Faculty Honored for Distinguished Service

December 13, 2000

Four faculty members at Indiana State University have received the 2000 President’s Medal in recognition of exemplary performance. They are: P.G. Aaron, professor of educational psychology; Ronald L. Baker, professor and chairperson of the department of English; Gerald Cockrell, professor of electronics and computer technology; and Constance H. McLaren, professor of decision sciences and coordinator of the quality and decision sciences program.

ISU President Lloyd W. Benjamin III presented the awards at the fifth annual Faculty Honors Banquet in November.

Constance McLaren, a professor of decision sciences and coordinator of the quality and decision sciences program, has been at ISU since 1979. A participant in the Course Transformation Academy and the Lilly Project First-Year Learning Communities Group, she has assisted in development and delivery of courses for distance learning. She has also developed first-year experience courses for business majors.

McLaren has published research including textbooks, study guides, test banks and publications, and has been a recipient of the School of Business Excellence in Teaching Award in 1994 and ISU’s Caleb Mills Distinguished Teaching Award in 1997. She has served on numerous committees at ISU, including the North Central Association Accreditation Committee, the Caleb Mills Distinguished Teaching Award Selection Committee, and the Center for Teaching and Learning Advisory Board.

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Administrators Honored for Distinguished Service

December 13, 2000

Five executive, administrative and professional (EAP) staff members were awarded with the University Medallion at the EAP Honors Banquet Nov. 16.

Those honored for their loyalty and dedication to the university were:  Linda Eldred, associate director of Student Life Programs; Jeff Jacso, director of financial accounting; Bob Murray, associate vice president for administration and risk management; John Newton, executive director of Alumni Affairs; and David Ridenour, registrar.

Jeff Jacso, a graduate of ISU, began working for his alma mater in 1985 as a staff accountant. He has gradually moved up the ranks to senior accountant, chief accountant and now, director of financial accounting.

He and his staff were successful in planning for and implementing the conversion of the financial systems to BANNER and in implementing the recent upgrade of that system. His office serves as a resource to other offices, as the accounting staff have worked closely with other units on campus during the BANNER conversion, in moving the administrative functions of DegreeLink into the mainstream system and most recently, in providing more accountability in travel expenditures.

He also has shown dedication in working with the international student population on campus.  Understanding how impenetrable the labyrinth of rules and regulations associated with federal tax reporting and filing can be, especially for international students, he initiated a program to help them with these obligations.

Active also in the community, he serves as treasurer of the Terre Haute North Vigo High School Booster Club and treasurer  and coach of Terre Haute Miss Softball America.

Born in Kokomo, Bob Murray earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration from Indiana State in 1963. After graduation, he worked as a senior accountant with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell and Co. out of Indianapolis for four years prior to returning to work at his alma mater in 1967 as vice president and treasurer in the office of University Properties and Planning.

In 1992, he became assistant vice president for Properties, Planning and Risk Management, and, in 1998, was named associate vice president for Administration and Risk Management.

During his years at ISU, he played a lead role in the development of the campus master plan and has been responsible for the acquisition of more than 300 individual properties within or adjacent to campus boundaries. 

Murray, 62, is a firm believer in giving back to his community and university. He has a long-standing commitment to the Boys and Girls Club, serving most recently as president of its board of directors. He also worked for many years with the United Way and has served on its board and allocations committee. 

In 1998, he was recognized for his community activities when he received the Terre Award from the Greater Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce.

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Volunteers Honored for Distinguished Service

December 13, 2000

Three Indiana State University volunteers and a Valparaiso-based foundation were recognized for their dedicated service to ISU and presented with Distinguished Volunteer Service Awards during the university’s seventh annual Volunteer Recognition Banquet Nov. 17.

Those honored at this year’s banquet included Donald W. Buttrey, a member of ISU’s Board of Trustees from 1992-2000; Charlotte Zietlow, president of ISU’s Board of Trustees since 1997; John and Marilyn Siebert Thyen, graduates of Indiana State and promoters of the university’s efforts in and around Jasper, Ind.; and the John W. Anderson Foundation of Valparaiso, Ind.

Created in 1994, the Distinguished Volunteer Service Award is the highest honor the university bestows on its volunteers. Past recipients have included:  Jerry and Jo Einstandig, Michael Alley, John P. Stelle, Wilburn Smith, Welby and Frances Frantz, Timothy O’Neill, Mark Blade, Ralph and Julie Cutter, Maurice Modesitt, Chuck Willis, Dixie Brown and Leadership Terre Haute, Spiro "Bud" Mitsos and former ISU President John W. Moore.

