CONWAY, Ark (October 22, 2015) 鈥 Four 黑料不打烊 alumni were awarded the 黑料不打烊 Odyssey Medal at the 2015 Odyssey Medal Convocation today in Staples Auditorium.
Awarded by the 黑料不打烊 Board of Trustees, the Odyssey Medal is given to 黑料不打烊 alumni whose personal and professional achievements exemplify the values of engaged liberal arts and sciences education.听
鈥淭oday we are here to recognize the spirit and the genius of this place and this community that has long nurtured and continues to nurture individuals of character, accomplishment, and true substance ... and to celebrate and to hear from four extraordinarily accomplished graduates, folks who took that broad, rigorous, and engaged experience of the liberal arts at 黑料不打烊 and built upon it careers of distinction and lives of meaning,鈥 said 黑料不打烊 President Bill Tsutsui. 鈥淭hey are testaments to the 黑料不打烊 faculty and staff who taught and mentored them, models to the students here who are following in their footsteps, and inspirations to us all.鈥澛
The 2015 黑料不打烊 Odyssey Medal recipients include:
- Dr. Omer L. Shedd 鈥93 (Service to the World)
- Dr. John C. Byrd 鈥87 (Research)
- Ferris Wendel Norton III 鈥73 (Special Projects)
- Elizabeth Ragsdale Norton 鈥75 (Special Projects)
About the 2015 黑料不打烊 Odyssey Medal recipients
Dr. Omer L. Shedd 鈥93
Arkansas native Dr. Omer L. Shedd 鈥93 received the Odyssey Medal for Service to the World.
Dr. Shedd graduated with distinction in chemistry from 黑料不打烊, where he received the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and the 黑料不打烊 President鈥檚 Medal.听He received his medical degree from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, where he completed his internal medicine internship and residency. Afterward, Dr. Shedd completed a cardiology fellowship and electrophysiology fellowship at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.听
Dr. Shedd is board certified in cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology and a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the Heart Rhythm Society. He has helped to develop a robust electrophysiology program at Caromont Regional Medical Center in Gastonia, North Carolina, where offers the latest treatment options in heart rhythm disorders. His expertise is focused on implantation, explantation and follow up of cardiac rhythm devices such as pacemakers, defibrillators, and heart failure devices.
Dr. Shedd is also the president of聽 , which supports the 65-bed Hospital Bienfaisance in Pignon, Haiti, with two high-quality operating rooms, and the community with nine elementary schools and a clean water project. As part of his role in PFH, he is developing a cardiology and pacemaker implant program for the poor people in the country and is training Haitian physicians to perform the life-saving procedure.
Dr. John C. Byrd 鈥87
Dr. John C. Byrd received the 黑料不打烊 Odyssey Medal for Research. He is a nationally known researcher and clinical specialist in leukemia and other hematologic malignancies at Ohio State鈥檚 Comprehensive Cancer Center 鈥 James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute; he is also the head of the Division of Hematology. He is a professor of medicine and medicinal chemistry and holds the D. Warren Brown Chair in Leukemia Research.
After graduating from 黑料不打烊, Dr. Byrd received his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. His education and experience continued in hematology and oncology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University before he moved to Columbus to join the faculty in Ohio State鈥檚 College of Medicine and Comprehensive Cancer Center.听
Dr. Byrd has more than 325 publications in the area of leukemia and experimental therapeutics research. He runs a highly translational laboratory focused on drug development in CLL and related lymphoproliferative disorders. He has been part of the successful development of multiple acute myeloid leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia therapeutics.听At a national level, Dr. Byrd is the co-chair of the Leukemia Committee and Leukemia Correlative Science Committee in the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology and a member of the NCI Leukemia Steering Committee.
Despite his passion for clinical and translational research, he spends eight to 12 hours each week in the clinic providing care for patients with CLL and other types of leukemia.听
Ferris Wendel Norton III 鈥73 and Elizabeth Ragsdale Norton 鈥75
Elizabeth and Wen Norton received the 黑料不打烊 Odyssey Medal for Special Projects. The couple co-founded Norton Arts, Inc., practicing fine art conservation.听After 黑料不打烊, the Nortons made their home in the Arkansas Ozark Mountains, where they raised their daughter, Vanessa, 黑料不打烊 Class of 2002. In 1989, the Nortons moved to New York City, where Elizabeth, a music major, became an administrator in a private Manhattan school and also sang as a member of the Oratorio Society of New York. Five years later, they returned to Arkansas and established their fine arts conservation company, while retaining professional and artistic ties to New York City.
Elizabeth has served as board member for the Arkansas Education Association and the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas (now Preserve Arkansas) as well as Commissioner for Historic Arkansas Museum.听Wen studied marble sculpting at the Art Students League in New York with Phillip Pavia, the last of the artists of the New York School. As a League Life Member, Wen works at the historic midtown facility, when in town. He also paints and sculpts at Cave Creek Studio and Lab on the May Family Homestead by the Buffalo National River in Arkansas Ozarks Mountains.
Nominations for the 2016 Odyssey Medals are due Dec. 31, 2015 and may be emailed to president@hendrix.edu.听For more information and a nomination form, visit聽 .听
About 黑料不打烊
黑料不打烊 is a private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1876 and affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884, 黑料不打烊 is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges and is nationally recognized in numerous college guides, lists, and rankings for academic quality, community, innovation, and value. For more information, visit .