Founders Day

On Thursday, October 27, during the Founders Day Convocation, seven Hendrix alumni who exemplify the ideals of the Odyssey program were recognized and awarded for their achievements.

            Pamela Owen, Associate Vice President of the Office of Alumni and Constituent Engagement, explained the tradition.

            "The whole Founders Day tradition started in 2004, right about the time we announced the Odyssey program," Owen said. "Of course there had been a Founders Day since there were founders, but we incorporated the Odyssey Medals."

            Owen explained that nominations, which can be submitted by anyone, are researched by the President's Office and considered by a commission of staff, faculty, members of the Board of Trustees and alumni. The Board of Trustees makes the final selection.

            This year six alumni were selected as exemplars of the six Odyssey categories. Bill Fox, who received the award for Professional and Leadership Development in 2009 but was unable to attend the ceremony, was also honored this year.

            "All the recipients this year are pretty outstanding," Owen said.

            She explained that each recipient is presented by a current student. The Odyssey Office selects students who have conducted Odyssey projects that tie to the area in which the alumni are being awarded.

            "That just brings it home as to what the whole program is meant to be," Owen said. "The recipient is someone students can look up to in these categories."

            Bill Ragsdale, class of 1983, was presented with the Odyssey Medal for Artistic Creativity. His presenter, senior Torey Hayward, explained that Ragsdale has had a long and varied career as an artist.

He is particularly well known for playing Charlie Brewster in the original cult classic Fright Night, which was remade this summer. Ragsdale has also appeared in numerous stage, television and film productions.

"‘Friends, Romans, countryman,'" Ragsdale began his address, going on to explain that his son had told him that this was the best way to start a speech.

"I felt for the first time in my life the role that passion had to do in my education," Ragsdale said of his time at Hendrix. "…For my Odyssey award I thank you very much. I've never fought a Cyclops but I have worked for Disney. And the diversity that I learned here has helped me through life."

Senior Rob Ward presented Wendy R. Anderson, class of 1993, for the award in Global Awareness. Anderson is, as she has described it, "the number one to the number two in the Department of Defense." She received a Watson Fellowship upon graduating from Hendrix and has travelled to numerous countries to work in post-conflict reconstruction, before returning to the U.S. after September 11.

Anderson said of being the only female awardee this year, "I'm really comfortable in this environment because I spend all my days with a bunch of guys at the Pentagon."

"None of this is really about me," Anderson said. "Nor do I want it to be. It's about the many, many people, some intimate, some friends, some strangers, who helped me along the way."

Anderson added about her time at Hendrix, "It was here my path formed."

"Without Hendrix, the Watson would have never been," Anderson said. "And I have to say that my professional life in the last 20 years can be traced back to the Watson."

Senior Colin Hoy and recipient of the Goldwater Scholarship presented William Temple, class of 1973, for the award in Professional and Leadership Development.

Temple was the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Arkansas from 2002 to 2008, when he retired for a year, and then began working for the Arkansas Department of Health in 2009.

Temple explained that he learned three key skills at Hendrix. "Critical thinking, ability to identify issues, is really important in a lot of situations," Temple said. "Paying attention to details is also really important."

"It kind of takes the hard edges off," Temple said of Hendrix. "And it makes you realize everything is not black and white and that there are shades of gray in the world."

Junior Hannah McWilliams presented Ben Schumacher for the award in Research.

             Schumacher currently teaches Physics at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. Among his scientific contributions, he discovered quantum data compression and introduced the term "qubit," meaning the basic unit of quantum information.