06-10-94 Commencement Awards FOUR RECEIVE SPECIAL COMMENCEMENT HONORS AT OHIO STATE COLUMBUS -- The contributions of four men were recognized with special honors during The Ohio State University's spring quarter commencement ceremonies June 10 in Ohio Stadium. Honorary doctorates were presented to Columbus businessman John B. Gerlach and to U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Damon J. Keith of Detroit. The Distinguished Service Award was presented to Ralph Howard of Marion, a long-time supporter of the Marion regional campus, and to the late Roy M. Kottman, vice president and dean for agriculture emeritus. John B. Gerlach, Doctor of Business Administration John B. "Bernie" Gerlach, is president and director of Lancaster Colony Corp., a diverse manufacturer and marketer of specialty foods, automotive accessories, glass and candles, which he founded with his father in 1961. He is also a partner in the public accounting firm of John Gerlach & Co. A charter member and current chair of The Ohio State University Foundation Board, the university's primary fund- raising arm, Gerlach served as chairperson of the Columbus Regional Campaign in the successful 1985-90 university campaign. The Columbus Campaign raised more than $178 million. He was also a leader in campaigns for the colleges of Human Ecology, Business, Arts, and Education, the James Cancer Hospital and the Wexner Center for the Arts. He secured matching funds for the Presidential Young Investigators program in 1989 and continues to promote that program, which recognizes outstanding young faculty researchers. In 1982, he established the John J. Gerlach Chair in Accounting in honor of his father, and he has been a generous supporter of intercollegiate athletics. Recognized by his peers for his business acumen, he has received a number of awards, including membership in the Central Ohio Business Hall of Fame. He is a recipient of Ohio State's Distinguished Service Award and the Alumni Association's Ralph Davenport Mershon Award. An active community leader, Gerlach currently serves on numerous boards, including those of Riverside Methodist Hospitals and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. He is chairman of the board of the Columbus Foundation. He attended Ohio State's College of Commerce (now the Fisher College of Business) from 1945-47 and received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from Ohio University in 1949. Damon J. Keith, Doctor of Laws As one of America's best known and most respected African- American jurists, Damon Keith has long been a champion of equal justice under the law. He was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 1977. For the preceding 10 years he was a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, serving as chief justice from 1975-77. A graduate of West Virginia State University and Howard University Law School, Keith also holds the L.L.M. degree from Wayne State University School of Law. All three of his alma maters, as well as 22 other universities, have recognized his legal contributions by awarding him honorary doctoral degrees. Among his most noted opinions are his 1972 ruling in United States vs. Sinclair (also known as the "Keith decision") in which he ruled that President Richard Nixon and Attorney General John Mitchell were constitutionally prohibited from wiretapping the residence of a political dissident unless a warrant was issued, and a 1977 affirmative action ruling in which he held that the Detroit Police Department could make race-conscious promotions to help remedy the effects of past discrimination. For 21 consecutive years, Keith has been named one of the "100 Most Influential Black Americans" by Ebony magazine. His numerous other awards include the NAACP Spingard Medal, the Equal Justice Award of the National Bar Association, the Judge of the Year Award from the National Conference of Black Lawyers. He was Ohio State's autumn quarter 1993 commencement speaker. Last year, the Damon J. Keith Law Collection was established at Wayne State University in Detroit. The first of its kind, the collection brings together the historical accomplishments of African-American lawyers and judges in a central depository of more than 100 years of records, documents, photographs, personal papers and memorabilia. Ralph W. Howard, Distinguished Service Award Ralph W. Howard was instrumental in founding The Ohio State University at Marion, and he remains an active supporter of the regional campus today. A lifelong resident of the Marion area, Howard received his law degree from Ohio State in 1948 following service in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He returned to Marion to practice corporate and taxation law. Long active with the Ohio State University Alumni Association, Howard was one of eight founders of Ohio State Marion, which began offering classes in 1957. He served as chairman of the Steering Solicitation Committee of the Marion Area Campus Development Fund, which raised more than $600,000 in three weeks toward the purchase and development of a permanent Marion campus. He is a charter member and first president of The Ohio State University at Marion Citizens Advisory Council and is one of only four to be elected to lifetime membership in that group. He is also the recipient of the Ohio State Marion Founders' Award. His long history of volunteerism and support of the Marion campus was honored when the 1985 Student Recognition Program was dedicated to him. Active in numerous community projects, Howard has served on the Marion City Board of Education, as chairman-secretary of the Marion General Hospital Board of Directors, as general campaign chairman and president of the United Way of Marion County, president of the Marion YMCA, and in many other positions. His many honors include the Marion County Outstanding Citizen Award, the Marion County United Way Service Award, the Rotary International Oscar Award, and the Ohio State Bar Foundation Fellow. Roy M. Kottman, Distinguished Service Award For more than 34 years, Roy M. Kottman embodied the voice and vision of agriculture in Ohio. Kottman, vice president and executive dean for agriculture emeritus at Ohio State, retired from Ohio State in 1982 but remained active in a part-time position with the Ohio State University Development Fund until his recent death on June 4. He came to Ohio State in 1960 as dean of the College of Agriculture and Home Economics and director of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. He also served as director of the Ohio Cooperative Extension Service from 1964 to 1982. He held the rank of professor of animal science throughout the 22 years that he served as chief administrative officer in the college. Kottman founded the Farm Science Review, Ohio's showcase of new agricultural technology. He was instrumental in establishing Ohio State's Agricultural Technical Institute, School of Natural Resources, College of Biological Sciences, and College of Human Ecology. Aided by his efforts, 15 buildings were constructed on Ohio State's Columbus campus and OARDC's Wooster campus, funded in part by the state legislature. Ohio State's agronomy, natural resources and plant pathology building is named Roy M. Kottman Hall. A native of Iowa, Kottman earned a B.S. in animal science from Iowa State University, an M.S. in genetics from the University of Wisconsin, and a Ph.D. in animal breeding from Iowa State. # Contact: Ruth Gerstner, University Communications, (614) 292-8424 [Submitted by: REIDV (reidv@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu) Fri, 10 Jun 1994 11:10:02 -0500 (EST)] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.