Outstanding Alumni Honored

The College of Arts and Sciences recognized three alumni for their outstanding achievements and community service at the annual Alumni Honors Banquet in September. Each honoree selected the person who presented his or her award. Serving on the selection committee were Board of Alumni members Patti Baumann ’81, Steve Haldors ’58, Pat Hibbard ’52, and Jim Stell ’60.

Donald G. Balmer Citation

(for outstanding volunteer service to the College)
Presented by Dell Smith, retired professor and former registrar of the College

Dean A. Sempert ’49 earned a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education and was captain of the 1948-49 basketball team, winners of the College’s first conference championship in any sport. After earning his MA from the University of Southern California and teaching high school, Sempert returned to Lewis & Clark in 1963 as coach of the men’s basketball team. He was coach until 1989, when he retired as an associate professor. An active community and College volunteer, Sempert participates in the Sports Hall of Fame, the Board of Alumni, class reunions, admissions office recruitment activities, and commencement.

Outstanding Young Alumna Award

Presented by Tom Schoeneman, professor of psychology

Suzanne C. Segerstrom ’90 won the 2002 Templeton Positive Psychology Prize, one of the largest monetary prizes in psychology, for work showing the influence of optimism on cellular immunity. An associate professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky, Segerstrom received that institution’s Outstanding Teacher Award in 1999. She is a consulting editor for the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology and an ad hoc reviewer for more than 20 journals. Segerstrom earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and music and holds master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Distinguished Alumnus Award

Presented by Doug Erickson, College archivist and head of Special Collections 

Richard M. McCourt ’74 earned his bachelor’s degree in biology and is an associate curator of botany at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. His research on green algae helped answer a longstanding question about the evolution of land plants from aquatic ancestors. McCourt coordinates presentations nationwide on specimens in the academy’s Lewis and Clark Herbarium and spearheaded the renovation of the herbarium’s storage conditions. He obtained his MA and PhD at the University of Arizona. Following his postdoctoral work, he became a freelance reporter for National Public Radio, covering topics such as the search for new planets. In 1985, McCourt won the AAAS Westinghouse Science Journalism Award for a series on aquaculture broadcast by NPR’s All Things Considered.