Honors go to six at spring commencement

It will be a star-studded spring 2001 commencement at Ohio State. Six individuals -- an actor-comedian, a former NBA basketball player, a world-renowned landscape architect, an environmental activist, a Columbus businessman and an education consultant -- will be honored by the University on June 8 at 9:30 a.m. on the Oval.

Lester E. Brown, Doctor of Science

Lester E. Brown is president and senior researcher with Earth Policy Institute, a private, nonprofit research institute devoted to the analysis of global environmental issues. He also is chair of the board and past president of the Worldwatch Institute in Washington, D.C.

Brown earned a B.S. degree in agricultural science from Rutgers University, an M.S. in agricultural economics from the University of Maryland and an M.P.A. in public administration from Harvard University. He held several posts in the U.S. Department of Agriculture before leaving government service to help establish the Overseas Development Council. He founded the Worldwatch Institute in 1974, and in May of this year, founded Earth Policy Institute to provide a vision of an environmentally sustainable economy and to help set public agenda on environmental issues.

Bill Cosby, Doctor of Education

One of the most influential performers of our time, Bill Cosby also has a lifelong commitment to education and to achieving a better world.

He received a master's degree in 1972 and a doctorate in education in 1977 from the University of Massachusetts.

His early ambition to become a physical education teacher changed when he discovered his gift for stand-up comedy. He toured the United States and Canada during the early 1960s. In 1965, he received his first acting assignment on "I Spy," becoming the first black actor to perform in a starring dramatic role on network television and winning three Emmy Awards. His subsequent television projects included a number of specials, a variety show, a situation comedy and a cartoon. His most successful work, "The Cosby Show," became one of the most popular comedies in television history. He is also the author of two best-selling books, Fatherhood and Time Flies.

Cosby also is the commencement speaker for the spring ceremony.

Daniel Urban Kiley, Doctor of Landscape Architecture

During a career that has spanned more than half a century, Daniel Kiley has become one of the most significant landscape architects in the world.

The Boston native attended the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He was responsible for designing and constructing the Nuremberg Courtrooms. In 1997, he received the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor that can be awarded an artist in the United States.

Among the many sites he has helped design are the Washington Mall and Tidal Basin, Lincoln Center, the National Gallery of Art East Wing, the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, the Getty Center in Los Angeles, the National Sculpture Garden, the Chicago Navy Pier and the U.S. Air Force Academy. He served on President Kennedy's Advisory Council for Pennsylvania Avenue and the National Council for Arts and Government.

Raymond E. Mason Jr., Doctor of Business Administration

Raymond E. Mason Jr. is founder and chairman of the Columbus Truck & Equipment Co. Inc. and managing director of the JD Ranch, a cattle ranch in Myakka City, Fla. He is former chair and owner of Bode-Finn Co. in Cincinnati. He is a retired major general in the U.S. Army, serving for 35 years before his retirement from the military.

Following graduation from Ohio State, Mason was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army. After World War II, he began an active career in the reserves. In 1949, Mason purchased Columbus Truck & Equipment Co. and began a distinguished career in the transportation industry.

His community service included membership on the boards of Franklin University, the Mershon Center at Ohio State, the Ohio Historical Foundation and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. At Ohio State, he is a former member of the National Campaign Committee, the Max. M. Fisher College of Business Campaign Committee and the Humanities Development Council. He has established the Raymond E. Mason Sr. Professorship in Transportation and Logistics at the Fisher College of Business.

Clark C. Kellogg, Distinguished Service Award

Clark Kellogg, former Buckeye basketball star forward who went on to the National Basketball Association (NBA), is a college basketball analyst for CBS. Kellogg joined CBS Sports full time in 1997, after working for ESPN from 1990 to 1997. He began his broadcasting career in 1987 as an analyst for the Pacers' radio broadcasts and continues as their television analyst.

Kellogg played 86 games for the Buckeyes from 1979 to 1982. He ranked 19th in career scoring and fifth in career rebounding at Ohio State. He also ranks fifth in career rebounding average and sixth in blocked shots. He left Ohio State after his junior year to enter the NBA draft and was selected by the Indiana Pacers. He played for five seasons before retiring with chronic knee problems.

Kellogg continued to pursue his college degree, earning his bachelor's degree in business management in 1996. He delivered the commencement address in autumn 1998 and has been a featured speaker at the University Medical Center's Black History presentation and during Homecoming.

Thekla Reese Shackelford, Distinguished Service Award

Thekla Reese "Teckie" Shackelford is an educational consultant, founder of School Selection Consulting and a past president of the national professional association for educational consultants.

A director of The Ohio State University Foundation Board since 1994, she served as its chair from 1997 to 1999. She was co-chair of the University's goal-surpassing "Affirm Thy Friendship" campaign and served on the National Campaign Executive Committee. She has been a member of the College of Veterinary Medicine's Development Advisory Council and has assisted the College of Education in community initiatives.

Shackelford earned her bachelor's degree from Denison University and became a junior high school teacher and admissions counselor. In 1978, she transformed her talent for guiding students toward college into a successful educational counseling business, School Selection Consulting. She is a founding board member and chair of "I Know I Can," an initiative launched in 1988 to encourage and assist Columbus school children on the path to college.

With her husband, Don, Shackelford has created the Donald B. and Thekla R. Shackelford Medical Research Fund and the Thekla R. and Donald B. Shackelford Professorship in Small Animal Medicine. They also created the Everett Reese Chair in Banking in the Fisher College of Business in memory of her father.

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