Donald W. Buttrey’s ties to Indiana State University extend back to the 1950s when he earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration in 1956 from the then Indiana State Teachers College.  He was a member of the University’s Board of Trustees from 1992 to 2000 and recently served as the Board’s vice president.  Currently he is an honorary life member of the ISU Foundation Board.

After completing his bachelor’s degree at Indiana State, Buttrey continued his education at Indiana University where he earned the juris doctor degree in 1961.  A practicing attorney in Indianapolis, he is president of McHale, Cook and Welch law firm.

Admitted to the practice of law before the Indiana Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court and the United States Tax Court, he is a member of the Indiana State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Indianapolis Bar Association.  Buttrey has served as president of the latter association, on the Board of Governors of the Indiana State Bar Association, and on the Taxation Section regional committee of the American Bar Association. He is also a fellow of all three organizations. His legal expertise has been recognized by his selection to Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law and as one of the Best Lawyers in America. In October 1999, the Indianapolis Bar Association selected him as the recipient of the Honorable Paul H. Buchanan, Jr. Award, and in May 2000, ISU honored him with the William Albert Jones Medal.

Buttrey is actively involved in the Indianapolis community where he serves on the Board of Directors of the Indianapolis Athletic Club and was president of its Arts Foundation, was a member of the Judicial Nominating Committee for the Marion County municipal court, and has been involved with the Contemporary Art Society of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. He is also a member of Theta Chi fraternity, Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity, the Skyline Club, and the Second Presbyterian Church.

Donald and his wife, Karen Lake Buttrey, have three sons -- Greg, Alan and Jason.

John T. and Marilyn A. Siebert Thyen have been actively involved in supporting Indiana State University for many years. As graduates of Indiana State, their loyalty to their alma mater has lasted almost four decades. John received his bachelor of science degree in business administration from ISU in 1962, and Marilyn earned a bachelor of science degree in elementary education in 1964.

John is currently senior executive vice president of Kimball International, Inc.  Marilyn previously worked as an elementary school teacher but later chose to become a housewife and mother to the couple’s two children, Phil and Maria.

The Thyens have personally supported the University’s recruitment and development efforts in the Jasper area by hosting receptions for the Alumni, Development and Admissions offices. They also have been active in the promotion of the university to young people in Jasper, opening their home for Sycamore Send-Offs, a program for area students leaving to attend Indiana State. John has also served on the ISU Foundation Board as a member of its Development and Athletics Development committees, and was instrumental in rebuilding ISU’s Dubois County Alumni Club. He also serves as a member of the Continuing the Legacy Steering Committee (the University’s 2000-2001 fundraising campaign for athletics).

Philanthropically, the Thyens have given their support to ISU through both personal donations and the acquisition of gifts from Kimball International, Inc. Some of those gifts have included donations of furniture to the University, including performance quality pianos,  and support of the President’s Scholars Golf Outing and of ISU’s academic and athletic programs.

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2000 Ronald E. McNair Scholars

October 16, 2000

2000 Ronald E. McNair Scholars at ISU — this is the first class of McNair Scholars at Indiana State. Seven of the 19 are from Terre Haute. The Ronald McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Project is funded through the U.S. Department of Education and is designed to increase the number of low-income, first-generation and under-represented minority college students who pursue and complete their doctoral degrees. The project's long-range mission is to help increase diversity among college and university faculties.

Ronald Ervin McNair was the second African American to fly in space (aboard space shuttle Challenger). To be eligible, students must be a full-time undergraduate student at ISU with at least a sophomore standing and have a cumulative GPA that is competitive for entry into graduate school. The following Terre Haute business student is being paired with an ISU faculty member and are working on research projects - Edward Pleasants, Business Admin., Dr. Constance McLaren (Ext. 2282),
"Creating a Statistical Model to Assess Pre-Business students understanding of statistics"

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Mike Alley to Receive Distinguished Alumni Award

October 10, 2000

Mike Alley has been chosen to receive Indiana State University’s Distinguished Alumni Award during the 84th Annual Homecoming celebration Oct. 20-21.

Mike Alley, president and CEO of Fifth Third Bank of Indiana, was a magna cum laude graduate from ISU in 1978 with a degree in accounting. He currently serves on the boards of Crossroads of America Council of the Boy Scouts of America, Community Hospitals of Indianapolis, Community Hospitals Foundation, Indiana State University Foundation, International Center of Indianapolis, Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, Indianapolis Economic Development Corporation, Indianapolis Private Industry Council, Indianapolis Zoological Society, 500 Festivals Committee and United Way of Central Indiana. He is also a member of the American Institute of Public Accountants and the Indiana Society of CPAs.

