Lycoming College Report, May 1983

              LYCOMING COLLEGE REPORT May, 1983
Commencement '83: Rain moves event indoors
Mother Nature treated her day very rudely this year,
dumping a drenching rain all over the Willamsport area on
Mother's Day (May 8) and chasing Lycoming's 135th
annual commencement indoors.
Still, when the pomp and circumstance was all said and
done in Lamade Gymnasium of the Physical Education
and Recreation Center, there were very few graduates who
seemed to mind too much. Indeed, the rain actually let up
briefly after the ceremony and allowed parents, other
relatives, and fnends of the new alumni to snap the usual
number of photographs outdoors, albeit in some very
soggy su nroundings
An estimated 2.000 persons filled the gymnasium to
watch 165 seniors receive their bachelor of arts degrees and
to recognize 63 January and September graduates at
Lycoming's only graduation exercise annually. The
ceremony included the awarding of two honorary
doctorate degrees to a top United Methodist Church
official and a national leader in nursing and health-care
policy.
Receiving honorary doctorates from Lycoming
President Dr. Frederick E. Blumer were Dr. Donald H
Treese and Dr Claire Mintzer Fagin. Treese, who received
a Doctor of Humane Letters degree, is associate general
secretary of the Board of Higher Education and Ministry
of The United Methodist Church and a former Lycoming
trustee Fagin, who received a Doctor of Science degree, is
dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.
Treese was cited for "inspiring dedication to your
church and Cod and for your compassionate public
service. " A trustee from 1967 to 197°, Treese currently is
chief executive officer of the Division of Ordained
Ministry of the Methodist church As chief executive, he is
responsible for administering the Ministerial Education
Fund, guiding the Association of United Methodist
Theological Schools, and directing the continuing
education program for clergy of the entire denomination.
Treese serves also as co-chairman of The World
Methodist Council on Theological Education. He has been
a delegate to various church conferences and a pastor at six
Pennsylvania churches, including two in Witliamsport.
The Williamsport High School graduate holds degrees
Honorary degree recipients Dr. Donald H. Treese and Dr. Claire Mintzer Fagin with President Dr. Frederick E. Blumer.
from Juniata College and Chicago Theological Seminary.
Fagin was honored for her "lifelong concern with
enhancing the state of health care through practice and
education, and for devotion to your profession ' She has
been dean of Pennsylvania's nursing school since 1977,
when she moved from Herbert H Lehman College and
Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center of the City
University of New York She spent eight years at CUNY,
serving as director of the health professions institute and as
chairman and professor of nursing. During her tenure
there, she established a nationally recognized nursing
program
Fagin has taught at New York University, where she
also directed the graduate program in psychiatric mental
(Confined o eS.Col 1)
Geologist named 'Outstanding Alumnus'
A former director of the U.S. Geological Survey,
Department of the Interior, received the "Outstanding
Alumnus Award" for 1983 at Lycoming's annual Alumni
Weekend banquet.
Held in the Wertz Student Center dining hall, the
banquet was the focal point of the reunion weekend,
which began Friday. May 6 and ended Sunday, May 8.
Dr. Vincent E. McKelvey '32, of St. Cloud, FL, a
graduate of Dickinson Seminary, Lycoming's forerunner
institution, received a Lycoming chair symbolizing the
award. Now an adjunct professor at Florida Institute of
Technology. McKelvey, 67, spent his entire career as a
geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. He was named
chief geologist and director by President Nixon in 1971.
leaving the agency in 1980
A 1937 graduate of Syracuse University, McKelvey
began his career with the USGS in 1941 after earning a
master's degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1939.
He later eameda PhD from Wisconsin in 1947.
The native of Huntingdon lived in the Williamsport
area as a child with his parents, the late Rev Ellis E. and
Eva McKelvey '89.
During his career with the USGS, McKelvey received
international recognition for his investigations into long-range
energy and mineral resource needs, his analyses and
assessments of seabed resources worldwide, and the
problems related to the geology of phosphate deposits
Special assignments took him to Manila, Jordan, and
Saudi Arabia. He has been a US representative and
advisor to a variety of national and international
Dr. Vincent £, McKelvey '32
nittees concerned with energy and minerals, and a
representative to the United Nations Seabeds Committee
Much honored, McKelvey has received the Rockefeller
Public Service Award, recognizing distinguished service
to the U.S ; the Department of the Interior's highest
award, the Distinguished Service Award, and the National
Civil Service League Career Service Award for Sustained
Excellence. He has authored numerous articles on the
geology of manganese, phosphate, uranium, mineral and
fuel resources, marine resources, methods of estimating
reserves, stratigraphy, sedimentation, and mineral
economics.
Another award, the alumni association's Dale V. Bower
Award, which recognizes "outstanding service" to
Lycoming, went to Kenneth E. Himes, of Williamsport.
Himes has been a Lycoming trustee since 1969 and was
treasurer of the college from 1948 to 1978,
The association also presented an "Outstanding
Achievement" award to Ruth Perry Hodge '58. She is chief
of technical services for the US, Army Military History
Research Institute in Carlisle
Alumni Weekend concluded Sunday with a
baccalaureate mass at 9 a.m. and the baccalaureate service
at 10:30 a.m. It was followed at 2 p.m. by Lycoming's
135th commencement.
Alumni participated in a variety of events over the
weekend, including a chemistry magic show, an electronic
music demonstration, and the annual choir concert after
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