For their outstanding commitment and dedication to the intellectual and personal development of students, Jay R. Turner, William E. Wallace, Alison J. Whelan and Peter J. Wiedenbeck will receive Distinguished Faculty Awards Sept. 20 at the Founders Day Dinner and Awards Presen-tation.
In addition, Robert S. Brook-ings Awards will be given to Sam Fox and Jack Taylor.
The annual event is sponsored by the Alumni Board of Gover-nors and commemorates the University’s founding in 1853. This year’s ceremony will take place at America’s Center and will feature a talk by Robert J. Dole.
Distinguished Faculty Awards
Turner, D.Sc., is an associate professor of chemical engineering and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Civil Engi-neering. He also plays a valuable role in the School of Engineering & Applied Science’s environmental engineering program.
Much of Turner’s research has practical applications for the environment. His work applies chemical engineering principles to particle technology and environmental issues, including the study of novel reactors for producing fine particles, product contamination in semiconductor manufacturing, air-pollution-control equipment performance evaluations, and the development of pollution prevention strategies for charcoal manufacturing.
He is focusing on measurements to develop conceptual models for air quality.
Extremely active in environmental concerns, Turner has served on a number of committees, most notably as founding co-chair of the St. Louis Regional Clean Air Partnership. He has also served on the Environment Council of the St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth Associa-tion and on the Missouri Depart-ment of Natural Resources’ advisory committee for motor vehicle inspections.
On the federal level, he has been a member of the Science and Technical Support Work Group of the U.S. Environmental Protec-tion Agency’s Subcommittee for Ozone, Particulate Matter and Regional Haze Implementation Programs, and for eight months he served as an Air Quality Spe-cialist with the Federal Highway Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
As a testament to his teaching, Turner has received the engineering school’s Professor of the Year Award four times. He also re-ceived Student Union’s Engin-eering Professor of the Year Award twice.
Turner earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Univer-sity of California, Los Angeles, and a doctorate from Washington University in 1993. He joined the WUSTL faculty in 1994.
Wallace, Ph.D., is the Barbara Murphy Bryant Distinguished Professor of Art History in the Department of Art History and Archeology in Arts & Sciences. He joined the department 20 years ago and serves as its chair.
A renowned scholar of Renaissance art and architecture, Wallace is an internationally recognized authority on Michelan-gelo and his contemporaries. As such, he was one of a select few who served as consultant for the Vatican’s restoration project of the Michelangelo frescos in the Sistine Chapel.
A prolific writer, Wallace has contributed more than 50 scholarly articles as well as four books on the famous Renaissance artist. His most recent publication, Michelangelo: The Complete Scul-pture, Painting and Architecture, was awarded the 1999 Umhoefer Prize for Achievement in Hu-manities.
A manuscript of Michelan-gelo’s biography has just been completed, and his new project is a book about Leonardo da Vinci. In addition, he serves on the editorial boards of The Sixteenth Century Journal and Explorations in Renaissance Culture and is a manuscript referee for several university presses.
Among his many grants and awards are four from the Nation-al Endowment for the Human-ities, one from the American Council of Learned Societies, and five University-sponsored faculty research grants. He has appeared in the BBC film The Private Life of a Masterpiece: Michelangelo’s David.
Wallace serves on several University committees, among them the Arts & Sciences Curriculum Committee and the executive committees of the Sam Fox Arts Center, the Medieval-Renaissance Studies Program and the Advisory Committee on Tenure and Promotion.
In 1995, he received the Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Coordina-ting Board of Higher Education.
Wallace earned a bachelor’s degree from Dickinson College, a master’s from the University of Illinois and a doctorate from Columbia University.
When Whelan, M.D., joined the faculty of the School of Medicine as an assistant professor in 1994, she also assumed the duties of course master for the third-year medicine clerkship at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Three years later, she was appointed associate dean for medical student education, and in the years following she has revamped the curriculum and developed seminars and workshops to help doctors become good teachers.
She holds the titles of associate professor of medicine, division of medical education; associate professor of pediatrics, division of medical genetics; and associate dean for medical student education.
The focus of her work is in clinical genetics with an emphasis on hereditary cancer. Since 1999, Whelan has co-directed the Hereditary Cancer Registry Core at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at the School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Her expertise is recognized by her membership in the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination Step II Medicine Committee, which writes and reviews questions for the medical licensing exam. She will chair the committee next year.
Whelan also is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, the Ameri-can College of Physicians, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and the American Medical Women’s Association.
