2006 MEDALIST PREVIEW
Teachers College will award nine Medals for Distinguished Service at two master's degree ceremonies on May 16, and the Cleveland A. Dodge Medal for Distinguished Service to Education at the doctoral ceremony on May 18. The recipients hail from the fields of philanthropy, medicine, journalism, government, academia and entertainment.
The recipient of the Cleveland E. Dodge Medal for Distinguished Service to Education is Robert Rubin, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Citigroup Inc. As Secretary of the Treasury under President Clinton, Rubin helped balance the federal budget, open trade policy to further globalization, resolve fiscal crises in Mexico, Russia and Asia, and win Most Favored Nation trading status for China. In the private sector, he has served as co-chair of Goldman Sachs, chairman of the executive committee of CitiGroup and board member of the Ford Motor Company. He is the author of In an Uncertain World: Tough Choices from Wall Street to Washington; Vice Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations; and Chairman of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, the nation's leading community development support organization, which funds charter and alternative school facilities for underserved children nationwide.
Receiving the TC Medal for Distinguished Service are:
- Dr. William G. Bowen, President, Andrew Mellon Foundation. In addition to having served for 16 years as President of Princeton University, Bowen co-authored, with Derek Bok, the groundbreaking book The Shape of the River.
- Dr. Benjamin Carson, pediatric neurosurgeon, the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. He led the 22-hour surgery that separated the Binder twins, who were conjoined at the head.
- K. Patricia Cross, Professor of Higher Education, Emerita, The University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Education. A trail-blazer in the community college movement and adult education, her monograph series, The Cross Papers, has served as an especially valuable resource for those in administrative and teaching roles in those fields. She has funded the K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award.
- David Halberstam, journalist, author and social historian. First recognized for his coverage of the Emmett Till murder case, he is the author of The Best and the Brightest, on the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations and the Vietnam War, and The Powers That Be, on the evolution of television.
- Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County. A Ph.D. recipient at age 24, he created the innovative Meyerhoff Program-'"hailed as a national model by Dr. Rita Colwell of the National Science Foundation-'" which transformed UMBC into the nation's leading producer of black math and science Ph.D.s.
- Thomas Kean, former Governor of New Jersey and chair of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. A TC alumnus and trustee emeritus, Kean increased school spending during his two terms as New Jersey's chief executive and created report cards for teachers. He served as President of Drew University for 16 years.
- Frances Hesselbein, founder and guiding spirit of the Leader to Leader Institute, which promotes excellence and ethical conduct among institutions in the private, non-profit and government sectors. She is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- New York Congressman Charles B. Rangel, the senior member of the New York State delegation and the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee. Rangel has authored or co-authored landmark legislation to revitalize urban neighborhoods nationwide, finance affordable housing and provide jobs to underprivileged workers.
- Dr. Ruth Westheimer, sex therapist and talk show personality extraordinaire. A former refugee from Nazi Germany, and a one-time freedom fighter for Israeli independence, Dr. Ruth is both a TC alumna and mother of a TC alumna. She established TC's Dr. Ruth Westheimer Scholarship Fund.
Published Monday, Apr. 24, 2006
