The SIU Board of Trustees Thursday approved two Distinguished Awards and two honorary degrees.
One Distinguished Service award goes to Larry Dietz, the former vice chancellor for student affairs and enrollment management at SIU-Carbondale before he became president at Illinois State University. Dietz graduated from Carbondale Community High School and SIU Carbondale before embarking on a 50-year career year in higher education.
The other goes to Paul Echols, a two-degree SIU-Carbondale graduate, who spent more than 40 years as a police officer and higher education criminal justice instructor at SIU and Shawnee Community College.
Trustees approved an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree to Crystal Kuykendall, an educator, human relations expert, legal analyst, attorney and author who receiver her bachelor's degree at SIU-Carbondale.
The Board said yes to an honorary Doctor of Arts degree to C. James “Jimmy” Wright, an internationally known painter and pastel artist, whose work is part of an exhibition that runs through December 15 at Sharp Museum on the SIU Carbondale campus.