With such dedication to the advancement of medical teaching, it’s no surprise that Whelan has been honored with four Distinguished Service Teaching Awards. Last year, she received the Emerson Electric Excellence in Teaching Award, as well as the Samuel R. Goldstein Leadership Award in Medical Student Education.
Whelan graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Carleton College in 1981. She earned a medical degree from Washington University in 1986 and completed her postgraduate work and residency at Barnes Hospital.
Wiedenbeck, J.D., an expert in federal income-tax law, tax policy and the regulation of employee benefit plans, joined the School of Law faculty in 1990. He also has recently taken on additional responsibility as associate dean of faculty.
His most recent monograph, on federal labor law regulation of employee pension and welfare benefit plans, was written at the request of the Federal Judicial Center. Titled ERISA in the Courts, it is scheduled for publication later this year. In addition, he has co-authored two law school casebooks: Partnership Taxation and Employee Benefits.
Named “Teacher of the Year” three times by the Student Bar Association, Wiedenbeck emphasizes to his students the underlying social policies shaping the revenue system and explains how the conflicts arising from the policies engender recurrent, but largely predictable, tax law changes.
As an active member of the University community, Wieden-beck has chaired the University Judicial Board and was a member of the committee to appoint a new dean. He has chaired the law school’s Faculty Appointments Committee.
In addition, Wiedenbeck has been a faculty representative to the University’s Benefits Committee.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics at the University of Toronto in 1976 and earned a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1979, receiving the order of the coif.
Robert S. Brookings Awards
The Board of Trustees presents these awards to individuals who exemplify the alliance between the University and the community.
Fox has described the Univer-sity “as the place where the whole world came alive for me.” He credits much of his success in his life to his four years in college.
His achievements have been extraordinary, both as an entrepreneur and a business leader.
In 1976, he founded Harbour Group Ltd., a company specializing in the acquisition and development of manufacturing firms for long-term investment. Harbour Group employs more than 12,000 people worldwide.
Fox and his wife, Marilyn, have supported a wide range of campus programs and initiatives over the years, including the School of Art, the Olin School of Business, the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences, the School of Medicine’s Kidney Center, Edison Theatre, the Danforth Scholars Program and scholarships in business and art.
The Foxes are Life Danforth Circle Members of the William Greenleaf Eliot Society.
Fox was elected a University trustee in 1989, served as vice chairman of the Board of Trus-tees from 1999-2001, and was then elected a trustee emeritus. Fox has chaired the public phase of the $1.3 billion Campaign for Washington University.
In recognition of his dedication to his alma mater, Fox received an honorary degree in 2002.
Later that year, the University named its new $56.8 million visual arts and design center the Sam Fox Arts Center for Fox’s support of this initiative. The center will bring together artists, designers, architects, educators, students, patrons and the public in a world-class facility.
Fox’s leadership throughout the St. Louis community has been exemplary. He is currently chairman of the Greater St. Louis Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.
Fox is also chairing this year’s United Way of Greater St. Louis Campaign and serves, or has served, on the boards of many other St. Louis institutions and cultural groups.
World War II interrupted Taylor’s tenure as a student at the University. He enlisted in the Navy, serving as a fighter pilot in the South Pacific. His service and heroism earned him the Navy’s Distinguished Flying Cross.
Returning to civilian life, Taylor started a small trucking company and then worked for a local car dealership. It was in his cramped office in the basement of that dealership that Taylor’s idea of leasing cars was born.
Founded with a seven-car fleet by Taylor in 1957 as Executive Leasing, Enterprise Rent-A-Car today is the largest rental-car company in North America.
Guided by Taylor, his son, Andy, and daughter, Jo Ann Taylor Kindle, Taylor’s family and company are committed to advancing the communities that have supported their business.
The University has benefited extraordinarily from Taylor’s leadership and involvement, both through his 13-year service on the Board of Trustees (he is now an emeritus trustee) and his generous gifts.
Continuing in the tradition of philanthropy started by Jack Taylor, employees of Enterprise Rent-A-Car established the Taylor Community Consulting Program (TCCP) in 1992 in honor of Jack and Andy. TCCP serves the St. Louis community by providing nonprofit organizations with skilled consulting from Olin School students.
In 2001, Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation established the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Endowed Scholarship Fund with a $25 million gift — the largest gift the University has ever received for undergraduate scholarships.
Half of the fund’s earnings will be directed to African-American students based on academic merit, and the other half will support students with financial need. Approximately 10 percent of the scholarships will be reserved for students of the St. Louis region.
In the past 10 years, the Taylor family and Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation have given more than $140 million to a wide range of causes.