Career Diplomat Eagleburger, Educator Invernizzi to Receive Honorary Degrees at Washington College Convocation

CHESTERTOWN—Washington College will award honorary degrees to former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger and noted educator Marcia Invernizzi at the annual George Washington’s Birthday Convocation, Friday, February 25. The College also will recognize alumni, staff, and prominent community members for their contributions. President and Mrs. Mitchell Reiss, the Board of Visitors and Governors, and the Alumni Board of Washington College serve as hosts of the annual event, which begins at 3:30 p.m. in Decker Theatre, the Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts. A reception will follow the ceremony.

An American statesman who climbed the Foreign Service ladder to the highest rank ever achieved by a career diplomat, former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger remains one of our country’s leading experts in foreign policy and global diplomatic affairs. Tapped to be the personal aide to Henry Kissinger early in his career, Mr. Eagleburger went on to serve under four U.S. Presidents. After joining the first Bush administration, he was one of the envoys sent to China after the Tiananmen Square massacre to help restore relations with the rulers in Beijing.

Eagleburger is known throughout the world for his role during the Gulf War, when he kept the U.S.-led coalition together by persuading the Israeli government to show restraint against Saddam Hussein’s scud missiles. He remains a key adviser on the Middle East and an outspoken figure on the public stage, raising the alarm of nuclear weapon development in North Korea and Iran, as well as concerns over waning U.S. relations with Israel. In his recent assignment as Chairman of the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, he oversaw the distribution of more than $300 million in awards to more than 48,000 Holocaust survivors and their heirs. Eagleburger will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws from the College.

Dr. Marcia Invernizzi, a 1972 graduate of Washington College, has devoted her career to understanding how children acquire language and then providing early childhood educators with effective instructional techniques. She is the primary author of four literacy assessments used nationwide and co-author of 10 books, including Words Their Way, a comprehensive look at phonics, spelling and vocabulary development and instruction.

Invernizzi is the Henderson Professor of Reading Education and Director of the McGuffey Reading Center at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education. She wrote Virginia’s statewide literacy assessment program and is principal investigator of a $1.6 million grant from the Institute of Educational Sciences to develop a comparable literacy assessment for Spanish-speaking children in the primary grades. As a founder of Book Buddies, a nationally recognized reading tutorial for struggling readers, she continues her campaign to build a nation of readers. Washington College will award her the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.

The Alumni Service Award will go to George Buckless, ’69, retired Regional CEO of Lincoln Financial Advisors and a member of the College Board of Visitors and Governors from 1996-2004. One Alumni Service Award is given annually to an alumnus who has given outstanding and continued support to the College. Chosen by the Alumni Board’s Awards Committee, Buckless has dedicated much of his time and talent to the Alumni Council, Hall of Fame Committee, and Stadium Committee. He most recently helped to spearhead the Athey Baseball Park construction as committee chair.

Matthew Mullin, ’97, Chair of Washington College’s Center for Environment, will receive the Alumni Horizon Ribbon Award at the ceremony. This award is given to a graduate from the past 15 years who has demonstrated outstanding leadership, service, or scholarship in a particular area. Mullin has made great strides in the field of environmental consulting from his time as the College’s first environmental studies major. He went on to work for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Chesapeake Bay Commission, and in May 2010 joined the Environmental Defense Fund as the Chesapeake Bay Director in the Oceans Program. He also co-chairs the Washington College Annapolis Alumni Chapter.

The President and Chairman of the Community Food Pantry, James Fouss, is this year’s recipient of the President’s Medal, which recognizes an individual or group’s significant contributions to the advancement of the community. Fouss played an integral part in Chestertown’s 300th Anniversary celebration as a committee co-chair and has received a Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award for Kent County for his dedication to the Chestertown community.

Additional honorees at the George Washington’s Birthday Convocation will receive the President’s Distinguished Service Award for their work on behalf of the College. Associate Professor of Mathematics Louise Amick, faculty secretary Catherine Naundorf, John Toll Professor of Psychology George Spilich, Director of Waterfront Activities John Wagner, and Advancement Office secretary Patsy Will are the 2011 honorees.

In addition, the ceremony will recognize faculty and staff for long-time service to the College, including 44-year veteran of the Drama Department, professor Tim Maloney, who also serves as Director of the Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts.
And the Washington College chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honor society, will introduce its 2011 inductees.

