May 9, 2005

Awards presented to honor grads at Lyon commencement

Several awards were presented to graduating seniors for their academic achievements at Lyon College’s commencement Saturday. They were:

The Charles H. Coffin Medal (the highest academic award) – Justin Holt, a biology and English major from Greers Ferry. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse W. Holt of Greers Ferry.

Established as a memorial to Dr. Coffin by a former classmate of his at Lyon, the Coffin Scholarship Medal is the highest academic honor bestowed on a graduating senior, and is awarded each year to an honor graduate who has taken his or her last three years of work at the College as a regular student.

The Dr. and Mrs. John D. Spragins Memorial Award – Braye Cloud, a French, history, and religion and philosophy major, from North Little Rock. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Greg Cloud of North Little Rock.

The Spragins Award was established by the Board of Trustees in honor of a former president of Lyon and his wife. It is given annually to a member of the graduating class who best represents the ideals of the college.

The Mosley Fellowship – Rachel Sauser, a biology major from Bono. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Tony Sauser of Bono.

The Mosley Fellowship is named in memory of Dr. Ellis G. Mosley, a former professor of religion at Lyon, and Mrs. Mary Newton Mosley. It is intended for use in graduate school and is awarded annually to a member of the graduating class whose academic record and promise of future service are deemed outstanding by the faculty.

The Dr. Samuel W. Williams Fellowship – Patrick McLauren, a chemistry major from Lubbock, Texas. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Hilton L. McLauren of Lubbock.

The Williams Fellowship was established by the Board of Trustees in honor of Dr. Williams’s service to Lyon as a dean and professor. It is intended for use in graduate school and is awarded annually to a member of the graduating class whose academic record and promise of future service are deemed outstanding by the faculty.

The John T. Dahlquist Scholar-Athlete Award – Jennifer Steele, a biology major from Newark. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Steele of Newark.

The Dahlquist Award is given each year to the graduating senior student-athlete with the highest grade point average. The award is given in honor of John Dahlquist, a former dean of faculty at the college, and his wife, Diana. A general stipend is received upon the recipient entering graduate school.

The Seibert Fellowship – Rebecca Sharp, an English major from Evening Shade. She is the daughter of Janelle Elliott of Batesville and Larry Sharp of Evening Shade.

The Seibert Fellowship was established by the Board of Trustees in honor of Daniel Seibert, a former professor of education and psychology at Lyon. It is intended for use in graduate school and is awarded annually to a member of the graduating class whose academic record and promise of future service are deemed outstanding by the faculty, and whose major field is one in which Professor Seibert taught.

The Lester Fellowship – Amy Schmidt, an English major from Jonesboro. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Schmidt of Jonesboro.

The Lester Fellowship was established by the Board of Trustees in honor of Dr. Margaret Pruden Lester, a former professor of history at Lyon. It is intended for use in graduate school and is awarded annually to a member of the graduating class whose academic record and promise of future service are deemed outstanding by the faculty.

The Class of 1994 Award – Laura Lofton, a psychology major from Hughes. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Lofton of Hughes.

The Class of 1994 Award was established by that class to recognize a graduating senior whose achievements warrant distinction.

Click here to view the complete list of Lyon College 2005 graduates
 

Roulier awarded top teaching prize at Lyon College

Dr. Scott Roulier, associate professor of political science at Lyon College, has been awarded the 2005-06 Lamar Williamson Prize for Excellence in Teaching. The award was announced at the college’s commencement exercises Saturday.

The Williamson Prize is given annually by Lyon College to the faculty member deemed to be the most outstanding in four categories: professional competence, scholarly ability, exemplary humane and Christian values, and contributions to the community.

“Lyon has afforded me the opportunity to work with some exceptional students and colleagues,” Dr. Roulier said. “I am very honored, especially considering the number of other deserving faculty, to receive the Williamson Prize.”

Dr. Roulier is the 26th Lyon professor to receive the Williamson Prize, which was established in 1979 by the Lyon Board of Trustees in memory of Lamar Williamson (1887-1974) of Monticello, Ark. A distinguished lawyer, businessman and civic and Presbyterian Church leader, Williamson attended Lyon College from 1901-1903 and remained a friend of the college throughout his life.

