During Commencement exercises May 27, President Gregorian awarded a President's Medal, the highest honor a Brown president may bestow, to Theodore R. Sizer, who will be retiring as University Professor and professor of education at Brown University, effective June 30, 1996.
The President's Medal honors a person who has achieved distinction in a particular field, including education, scholarship, public service, the arts, or philanthropy. Awarded at the president's discretion, the medal recognizes individuals for their achievements without regard to their service or relationship to Brown. It has been awardetly to philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein April 25.
Sizer, arguably the nation's leading educational reformer, is retiring from Brown to work exclusively on education reform projects. He will step down as director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, but will continue to serve as chair of the Coalition of Essential Schools, which Sizer founded in 1983. His work with the Coalition will center around an extensive schedule of school visits that will give him an opportunity to assess the state of the Coalition and its future agenda. The Coalition now includes more than 1,000 affiliated schools across the country.
Also during Commencement exercises on the College Green, Gregorian presented a plaque honoring Jack McConnell, who is retiring from Brown after nearly 30 years of service to the University. McConnell has been a key player in directing many of the behind-the-scene details of the University's special events, including 16 Commencement/Reunion weekends.
Also over Commencement/Reunion weekend, the Brown Corporation, governing body of the University, elected six new trustees.
The four new term trustees, elected May 26, are Stanley J. Bernstein '65, chairman and CEO of the Biltrite Corp., Waltham, Mass.; Thomas W. Berry '70, limited partner with Goldman Sachs & Co., New York; Ramon Cortines, of the Education Department at Stanford University; and Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, an author who earned a master's degree in English at Brown in 1974. The two new alumni/ae trustees are J. Scott Burns '69, managing partner of Brown, Rudnick, Freed & Gesmer Ltd.; and Barbara Reisman '71, executive director of the Child Care Action Campaign. The six new trustees will serve six-year terms, from 1995 through 2001.
The Corporation is composed of a 12-member Board of Fellows and a 42-member Board of Trustees, all elected by the Corporation itself. Fourteen members of the Board of Trustees are alumni/ae trustees, nominated by the Associated Alumni of Brown University and elected to office by the Corporation. The newly elected trustees will be sworn in at the next regular meeting of the Corporation in October.
The Corporation is responsible for establishing broad policies for the operation of the University, for selecting a president to carry out those policies, for appointing administrative officers and faculty members, for managing the funds and holding the real estate of the University. In addition to attending the three regular meetings of the Brown Corporation (October, February and May), trustees are normally asked to serve on one or more standing committees of the Corporation and may be asked to serve on ad hoc boards or committees established from time to time.