L&C Honors Outstanding Alumni

Each year, Lewis & Clark honors alumni from the College of Arts and Sciences for their outstanding accomplishments and community service. We’re proud to announce the 2012 honorees, who will receive their awards at the Alumni Honors Banquet on February 25.

Outstanding Young Alumnus: Matthias Fripp BA ’99

Matthias Fripp is a research fellow in renewable energy at the Environmental Change Institute and Exeter College, University of Oxford. He specializes in modeling the technical and economic performance of power systems with large shares of renewable energy, using quantitative analysis to go beyond preconceptions of the role that renewable energy can play. He holds a PhD and a master’s degree from the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California at Berkeley.

Distinguished Alumnus (posthumous award): Rudolph Byrd BA ’75

The late Rudolph Byrd was Lewis & Clark’s first African American recipient of the Rena Ratte Award. He went on to graduate studies at Yale University before beginning a distinguished career as a prolific scholar in African American studies. Byrd was the founder and director of Emory University’s James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study of Race and Difference. (His obituary appears on page 43.)

Distinguished Alumna: Lisa Gaylord BA ’76

Lisa Gaylord is director of strategic partnerships for the Wildlife Conservation Society in Washington, D.C. She has been involved with biodiversity conservation and environment programs since 1987, working for international governmental, development, and conservation organizations during her career.

Donald G. Balmer Citation (for service to the college): John Bates

John Bates joined the faculty of Lewis & Clark as an associate professor in 1975; the next year, he was voted the Outstanding Faculty Member of the College of Arts and Sciences. Over three decades later, John and his wife, Susan, are still active at Lewis & Clark. John has served the institution in numerous ways during that time, including as a member of the Board of Trustees, as chair of the Board of Trustees, as a member of the law school’s Board of Visitors, and as a life trustee. In 2009, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Lewis & Clark.