Three to Receive UW Honorary Degrees May 13

The University of Wyoming will confer its highest award, the honorary doctoral degree, upon a master painter and printmaker, a distinguished economist and an award-winning high school mathematics instructor during UW commencement ceremonies Saturday, May 13.

They are Harold Garde, John List and Paul Street.

“An honorary degree from the University of Wyoming recognizes excellence in individuals who embody the university’s high ideals and exemplify the values of excellence, service and integrity,” UW President Ed Seidel says. “These degrees recognize outstanding accomplishments in all professions, public service or service to humanity. These are among the highest honors a university can confer.”

UW alumni, current or former trustees, faculty, staff and students all are eligible to submit written nominations for the awards. Submissions are then referred to UW’s Joint Honorary Degree Committee, which forwards recommendations to the full UW Board of Trustees for approval.

Harold Garde

Garde was a highly regarded American painter and printmaker, best known for his contributions to the abstract expressionist movement. Born in New York City in 1923, Garde developed an early interest in art and went on to study at UW, where he received his BFA in 1949.

While at UW, he worked with a number of notable artists, including Ilya Bolotowsky, Leon Kelly and George McNeil, all of whom played a role in shaping Garde’s artistic vision and style. Later in his career, Garde’s work was recognized with the establishment of the Harold Garde Collection at UW. The collection comprises a significant body of Garde’s works, including paintings, drawings and prints, and it is a testament to the artist’s impact and influence on the American art scene.

In addition to his studies at UW, Garde pursued graduate studies in art education at Columbia University, where he worked with prominent art historians and theorists such as Meyer Schapiro and Erwin Panofsky. This period proved to be highly formative for Garde -- it helped him refine his artistic vision and solidify his place as a leading figure in the abstract expressionist movement.

Throughout his career, Garde remained committed to experimentation and exploration, producing works that challenged the boundaries of traditional painting and printmaking techniques. Today, his work is widely celebrated for its boldness, energy and innovation, and he remains an important figure in the history of American art. He died in October 2022 at the age of 99.

John List

List is the Kenneth C. Griffin Distinguished Service Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago. His research focuses on combining field experiments with economic theory to deepen the understanding of economic science.

He received his doctoral degree in economics from UW in 1996.

In the early 1990s, List pioneered field experiments as a methodology for testing behavioral theories and learning about behavioral principles that are shared across different domains. To obtain data for his field experiments, List has used several different markets, such as charitable fundraising activities, the sports trading card industry, the ride-share industry and the education sector.

The collective research has led to collaborative work with several schools and charities, and also such firms as Lyft, Uber, United Airlines, Virgin Airlines, Humana, Sears, Kmart, Facebook, Google, General Motors, Tinder, Citadel, Walmart and several nonprofits.

His research includes more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and several published textbooks. He co-wrote the international bestseller “The Why Axis” in 2013, and his latest book is titled “The Voltage Effect,” which was published early last year.

List was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2011 and a fellow of the Econometric Society in 2015. He received the 2008 Arrow Prize for Senior Economists for his research in behavioral economics; the Kenneth Galbraith Award in 2010; and was the 2012 Yrjo Jahnsson Lecture Prize recipient. He is the current editor of the Journal of Political Economy.

Paul Street

Street, a highly respected Laramie High School mathematics instructor, is a national board-certified teacher. He is regarded as an inspirational teacher, mentor, department head, coach and multicultural educator by students, teachers and administrators throughout Wyoming.

He earned a B.A., summa cum laude, in mathematics from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., and an M.S. in mathematics from UW. Street has worked in Wyoming as a mathematics instructor for 43 years, the past 39 in Laramie.

Street has dedicated his career to improving the lives of Wyoming students and has received national recognition for his outstanding work. He was awarded the Arch Coal Achievement Award in 2013 and the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program Distinguished Teacher Award in 2015 and 2022. He also has received numerous other awards, including the Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award, Laramie High School Teacher of the Year and the Wyoming Education Association Harriet Byrd Award for promoting multiculturalism, collaboration and harmony among diverse groups.

He currently teaches precalculus, advanced calculus courses and advanced placement (AP) calculus classes. He has served as an AP calculus reader -- scoring students’ AP calculus exams during the summer -- for seven years. Street also has served on the Wyoming Excellence in Mathematics Endowed Chair search committee at UW.

Street has made numerous contributions throughout his life to make Wyoming a great place to educate children, according to a nominator for UW’s honorary degree.