U-High Announces Alumni Award Winners

Date: 9/13/06
Contact: Kathy Beal

U-High will acknowledge alumni at the Alumni Awards presentation on Friday, Sept. 22, at 10 a.m. in Stroud Auditorium during the Homecoming celebration.

Carlton Gamer, Class of 1946, is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award. Gamer began studying piano and music at the age of eight, and now his music has been featured in concert halls throughout the U.S., including such prestigious venues as New York's Carnegie Recital Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. He has taught music at The Colorado College, Princeton University, the Salzburg Seminar in American Studies and the University of Michigan, and has published widely in the field of music theory.

Three alumni will receive Pioneer Hall of Fame Awards--Arthur Bonds, Class of 1960, John "Mac" Holzer, Class of 1961, and Michael Wiant, Class of 1967.

Bonds is an educator who has taught French at Kankakee Eastridge and Wheaton North high schools, serving as the chairman of the District #200 Foreign Language Topic Committee for seven years. He did graduate work in French studies and language at the University of Hawaii and the Universite Catholique de l'Quest in Anger, France.

Holzer's career has focused on technology innovation encompassing computer hardware, software, the Internet and energy. His assignment locations have included Boston; Manhattan; Bogota; Cartagena, Columbia; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Aruba, Netherlands Antilles; Miami; and Houston. Holzer and four other engineers invented and patented the world's first programmable logic controller, which has become a staple of industrial automation worldwide.

Wiant is an archeologist who has published over 80 articles and technical reports in his field. His particular interest is the history of Native American cultures in Illinois. He has served as the curator of anthropology for the Illinois State Museum, and since 2003 has been director of the Dickson Mounds Museum, which is dedicated to the history of Native American cultures in the Illinois River Valley. An adjunct assistant professor at Illinois State University, Wiant has received numerous honors and has twice served as president of the Illinois Archaeological Survey.

The Alumni Service Award goes to Su Eckert Dessa, Class of 1975, in appreciation of her active involvement and support of University High School. She has served as chair of the Alumni Awards Committee for several years and as president of the University High School Alumni Association Board.

The Friend of U-High Award will be given to Paul Baker, a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Illinois State University. For the past three years, Baker has donated his time and expertise serving as a consultant to the U-High principal and the leaders of the U-High Keystone Council on a variety of issues related to shared governance.

For the first time, the U-High Alumni Association is presenting two Honored Posthumous Alumni Awards in recognition of Adlai Stevenson I and Ralph Eugene Meatyard. Stevenson attended University High School and went on to become the governor of Illinois and a candidate for president of the U.S. Meatyard, Class of 1943, is famous for his work as a photographer. His art may be viewed at the Museum of Modern Art and the Smithsonian Institute in New York, and in the book Ralph Eugene Meatyard: The Family Album of Lucybelle Crater and Other Figurative Photographs, by James Rhem.

Following the Alumni Awards presentation and a luncheon, the honorees will speak and work with students in classes specifically related to their areas of expertise.

Homecoming Day festivities will continue with a 4:30 p.m. pre-game social at Horton Field House for all U-High Alumni and friends, and then on to the final event of the Homecoming Celebration--the football game at 7:00 p.m. at Hancock Stadium.