{"id":116714,"date":"2018-06-15T11:36:16","date_gmt":"2018-06-15T15:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=116714"},"modified":"2018-08-29T13:20:38","modified_gmt":"2018-08-29T17:20:38","slug":"alumni-faculty-recognized-during-reunion-for-service-advocacy-and-scientific-achievement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2018\/06\/15\/alumni-faculty-recognized-during-reunion-for-service-advocacy-and-scientific-achievement\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni, faculty recognized during Reunion for service, advocacy, and scientific achievement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two Bates alumni and two members of the faculty received awards during Reunion Weekend, including James Owens \u201987, who received the Benjamin E. Mays Medal for his contributions to literacy around the world.<\/p>\n

The Mays Medal, the Alumni Association’s highest award, honors an alumnus or alumna who has \u201cperformed distinguished service to the worldwide community and been\u00a0deemed a Bates College graduate of outstanding accomplishment.\u201d<\/p>\n

James Owens \u201987: Benjamin E. Mays Medal<\/h3>\n

The\u00a0citation for Owens\u2018 award<\/a>\u00a0reads, in part:<\/p>\n

Published in 2017,\u00a0The World Is Just a Book Away\u00a0<\/i>weaves together the unique stories of 60 contributors \u2014 from Nobel laureates to actors, humanitarians, and many more \u2014 who at first glance have little in common. But as James skillfully demonstrates, these prominent people all share something important: Their lives have been influenced by a love of books and reading.<\/p>\n

It was during this passion project that James was inspired to not only write about the power of literacy, but also to physically deliver it to those who need it most…. In the nine years since its inception, The World Is Just a Book Away has built 90 libraries, three of which are mobile. At one site in Indonesia, books are delivered by horseback to 10 remote schools atop a volcano. This revolutionary approach is effecting meaningful change within some of the world\u2019s most vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

James Owens \u201987, recipient of the Benjamin E. Mays Medal, poses with Bates College President Clayton Spencer. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Dr. Louis Weinstein \u201968: Sesquicentennial Award<\/h3>\n

The Sesquicentennial Award honors an alumnus or alumni for \u201ca single academic, artistic, or scientific achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The citation for Weinstein\u2019s award<\/a> reads, in part:<\/p>\n

Louis\u2019 remarkable work resulting in the discovery of a severe form of preeclampsia has been cited as one of the\u00a010 most important publications in the field of obstetrics in the 20th\u00a0century. He was a young doctor serving his fellowship in 1979 when Louis experienced his first pre-natal maternal death of a patient\u00a0\u2014 an experience that would alter the course of his career….<\/p>\n

Guided by the methods of scientific inquiry he learned at Bates, Louis sought to explore this often missed or misdiagnosed ailment. He spent the next two years studying similar cases and providing medical care to women exhibiting related symptoms.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Bates College President Clayton Spencer shakes the hand of Dr. Louis Weinstein \u201968, recipient of the Sesquicentennial Award. (Theophil Syslo\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Georgia Nigro and Rob Farnsworth: Distinguished Service Awards<\/h3>\n

Presented by the College Key, the Distinguished Service Award recognizes \u201dthe dedication and excellence offered to the college by truly distinguished members of the faculty and staff.\u201d The citation for Professor of Psychology Georgia Nigro’s award reads, in part:<\/p>\n

As an alumna noted, \u201cShe is an amazing teacher and role model.” Georgia is a developmental psychologist by training whose work inspires students to think about what they can bring to relationships with community partners, not just what they can get out of the relationship. She holds students to a high standard and engages them at the highest intellectual level.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Senior Lecturer in English Rob Farnsworth and Professor of Psychology Georgia Nigro, who are married, receive Distinguished Service Awards from the College Key. (Andree Kehn for Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n

The citation for Senior Lecturer in English Rob Farnsworth, who retired\u00a0 from the faculty in 2018 after 26 years, reads, in part:<\/p>\n

Students describe him as \u201ca titan of the abstract and the concrete\u201d and as a \u201cwise sage.\u201d \u201cHow stupid of me not to take more of his classes!\u201d one exclaims. They speak of his brilliance and humility; his \u201cfaith in poetry and people;\u201d his generosity as a reader of their work. \u201cProfessor Farnsworth…opened a door of joyful sound and allowed us all to walk freely through it,\u201d as one remembers it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Owens \u201987 received the Benjamin E. Mays Medal, the Alumni Association’s highest award, for his dedication to education and literacy around the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1005,"featured_media":116726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[7,11011,162],"tags":[2429,7442],"class_list":["post-116714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-awards","category-health-medicine","tag-college-key","tag-reunion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1005"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116714"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118065,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116714\/revisions\/118065"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}