president’s awards ceremony
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1. Roger Phillips ’53 2. Nicholas T. Ktistakis ’83 3. Ashim Ahluwalia ’95 4. José A. Aponte ’73 5. Mona Simpson 6. John B. Ferguson 7. William Griffith 8. Jane Hryshko 9. Jane Terney Korn
Roger Phillips ’53 received the Bard Medal, the Bard–St. Stephen’s Alumni/ae Association’s highest award. A sculptor whose work is widely exhibited (one of his works stands outside Bertelsmann Campus Center) and insurance entrepreneur, Phillips was honored for embodying the principles that Bard espouses. Three generations of the Phillips family have attended Bard. Nicholas T. Ktistakis ’83, a group leader at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, England, studies proteins that play a critical role in controlling communication between and within cells. He accepted the John and Samuel Bard Award in Medicine and Science, saying, “My understanding of a liberal arts education is that it is rigorous and pays attention to the complexities.” The Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters went to Ashim Ahluwalia ’95, a filmmaker who has won numerous accolades for his features, which show unseen segments of society in the Indian subcontinent. Studying film at Bard, he said, “opened my eyes to the possibilities of film, and that changed my life.” He quoted the late Adolfas Mekas, professor emeritus of film and electronic arts: “Don’t talk about it; just shoot it.” José A. Aponte ’73 stepped to the podium and sang “Looky Looky Yonder,” a traditional African American work song, before receiving the John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service. Director of the sprawling San Diego County Library System, Aponte has instituted free financial clinics and other aids for county residents. “At Bard I worked with artists and scientists, so now I can work with cops and politicians with the best of them,” he said. Novelist Mona Simpson, Sadie Samuelson Levy Professor in Languages and Literature, was honored with the Mary McCarthy Award, given in recognition of engagement in the public sphere by an intellectual, artist, or writer. Simpson, who has won a Guggenheim Fellowship, among other awards, said she is “sustained by the world-class quality of my colleagues” and added, “This prize means more to me than any other prize has or could.” Four retiring Bardians received the Bardian Award, the Bard–St. Stephen’s Alumni/ae Association’s recognition of longtime members of the Bard community. John B. Ferguson, professor of biology, was lauded as a dedicated teacher during his 36 years and for pioneering the biology curriculum at Bard. “Ferg” called the expansion of the Biology Program “a whole new world.” Professor of Philosophy William Griffith, retiring after 45 years, said, “I hit the jackpot. . . . Teaching has never been boring, for each group of students presents a fresh challenge.” Jane Hryshko, associate librarian at the Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Library, spent 36 years at Bard. Trustee and Chair Emeritus David E. Schwab II ’52 said Hryshko had “done much to create a solid foundation for our faculty and our students,” to which Hryshko replied, “Board of Trustees, we need a new wing.” Jane Terney Korn, retiring director of the Abigail Lundquist Botstein Nursery School, noted that some of her former students, now grown, were in attendance at the ceremony. “I’m very honored and humbled by this,” she said of the award for her 27-year tenure.
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photos Karl Rabe
153rd commencement
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