08-15-94 Commencement Speaker and Honors HEAD OF NATIONWIDE TO ADDRESS SUMMER GRADUATES COLUMBUS -- D. Richard McFerson, president and chief executive officer of Nationwide Insurance Enterprises, will be the commencement speaker for summer quarter graduates of The Ohio State University on Sept. 1. About 1,600 of the 2,000 persons receiving degrees 1 are expected to attend the commencement ceremonies, which begin at 9:30 a.m. in St. John Arena. An honorary Doctor of Science degree will be awarded to Willy Burgdorfer, an eminent microbiologist. The university's Distinguished Service Award will be presented to Daniel M. Galbreath, businessman, community leader and loyal alumnus; and posthumously to Joseph F. Stranges Jr., a former student financial aid administrator at the university. D. Richard McFerson McFerson has been president and CEO of the Nationwide Insurance Enterprise, a $42 billion business based in Columbus, since December 1992. He heads an organization that includes 27 insurance companies, including many of the country's largest home, life, auto and specialty insurers; Nationwide Communications Inc., which operates 14 radio and four television stations; and Nationwide Financial Services, a mutual funds organization. McFerson joined Nationwide in 1979 as vice president of internal audits. He was named vice president of individual life, health and tax-sheltered products in 1980 and promoted in 1983 to senior vice president of finance. Prior to joining Nationwide, he was senior vice president and controller of New England Mutual Life Insurance Co. in Boston and senior vice president of finance for Surety Life Insurance Co. in Salt Lake City. Before entering the insurance field in 1970, he was with the accounting firm of Ernst and Young. A native of Los Angeles, McFerson earned a Bachelor of Science in business education in 1959 from UCLA and a master's degree in public administration from the University of Southern California in 1972. He is a certified public accountant and holds the chartered life underwriter professional designation. McFerson is immediate past board chairman of the Insurance Information Institute, co-chair of the board of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, and past board chairman of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. He is a member of the board of trustees for the National Commission Against Drunk Driving and is on the executive committee of the American Red Cross national board, currently serving as chair of the Biomedical Services Board. His community service is extensive. He is board chairman of Ohio Dominican College, vice chairman of the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) and co-chair of the center's building committee, and is on the boards of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, BalletMet, Children's Hospital, and Greater Columbus Convention Center. He chaired the Franklin County United Way campaign in 1990. He served from 1980 to 1988 as president of the Columbus North Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints and is a regional representative of the church. Willy Burgdorfer One of the world's eminent microbiologists, Burgdorfer has laid the groundwork for much of the research being performed today on tick-borne diseases. His work has focused on the interactions between animal and human disease agents and their transmitting arthropod vectors, particularly ticks. His contributions cover a wide field of investigations on relapsing fevers, tularemia, Colorado tick fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and other rickettsial and viral diseases. Burgdorfer devised a simple test to determine whether persons bitten by ticks should receive preventive treatment for spotted fever. He discovered the tick-borne spirochete that is the cause of Lyme disease and related disorders, leading to better diagnosis and treatment of these widespread inflammatory diseases. In recognition of his discovery, the causative agent was named Borellia burgdorferi. Born and educated in Basel, Switzerland, he came to the United States in 1951 on a Public Health Service post-doctoral fellowship at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Hamilton, Montana. In 1954, he was named a research associate at the laboratory, and following his naturalization as an American citizen in 1957, he joined the staff as a medical research entomologist. He served the laboratory in various research and administrative positions until his retirement in 1986. As a scientist emeritus, he remains very active in numerous collaborative projects and lectures regularly in North America and Europe. He has been a guest lecturer on epidemiology at Ohio State's intensive Acarology Summer Program for more than a decade. Daniel M. Galbreath The chairman, chief executive officer and president of The Galbreath Co., Daniel M. Galbreath is both a community leader and loyal alumnus A 1950 graduate of Amherst College, Galbreath received his M.B.A. degree from Ohio State in 1952. He then joined his father, John W. Galbreath, in running The Galbreath Co., a Columbus-based real estate development, management and leasing company. During the 1950s and 1960s he assumed leadership of his father's other business interests, including the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team. Under his ownership, the Pirates captured the 1971 and 1979 World Series pennants. The family sold its majority interest in the team in 1985. He continues the family involvement in owning and breeding Thoroughbred race horses. Today, The Galbreath Co. has projects in more than 30 U.S. cities with management and leasing responsibilities for 65 million square feet of office space. The company has offices in 16 U.S. cities, Mexico City, and London. Galbreath has been involved with numerous business and civic ventures in central Ohio and elsewhere. He is a director of the National Realty Committee, Borden Chemicals and Plastics Partnership, Churchill Downs Inc., Keeneland Association, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, and the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame. He chairs the Wildlife Conservation Fund of America and is a trustee of the Breeders' Cup. He and his family were instrumental in restoring the Ohio Theatre. Ohio State has benefited through the years from Galbreath's counsel as a member of the Board of Trustees (1978-87), the board of directors of the Development Fund (1978-80), the National Campaign Committee (1985-90), the University Hospitals Board (1980-83), and The Ohio State University Foundation Board (1985 to present). He is a member of The Presidents Club Cabinet and has supported a wide variety of projects at the university, including the College of Veterinary Medicine equine program, the John W. Galbreath Chair in Real Estate, and the School of Music. Joseph F. Stranges Jr. As a key administrator in the Office of Minority Affairs for more than 20 years, Stranges helped countless students negotiate the intricacies of Ohio State's financial aid system, enabling them to remain in school. A native of Holloway, Ohio, he earned bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in education from Ohio State. He taught and coached in the Columbus Public Schools for eight years before joining the Ohio State staff in 1966 as director of loans in the Office of Student Financial Aid. In 1968, he was named director of counseling in that office, and from 1970 to 1983 he served a dual appointment as associate director of counseling services in Student Financial Aid and director of student financial aid in the Office of Minority Affairs. At the time of his retirement in 1988, he was director of student financial aid in the Office of Minority Affairs. He died in October 1993. During his tenure at Ohio State, Stranges was known for his compassion and his expertise in financial matters. He conducted workshops for financial aid officers and counselors for such groups as the College Scholarship Service, the American College Test, and the Midwest Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. A tireless volunteer, he worked with the Jacob Ashburn Youth Center in Columbus and did counseling for agencies such as Columbus Education Resources, Tomorrow's Education Now, the Columbus Urban League, the NAACP, the Columbus Public Schools and the Columbus Metropolitan Area Community Action Organization. Toward the end of his life, he did volunteer counseling with individuals with end-stage kidney failure. # Contact: Ruth Gerstner, University Communications, (614) 292-8424 [Submitted by: REIDV (reidv@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu) Mon, 15 Aug 1994 11:59:21 -0500 (EST)] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.