Photo: Washington College alumnus Marcia Invernizzi will be honored for her work in education.

George Spilich Appointed To New John Toll Chair at Washington College

Psychology Professor Is Noted for Encouraging Undergraduate Research

Chestertown, MD, October 4, 2000 — The Board of Visitors and Governors of Washington College recently raised $2 million to endow a new chair in honor of College President John Toll, one of the most highly regarded educators in the nation. This fall, the Board named as the inaugural chairholder a senior faculty member who over the past decade has transformed the psychology department into a top academic performer.

"Of all the faculty members who do not already hold endowed professorships or chairs, George Spilich, professor and chair of the department of psychology, is outstanding in his teaching, research and service to the College," noted College President John S. Toll. "Everyone knows he is a gifted teacher, but not all colleagues realize that he has done some very important research. He is a marvelous leader who maintains very high standards for both his students and his faculty. In addition to these qualities, his selfless efforts to help students and to promote Washington College made him the logical choice for the John Toll Chair."

The Board devised the John Toll Chair to go to an outstanding faculty member in any discipline who, according to the Board resolution, "represents in exemplary fashion the College's goals of superb teaching and advising, fine research and excellent service, and who displays a strongly positive attitude and a deep commitment to Washington College and its students."

George Spilich is a champion of undergraduate research who, several years ago, worked with his colleagues to revamp the department's curriculum to emphasize engaged learning. He and his department members endeavor to get students involved in research as early as their freshman year, and continue to guide them through their academic studies and to train them to use the most sophisticated research techniques, laboratory equipment and instructional technology available.

As a direct result, Washington College, among its liberal arts and sciences peers, graduates a disproportionately higher number of students who go on to earn the Ph.D. and M.D. degrees, and national test scores in psychology have skyrocketed. In May 2000, the College's graduating psychology majors scored at the 91st percentile on the Educational Testing Services' national outcomes exam in psychology, and at the 98% percentile in behavioral neuroscience, a concentration that was established in 1992. This graduating class of 33 was awarded three-quarters of a million dollars in graduate scholarships and stipends. The program in psychology and behavioral neuroscience has been identified as a national leader in faculty-student research, averaging about 40 student co-authors per year at peer-reviewed professional conferences. Faculty also publish with student co-authors in peer-reviewed professional journals.

Spilich's own research investigates how performance of skilled tasks such as driving and reading are affected by nicotine or alcohol. He also explores how fatigue compounds the effects of those drugs in contributing to accidents on the road and in the workplace. Other investigations with colleagues at universities here in the U.S. and abroad deal with neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease; sex differences in cognitive processes; and visuospatial memory.

Spilich has published extensively in the area of human memory and performance, with a focus on pharmacological treatment of dementia and the effects of nicotine upon skilled performance. In addition to several articles underway with student co-authors and colleagues, Spilich is working on a book project, Tobacco, Nicotine and Cognitive Performance, and a CD-based multimedia text, Cognitive Neuroscience for Everyone!

Spilich joined the Washington College faculty in 1979, and has served as department chair since 1983. Under the Fulbright Research Scholars program, he was a visiting research associate professor of neurology and nuclear medicine at the University of Zagreb Hospitals in Croatia, in 1988-89. He served on the Board of Directors of the Eastern Psychological Association from 1995-1998, and presently is serving his second three-year term as Councilor to the Psychology Division of the Council for Undergraduate Research.

In addition to his scholarly work, he has written several successful grants for new scientific instrumentation, most recently finding funds to upgrade research laboratory facilities to support undergraduate research in cognitive neuroscience, psychopharmacology, developmental and social processes, and sensation and perception, among others.

He has served on several academic committees, including the Premedical Committee, the Graduate Council, Academic Affairs, Academic Computing, and the Information Technology Steering Committee. He won the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1990.Spilich earned his bachelor of arts degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He holds a master's degree in experimental psychology from the University of Texas-El Paso and his Ph.D. in cognitive and developmental psychology from the University of Pittsburgh.

Despite his significant achievements, Spilich believes that his recent appointment to the endowed chair carries not the recognition of his value as a teacher and mentor, but the expectation for continued accomplishments.

"An endowed chair named for John Toll comes with the responsibility to work with faculty, students and alumni to elevate the national reputation of Washington College. I'll have to do something really big in the next year or two."

The Toll Chair is the third of five endowed chairs to be created during the $72 million Campaign for Washington's College.