and an honorary doctor of laws degree from UW.

Evans' 30 year career with the Department of Art demonstrates his passion for teaching, as well as for his own work. Well known for his nurturing attitude toward students, Evans inspired and set many students on their career paths. Several of Wyoming's public school art teachers are Evans' former students. After retiring from teaching in 1991, Evans worked in his Laramie studio -- a converted garage -- to create a new series of paintings, "Celebrations/Point-Counterpoint." He exhibited this work at the UW Art Museum last year.

Thomas was a member of UW's geology faculty beginning in 1931. He was a passionate teacher and his research on the stratigraphy of the Rocky Mountains was widely recognized among his peers. He served as the Wyoming state geologist and director of the Wyoming Geological Survey from 1941 until his death in 1967. Thomas joined the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Committee in 1958, and he was vice president of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in 1949.

Posted on Monday, May 02, 2005