Dr. Roulier joined the Lyon College faculty in 2000. He teaches courses ranging from U.S. Government and Politics to Citizenship, Civility, and Civil Society; and his students give him glowing reviews. A student in his entry-level class characterized him as “one of the most enthusiastic teachers I have ever had . . .” Another comments that he is “. . . always available. He offers lots of help outside of the classroom . . .”  Still another terms him a “wonderful instructor. He is energetic and enthusiastic about the lessons.”

He currently serves as faculty adviser for the Lyon Moot Court Team and leads a pre-law student organization. He has led Lyon’s campus-wide Service Day in which students, faculty, and staff annually contribute hundreds of hours of service to local, not-for-profit, volunteer groups, and friends. He inspired the creation of Lyon’s Office of Volunteer Education, a student-led clearinghouse that pairs service-oriented students with community opportunities.

He was chosen Lyon College Alpha Chi Professor the Year in 2002-2003 and the Lyon College Lambda-Iota Chapter of Kappa Sigma Professor of the Year in 2001-2002.

He holds a Ph.D. and an M.A., both from the University of Virginia, and a B.A. from the University of Denver. Before coming to Lyon, Dr. Roulier taught at Dowling College in New York, where he won the Pride Award for Distinguished Teaching. His areas of scholarship are political philosophy and constitutional law.

He has authored a book, “Kantian Virtue at the Intersection of Politics and Nature: the Vale of Soul-Making,” published in 2004 by the University of Rochester Press. He has published several articles in scholarly journals and presented papers and lectures at numerous professional conferences.

Dr. Roulier is a worship leader at Fellowship Bible Church of Batesville. A native of Loveland, Colorado, he is married to Julie Roulier, M.D., and they have two sons, Sean and Peter.

The Williamson Prize confers upon the recipient a silver cup and a stipend from a memorial fund, both of which were given by J. Gaston Williamson of Little Rock in honor of his father. The award is announced at commencement each May. The winner of the prize presents a public lecture at a convocation the following academic year.

Nominations for the Williamson Prize are solicited from faculty and students in March, and are reviewed in the spring by a selection committee composed of faculty, staff and students. The Lyon Board of Trustees approves the committee’s recommendation at its April meeting.

Oliver Lecture to be held May 15

The Rev. Dr. Bob Lively of Dallas, Texas, will present the Charles R. Oliver Memorial Lecture at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 15, at First Presbyterian Church in Batesville.

The Charles Oliver Lecture Series Trust was established in 1991 to endow a series of interdenominational lectures on prayer and spiritual life to be held in conjunction with Holy Week. The Rev. Dr. Charles R. Oliver Jr. was a friend and supporter of First Presbyterian Church in Batesville and a professor of language and literature at Lyon College. He died in 1989.

Dr. Lively, who was the first campus minister at Lyon College (then Arkansas College) in the 1970s, will present a 45-minute lecture lifted from his yet-to-be-published book, “Becoming a New Creation – Living Consciously.” Dr. Lively said his presentation “will focus on the power of the daily discipline of contemplative prayer to liberate the soul from a life of anxiety and to free the human psyche from bondage to its attachment to the false images of the homemade self.”

Dr. Lively is a native Texan and a product of the Dallas Public Schools. He graduated from Austin College in Sherman, Texas, where 17 years later he was named Distinguished Alumnus. He holds two degrees from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and as an ordained Presbyterian Minister (PCUSA) is certified as a Fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. He is the co-founder of the Community Ministry program of the First Presbyterian Church of Dallas, which includes the Stewpot Soup Kitchen, the Austin Street Homeless Shelter and Genesis House (battered women’s) Shelter.

He is the author of nine books, an award-winning short-story writer, and for the past 16 years has written a regular column in the Austin American-Statesman.  He has served the church as a campus minister, activist, adjunct seminary professor and counselor. His hobby is fishing and last year he caught his biggest fish ever, a 12-pound large mouth bass.

His wife, Mary Lynn, is an associate dean at the University of Texas in the School of Information, and they are the parents of one grown daughter, Sarah Alice, who is also in the employ of the University.