FIVE RECEIVE SPECIAL COMMENCEMENT HONORS AT OHIO STATE

   COLUMBUS -- Five individuals will be honored at The Ohio State University's autumn quarter commencement for their contributions to society and the business community. Ceremonies begin at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 10 in St. John Arena.

   Honorary doctorates will be presented to Columbus' 46th mayor, Gregory S. Lashutka; retired chief executive officer and chairman of Banc One Corp. John G. McCoy; and Ilse Lehiste, professor emeritus in Ohio State's Department of Linguistics.

   The Distinguished Service Award will be presented to Kathryn M. Moore, professor and director of the Center for the Study of Advanced Learning Systems at Michigan State University; and Wilburn H. Weddington Sr., professor emeritus of clinical family medicine and former associate dean of Ohio State's College of Medicine.

   Gregory S. Lashutka became Columbus' 46th mayor in January 1992, bringing a wide range of legal and administrative experience to the role of chief administrator of the nation's 15th largest city.

   Lashutka received his bachelor's degree in history in 1967 from Ohio State, where he was co-captain of the Buckeye football team in 1965. He went on to play defensive end for the Buffalo Bills briefly and served four years as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, including active duty in Vietnam in underwater explosive ordnance disposal. Following his military service, he graduated from Capital University Law School in 1974. He served as Judge Richard B. Metcalf's law clerk in the Probate Court of Franklin County and as U.S. Congressman Samuel Devine's legislative aide. He later became a partner with the law firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, where he focused on municipal and sports law.

   He was twice elected to four-year terms as Columbus city attorney, serving from 1978 to 1985. As the city's chief legal officer, he supervised 42 attorneys in the criminal and civil divisions. During his tenure, he streamlined the prosecutor division, making it more responsive to community needs.

   Under his leadership as mayor, Columbus has become one of America's premier inland international cities. In 1994, the city hosted the United Nations World Summit on Trade Efficiency, at which officials from around the globe discussed ways to increase trade through electronic commerce. Through Lashutka's initiatives, such as the Inland Port project and Trade Point USA, central Ohio businesses can increase trade and expand their operations.

   In 1993, he was named Municipal Leader of the Year by American City and County magazine. He was president of the National League of Cities in 1996, serving as a spokesman and representative for more than 3,000 municipalities nationwide. He is a frequent speaker to legal and municipal audiences throughout the country, and he has coordinated numerous county and statewide political campaigns for local, regional and national candidates. Lashutka will deliver the commencement address during the ceremony.

   Ilse Lehiste, now professor emeritus in Ohio State's Department of Linguistics, founded that department in 1965 and brought it to a position of international prominence.

   A native of Estonia, Lehiste earned a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Hamburg, Germany, in 1948 and a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Michigan in 1959. She began her academic career in this country as an associate professor at Kansas Wesleyan University in 1950. She then held academic appointments at Detroit Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan before joining the Ohio State faculty in 1963 as an associate professor in the Department of Slavic Languages. She was named professor of linguistics and chair of the newly formed Department of Linguistics in 1965, serving in that capacity until her retirement in 1987.

   Long recognized for her scholarship, she is the author of six books, including the standard and most widely cited work on intonation, Suprasegmentals (1970); co-author of three books; and author or co-author of more than 165 articles and 100 reviews. She has held two Guggenheim Fellowships and visiting professorships at the University of Cologne, Germany; UCLA; University of Vienna, Austria; University of Tokyo, Japan; and the University of Tartu, Estonia.

   Her pioneering studies of pitch, duration and intensity in a number of languages -- including English, Serbocroation, Estonian, Finnish, Swedish, Faroese, Icelandic, Lithuanian, Latvian, and to a lesser extent German, Czech, Slovene and Japanese -- have brought her international renown as one of the world's great phoneticians. Her recent work has focused on the study of poetic languages and verse structure.

   Ohio State recognized her accomplishments in 1980 with one of its first Distinguished Research Awards. She is a recipient of the order of the Yugoslav Flag with Golden Wreath, and was named a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1990. She is a past president of the Linguistic Society of America and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in additional to membership in numerous other scholarly organizations throughout the world.

   John G. McCoy retired as chief executive officer and chairman of Banc One Corp. in 1984 after a 46-year banking career. He continued as chair of the corporation's executive committee until 1998, when he was named honorary director of the corporation.