Alley is a past recipient of ISU’s Distinguished Service Award and the HOPE Award from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. He has also been recognized annually in the Indianapolis Business Journal’s “Who’s Who in Banking” industry review, and has earned IBJ’s 2000 Michael A. Carroll Award for community service.

Other recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award this year are Alan R. Barcus, (1960), composer, lyricist and president of Barcus Enterprises, Inc., in Chicago; Kathryn Politz, (1970, ’88), of Terre Haute, who was Indiana’s Teacher of the Year for 1999; and James W. Thomas, (1973), of Chapel Hill, N.C., who is director of the Global Services Division of IBM.

The outstanding alumni will be honored during ISU’s Distinguished Alumni Award banquet Friday, Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in Dede I of the Hulman Memorial Student Union. The annual banquet honors alumni who are committed to the university and to the communities in which they live.

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Business Alumni to be Honored

October 2, 2000

Five outstanding alumni will be honored during ISU’s Distinguished Alumni Award banquet at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 20 in Dede I of the Hulman Memorial Student Union. The annual banquet honors alumni who are committed to the university and to the communities in which they live. Among the honorees were two business alumni. Mike Alley and Alan Barcus.

Michael Alley, president and CEO of Fifth Third Bank of Indiana, joined the Cincinnati-based company 15 years ago. Four years later, he returned to his home state of Indiana to coordinate the acquisition of New Palestine Bank, a small institution with about $45 million in assets. Since Alley joined Indiana’s Fifth Third team, the bank has become the fourth-largest bank in Indianapolis and the third largest in central Indiana.

For three years after graduation, he worked for KPMG Peat Marwick in its Cincinnati office and later served as vice president of commercial lending at Bank of America in Austin, Texas. In 1985, he joined Fifth Third Bank as vice president and "regional president" for the Dayton, Ohio market.

A dedicated and hard working volunteer, Alley serves on the boards of Crossroads of America Council of the Boy Scouts of America, Community Hospitals of Indianapolis, Community Hospitals Foundation, Indiana State University Foundation, International Center of Indianapolis, Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, Indianapolis Economic Development Corporation, Indianapolis Private Industry Council, Indianapolis Zoological Society, 500 Festivals Committee and United Way of Central Indiana. 

A past recipient of ISU’s Distinguished Service Award, Alley also has received the HOPE Award from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. He has been recognized annually in the Indianapolis Business Journal’s "Who’s Who in Banking" industry review and recently was awarded IBJ’s 2000 Michael A. Carroll Award for community service.

Alley and his wife, Amy Beasley Alley, have a teen-age daughter, Amanda, and reside in Carmel.

President of Barcus Enterprises, Inc., Alan Barcus has spent the last 30 years of his life composing music and writing lyrics. In fact, some of his most recognizable work has been heard on television in between segments of the Sunday night movie.

Barcus has had his hand in more than 2,600 TV commercials, including some for heavyweight advertisers like McDonald’s, United Airlines, Kellogg’s, State Farm Insurance, Kraft, Pepsi, KFC, Ford, Dairy Queen and countless others.

He also has composed and written lyrics for songs recorded by well-known artists like Richard Marx, Peggy Lee, Pearl Bailey, The Fifth Dimension and Roberta Flack.

Born in LaPorte, Ind., he earned his bachelor’s degree in business in 1959 and his master’s in business education in 1960, both from Indiana State. While at ISU, Barcus served as captain of the cross-country and track teams and once held nine distance records for the Sycamores. He also was named Outstanding Athlete his senior year. Last year, he was inducted into the university’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

He taught business and served as varsity track and cross-country coach at Brazil High School after graduation from ISU until 1969. During his tenure at Brazil, the school produced an impressive number of championship track and cross-country teams.

Barcus, 63, is involved in Masters Basketball, a national network of teams composed of men over 50. His team won the World Games Championship in 1994, 1997 and 1998, was a National AAU semifinalist in each of the last five years and a silver medalist in 1998. They also won Senior Olympics gold and silver medals in Orlando last year. 

Barcus was selected for Team USA in the International Games in Helsinki, Finland in 1997 (earned gold medal) and has a preliminary invitation for Team USA in the 2001 Games in Australia.

Married to the former Ann Marshall (ISU BS ’63, MS ’69), they have a daughter, Katy, and two grandchildren, Sam and Grace. They reside in LaPorte.

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