Alumni

JuStin KnoX, colorAdo ’95

On April 27-May 1 PBS aired a 10-part mini-series about the USS Nimitz deployment to the Persian Gulf in 2005. Justin Knox was aboard the USS Nimitz at that time as an F-18 pilot with the Marines and was profiled for the documentary.Brother Knox gave several interviews on the ship for the production, one of which was a long discussion about fraternities and his Delta Chi experience (Knox served as Chapter “A”). Major Justin Knox has served in the Marines for 12 years and began his sixth deployment this spring. During the deployment featured in CARRIER, he served as a captain and F/A-18 pilot for Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232 (VMFA-232), also known as “The Red Devils.” Currently, he is an executive officer and forward air controller, 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (1st ANGLICO).

chArleS MAnAtt ioWA StAte ’58

The Distinguished Alumni Award, established in 1961, is the highest honor given to alumni by Iowa State University through the ISU Alumni Association.

President Gregory Geoffroy, Charles Manatt, Jeff Johnson President of the Alumni Association This award honors ISU alumni who are nationally and/ or internationally recognized for preeminent contributions to their professions or life’s work.

Ambassador Charles T. Manatt (’58 rural sociology) has committed his life to serving his country and promoting the causes of justice, philanthropy, and education.

An attorney who earned his J.D. from George Washington University in 1962, Manatt is the founder of the law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. The firm started out specializing in legal services for the banking community but today has grown to offer international legal and consulting services for a variety of industries in 10 locations, including California; New York; Washington, D.C.; Mexico; and Brazil. Manatt founded First Los Angeles Bank and served as its chairman from 1973-1989. He entered politics at 15 and was chair of the California Democratic Party before being elected chair of the Democratic National Committee in 1981. In 1992, he was co-chair of the successful ClintonGore presidential campaign, and in 1999 President Clinton appointed Manatt as the U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Manatt’s distinguished career in law, business, and politics is not only highlighted by professional achievements. He has given widely of his time and talents to organizations such as the National Legal Center for Public Interest’s Board of Directors, the Mayo Clinic Foundation Board of Directors, and both of his alma maters: George Washington University and Iowa State. He recently served as chairman of George Washington’s Board of Trustees. An Emeritus Governor of the ISU Foundation, he is a national vice-chair of Iowa State’s Campaign Destiny and is now an executive committee member for Campaign Iowa State: With Pride and Purpose. Along with his wife, Kathleen (’58 home economics), longtime friend and business partner Thomas Phelps (’59 government), and Phelps’ wife, Elizabeth, Manatt established the Manatt-Phelps Lecture in Political Science at Iowa State in 2002. Manatt delivered the lecture in 2002, and since that time it has been delivered by such prominent figures as Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Ernesto Derbez (PhD ’80 economics), Sweden’s Ambassador to the United States Jan Eliasson, U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, and Fed-Ex founder and CEO Fred Smith. The lecture is annually one of the university’s most prominent academic events and has brought honor and distinction to Iowa State.

The Manatts live in Washington, D.C., and are also active in farming in Audubon and Cass Counties. They have three children: Michelle, Timothy, and Dan.

eriK WAlKer, deniSon ’08

President’s Medalists 2008: Seven Students Named as Winners of Denison’s Highest Award

On Friday, April 18, Denison University’s students, faculty, staff and trustees convened at the college’s 2008 Academic Awards Convocation in Swasey Chapel to recognize the academic achievements of its students, honor its outstanding faculty members, and present medals to seven outstanding graduating seniors. The President’s Medals were established in 1985 as Denison’s highest and most prestigious honor, recognizing students who have demonstrated not only intellectual achievement, but also have made some other significant contribution to the community in such areas as global awareness, athletic fitness, leadership and campus discourse. Presentation Remarks: “Erik, the portrait of you that emerges repeatedly in your letters of nomination exhibits commitment to excellence, perseverance, and risktaking. As a child when your family moved to Germany, you had the option of attending an English language school, but instead chose to attend a regular German school, even though you did not speak a word of the language. Four years later you were fluent, which served as the foundation for your double major in German and Political Science at Denison. But instead of basking in the satisfaction of knowing two languages, you threw yourself into a third one by attending the famously intensive language program in Mandarin Chinese at Middlebury College and continuing those studies at Denison. “A faculty member tells a story of your willingness to take risks. He