UA Announces Premier Award Recipients

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama has announced the top individual award recipients for scholarship, leadership and service to the University for 2002.

UA President Andrew Sorensen announced the honors at the Presidential Awards Dinner held Feb. 23 at NorthRiver Yacht Club at 6:30 p.m. in Tuscaloosa. The recipients will also be recognized during UA Honors Week in an awards ceremony Friday, April 12.

This year one of the four honors — The Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award — recognizes two students and a non-student. The Morris Lehman Mayer Award, the William P. Bloom Scholarship Award and the John Fraser Ramsey Award recognize top students at the University. All recipients have made significant contributions to UA.

The Morris Lehman Mayer Award is named in honor of Morris Lehman Mayer, business professor emeritus. For three decades, Mayer was a beloved UA teacher and a guiding force in student life. The award recognizes one member of the graduating class who exemplifies integrity, selfless service and leadership at UA and in the community along with making significant contributions to student life.

Andrew “Drew” Maddox Thornley of Jasper received the Mayer Award as the graduating recipient. Thornley has earned a 4.0 grade point average in his economics major, and history and general business minors, while making the time to commit himself to an impressive schedule of extracurricular activities. Whether introducing prospective students to the University as president of the Capstone Men and Women, presiding over the “opposite ends” of The Other Club, or serving as president of the Anderson Society, Thornley uses his diverse talents in service to the University and the community. Thornley’s teaching, both as an economics tutor and an undergraduate lab instructor in economics, has motivated students to persevere in their studies. “He is truly a mentor to our younger students as well as a model for his peers,” a nominator said. In the past, Thornley has received the University’s Outstanding Junior, Sophomore and Freshman awards and is a member of the Blackburn Institute and Jasons. He volunteers at The Stallings Center and at both Matthews and Verner Elementary Schools.

In his hometown of Jasper, Thornley began the Student Ambassador Program to better assist freshmen in adjusting to high school.

This year’s Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award is presented to one man and one woman of the graduating class and one non-student who has been helpful to, and associated with, the University. The Sullivan Award recognizes excellence of character and service to humanity.

Student winners of this year’s Sullivan Award are James Frank Ford of Auburn and Lisa Somerville Jones of Fort Payne.

James “Jim” Frank Ford, last year’s recipient of the William P. Bloom Scholarship Award, has maintained a 4.0 grade point average while majoring in finance- investment management and minoring in the Computer-Based Honors Program, history and economics. In addition to his impressive academic accomplishments, Ford serves as a volunteer in his community. He created the BamaAndMexicoAlliance (BAMA), and volunteers with the RISE program, the Morningside Assisted Living Home, the Veteran’s Administration Hospital and is the president of Campus Crusade for Christ at UA. “These are activities of his that receive no publicity, no fanfare and truly come from his heart,” a nominator said. In addition to his leadership roles with BAMA and Campus Crusade, Ford is the president of Mortar Board, a senior academic and leadership honorary, and was a member of Capstone Men and Women in 2000-01.

Lisa Somerville Jones of Fort Payne has maintained a 4.0 grade point average in biology/pre-dental and general business while also being dedicated to a spectrum of service. “This university and those with whom she has worked count her as a colleague and friend and have been bettered by her exemplary example of character and leadership,” a nominator said. Jones has held many leadership positions in her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega, including risk management chair and secretary. She was also selected as a College of Arts and Sciences Ambassador. She is the president of Omicron Delta Kappa, a leadership honor society, and is president of Phi Delta Sigma, the pre-dental society. Jones served as the vice-chairman of UA’s 2001 homecoming committee and is vice chair of the Student Government Association’s campus safety committee. She is also an Athletic Hostess and a member of the Anderson Society and the Order of Omega. Jones is currently serving as an orthodontic assistant and intern to a local dentist.

Dr. Gary April received the Sullivan Award as a non-student honoree. As chair of UA’s chemical engineering department and a distinguished University Research Professor, April’s commitment “to his colleagues, to the department of chemical engineering, to the College of Engineering and to the University exemplify this award. In fact, this commitment is exceeded only by his dedication to his students – to both their personal and professional growth,” a nominator said.

Since 1996, when he was selected as head of the department, April has been instrumental in recruiting and hiring several exceptional junior faculty members and has led the substantial strengthening of the department’s graduate programs.

April has also been extremely effective in development activities, such as securing hundreds of thousands of dollars in commitments to programs like undergraduate scholarships and recruiting high school students to the University. “Professor April displays every day the excellence of character and noble ideals of the professorate that we all strive for but seldom achieve,” a nominator said.

The John Fraser Ramsey Award, named in honor of the late University history professor emeritus, recognizes in a junior the versatility of gifts and attainments, as well as the breadth of excellence in mind and character, that have traditionally been the goals of a liberal education.

The recipient of the Ramsey Award is Andrew Christopher Todd of Piedmont. “He is currently earning the highest grade in the class, his first paper showing remarkable erudition and understanding for such a young man. He seems equally at home whether discussing legal philosophy, political philosophy, English or French history or the American founding… he is the sort of student who can encourage others to push themselves further, and he is thus a clear asset in class,” wrote one of Todd’s award nominators. Todd holds a 3.9 grade point average in his history major and French minor. He is the president of the College of Arts and Sciences Ambassadors, vice president of Alpha Lambda Delta, president of the Parker-Adams Hall Council and is a member of The Other Club and the Blount Undergraduate Initiative.

The William P. Bloom Scholarship Award honors a junior who has improved intergroup relations within the University community; this year’s recipient is Kana Anne Ellis of Northport.

Ellis, a psychology major who has earned a 3.94 grade point average, developed “Alabama Action,” a program that introduces honors freshmen to a university setting before the start of school in the context of service learning. This year, Alabama Action took freshmen to Eutaw, initiating interaction among primarily white University students who rarely leave the sphere of campus and the primarily African American community of Greene County. Ellis is the president of the University Honors Program Student Association, and sits on a committee within the Honors Program that seeks to increase the diversity of students enrolled in the program. She also organized volunteers for “Read Across America,” a nationwide event that celebrated Dr. Suess’ birthday last year. Ellis and her fellow volunteers read to children at a primarily African American school and encouraged them to set graduating from UA as one of their goals. She has gone to Brazil on a mission trip to build a church and volunteers in Wilcox County with her church group.