Distinguished Alumni Awards

ACHIEVEMENT:

Horace G. Dawson, Jr., 61PhD

Horace G. Dawson, Jr., has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in higher education and government service. One of the first African-American Foreign Service Officers, Dawson was a trailblazer who rose through the ranks with positions in Uganda, Nigeria, Liberia, and the Philippines. In 1973, he became the United States Information Agency’s cultural director in Africa, and, in 1979, President Jimmy Carter appointed him as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Botswana. Dawson currently serves as director of the world-renowned Ralph Bunche International Affairs Center at Howard University, encouraging students to follow in his footsteps.

Gail K. Godwin,
68MA, 71PhD

A native of Alabama and a graduate of the UI’s Writers’ Workshop, Gail Godwin has been critically acclaimed and beloved by millions of readers for decades. Known for her compassionate and often humorous explorations of traditional Southern women confronting aspects of feminism and contemporary society, Godwin has written 11 novels, two short story collections, and one work of nonfiction, as well as ten librettos. She has won three National Book Award nominations, a Guggenheim Fellowship, National Endowment grants for both fiction and libretto writing, and the Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.

Daniel E. McLean,
70BBA

As founder, president, and chief executive officer of Chicago-based MCL Companies, Daniel McLean has dedicated his professional career to the development, construction, and revitalization of urban properties. With McLean’s vision, leadership, and charitable spirit, MCL has transformed entire communities—including some of the city’s most blighted areas, such as the notorious Cabrini Green public housing project. McLean’s signature developments have helped remap the face of Chicago, from its most luxurious (the 13-acre, $1 billion River East project) to its most desperate neighborhoods. In the process, he’s improved not only the places people call home, but the quality of their lives.

Robert D. Sparks,
55BA, 57MD

Robert Sparks can take pride in an exceptional career of service and leadership in medical education, public health, and philanthropy. The former dean of Tulane University’s School of Medicine and vice president of the University of Nebraska Health System, he has garnered many honors and awards for his widespread contributions to the field of addiction sciences, as well as his private and governmental support of academic medicine. Among many rich and varied professional activities, Dr. Sparks has served as president and trustee of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and his prestigious affiliations include membership/fellowship in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies [of Sciences] and the American College of Physicians.

Robert E. Yager,
53MS, 57PhD

Throughout a career of more than 50 years at the University of Iowa, emeritus professor Robert E. Yager has provided the vision and leadership to transform the way science is taught in schools near and far. He has advocated that science teachers at all levels must themselves undergo rigorous preparation and depth of focus, and he has challenged the effectiveness of the traditional lecture format. Instead, Yager has shown that engaging students in exploring questions that are relevant to their lives fosters their innate creative intelligence. Because of his longtime commitment, the UI is recognized as having one of the world’s premier programs in science education.

SERVICE:

Lawrence D. Dorr,
65MS, 67MD

As a leading physician, academician, and researcher, Lawrence Dorr has long earned the respect of his peers in the field of orthopaedic surgery. He’s also earned the thanks of thousands of people in underdeveloped countries who have benefited from Operation Walk, the nonprofit foundation he established to share his skills and knowledge in treating arthritis and debilitating bone and joint conditions. A recipient of numerous honors, the only person to have been president of all three U.S. joint replacement societies, and the designer of widely-used artificial joints and orthopaedic implants, Dr. Dorr has created a legacy of care throughout the world.

Herman A. Hein,
63MD, 66R

Soon after he was appointed to the faculty in the UI’s Department of Pediatrics in 1973, Herman Hein founded the Iowa Statewide Perinatal Care Program, one of the most far-reaching and high-impact statewide programs that has ever emanated from the University of Iowa. The program, which guarantees quality care to every mother and baby born in an Iowa hospital, has dramatically reduced neonatal mortality, saving more than 400 newborn lives in the state each year. Throughout his career, Dr. Hein generated more than $11 million in support of prenatal, neonatal, and pediatric care and received many honors, most publicly in 1988 when Newsweek magazine named him an “Unsung Hero” for his work in perinatal care.

Cheryll A. Jones,
69BSN

Cheryll A. Jones has dedicated her career to improving health care for rural populations and children with special needs. As an advanced practice nurse and health services coordinator, she has provided advice on health policy to legislators and government programs, including as a member of Senator Tom Harkin’s Nurses Advisory Committee and as chair of the Iowa State Board of Health. For more than 30 years, Jones has played a significant role in advancing the practice role of nurses and improving quality and access to healthcare services for people throughout the state.

William H. Olin, Sr.,
48MS

Following a highly successful 44-year career at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where he founded the Division of Craniofacial Anomalies, William Olin continues to serve dental patients around the country and the world. Even in retirement, he still volunteers for many worthy causes, including a UI program he developed to protect Iowa City-area student athletes from dental injury, and a medical team that travels to third world countries to treat patients with dental, cleft palate, and lip injuries. A past president of several professional organizations, Dr. Olin has received numerous honors for his decades of outstanding philanthropic and humanitarian service.

YOUNG ALUMNI:

Sharon K. Yearous, 93BSN, 99MSN

The first Young Alumni nominee ever recommended by the UI College of Nursing, Sharon Yearous has earned a reputation as a passionate and effective advocate for children. As a faculty member of the Department of Nursing at Mount Mercy College, a nurse practitioner at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, and a member of numerous professional organizations, Yearous champions the cause of children at both the state and national levels. Her achievements include successfully lobbying the State of Iowa to pass legislation increasing the number of nurses in schools and establishing a TeenScreen mental health evaluation program. She is currently in the process of developing a master’s in nursing program that Mount Mercy hopes to be able to offer in the near future.

FRIEND:

Lloyd & Betty Schermer

For nearly three decades, Lloyd and Betty Schermer have carried on the legacy of Betty’s father, Philip D. Adler—a UI alumnus and journalism pioneer—through their remarkable generosity to the UI. The construction of the Philip D. Adler School of Journalism and Mass Communication Building would not have been possible without their leadership and support. Betty, a noted philanthropist, and Lloyd, the retired president of Lee Enterprises, a Davenport-based newspaper company, have also established a distinguished speakers program and underwrite an awards luncheon in the Department of Religious Studies. Thoughtful, generous, and modest, the Schermers are true friends of the University of Iowa.