ACE presents first Reginald Wilson awards - Cincinnati, Ohio - Brief Article

Black Issues in Higher Education, Dec 6, 2001

CINCINNATI, OHIO

Four higher education officials have received the first Reginald Wilson Awards from the American Council on Education (ACE) for their efforts to promote diversity.

The awards were presented at a banquet held on the last day of the "Educating All of One Nation" conference, sponsored by the ACE Office of Minorities in Higher Education.

Dr. Wilson is recognized nationwide for his efforts to increase diversity in higher education. He has been senior scholar emeritus at ACE since October 1998. He originally joined ACE in 1981 as director of the Office of Minority Concerns (which was later renamed the Office of Minorities in Higher Education.)

Dr. William Harvey, who succeeded Wilson as director of the Office of Minorities in Higher Education, describes Wilson as a "visionary, risk taker, leader, intellectual, analyst, trail-blazer." Harvey says that as he travels the country and people comment, "Oh, so you replaced Reggie Wilson," he responds, "I am very fortunate in having the opportunity to succeed Reggie. No one will ever replace him."

During the banquet, Wilson was presented with the first of the four awards. The other recipients were:

* Dr. Jewel Plummer Cobb, president emerita of California State University, Fullerton. Cobbs' efforts have focused on the changing way women and minorities are perceived and treated in the field of science.

* Dr. James J. Duderstadt, president emeritus and professor of science and engineering at the University of Michigan. Under Duderstadt's leadership, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor actively sought students of color at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. As a result, the campus now enrolls more students of color than any other institution in the Big Ten.

* Dr. Alfredo G. de los Santos Jr., research professor at Arizona State University, Tempe. Santos has been especially vigilant in attempting to expand opportunities for Hispanic students, faculty members and administrators, as well as in raising the national consciousness of the value and significance of community colleges.