   A 1935 graduate of Marietta College, he began his association with Bank One, Columbus NA, then called City National Bank & Trust Co., in 1937, shortly after receiving his M.B.A. from Stanford University. When World War II intervened, he served as chief financial adviser for the War Production Board in Washington, D.C., before serving three years in the North Atlantic in the U.S. Navy.

   Following the war, he returned to City National, where his father, John H. McCoy, was president. He joined the board of directors in 1949 and was named president and CEO in 1958 and chairman and CEO 10 years later. Under his leadership, Bank One became an innovative force in the nation's banking industry, introducing the first automated teller machines and pioneering the use of credit cards. In 1998, under the leadership of McCoy's son, John B. McCoy, Banc One Corp. merged with First Chicago NBD Corp. to form the Chicago-based Bank One Corp.

   Deeply committed to the central Ohio community, McCoy and his wife, Jeanne Bonnet McCoy, have long played a vital role in the cultural and educational life of the area. Both have established endowed scholarships at their alma maters, and they are longtime supporters of the Columbus Museum of Art, the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus, and the Columbus Foundation, which recently awarded McCoy its Harrison M. Sayre Prize recognizing leadership in philanthropy in central Ohio. He also was recently honored by Banc One and The Limited Inc. with the naming of the John G. McCoy Hall of Science and Technology in the new downtown Columbus Center of Science and Industry complex. He and his wife are recipients of the 1998 American Red Cross Humanitarian of the Year Award and the 1998 Jewish National Fund Tree of Life Award.

   His service to Ohio State has been extensive. A founding member of the Ohio State University Foundation Board and the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute Foundation Board, he has been instrumental in several major undertakings at the university, including the successful completion of the 1985-1990 University Campaign. He is a current member of the Foundation Board, and a member of the Max M. Fisher College of Business Campaign Committee. In recognition of his many contributions, Ohio State awarded him its Distinguished Service Award in 1993.

   Kathryn M. Moore is professor and director of the Center for the Study of Advanced Learning Systems at Michigan State University.

   She received B.A. and B.S. degrees, in English and education respectively, in 1965 and an M.A. degree in education in 1966 from Ohio State. She received her Ph.D. in education from the University of Wisconsin in 1972. Her service to Ohio State began in her student days with membership in Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Lambda Delta, Chimes and Mortar Board honoraries. She was named Outstanding Senior Woman in 1965.

   Moore joined the faculty of Cornell University in 1971. In 1977, she moved to Pennsylvania State University as an associate professor, becoming professor and senior research associate at that university's Center for Study of Higher Education in 1984. In 1986 she was named professor and director of the center. She joined the Michigan State faculty in 1988 as professor of education policy and leadership in the College of Education and, in 1991, was appointed chair of the Department of Educational Administration. In 1997, she was named director of the college's Center for the Study of Advanced Learning Systems.

   Long active in alumni affairs at Ohio State, she completed a seven-year term with the Alumni Association board of directors in 1977, having served the previous two years as the board's first woman chair. During this time, she played a key role in planning the relocation of the Alumni Association to the recently completed Longaberger Alumni House. Through the years, she has worked to enhance the relationship between the Alumni Advisory Council, the Alumni Association board and the university community as a whole. She has remained an active participant in Mortar Board, serving as a class representative and a member of the Mortar Board Anniversary Planning Committee in 1989. In 1987, she was one of 40 honorees at Ohio State's 300th commencement.

   Wilburn H. Weddington Sr. is professor emeritus of clinical family medicine and former associate dean of Ohio State's College of Medicine.

   He graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta in 1944 and received his medical degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1948. Following graduation, he trained in general practice radiology at the University of Buffalo in New York. He has participated in additional training programs, including electrocardiography at Harvard University, obstetrics and pediatrics at the University of Mexico in Mexico City and family medicine at Howard University.

   He joined the Ohio State medical faculty in 1980 as a clinical associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine. From 1987 to 1991, he served as associate professor of clinical family medicine, becoming a professor and associate dean of medicine administration in 1991. As associate dean, he played a leading role in recruitment, admissions and advising, particularly of minority students.

   Weddington has long been a respected member of the medical community, serving as president of the Central Ohio Academy of Family Physicians in 1976-77 and as the first African-American president of the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians in 1984-85. He developed the Hilltop Health Center in 1975, the first community health center in Columbus. He is a member of the American, National and Ohio State Medical Associations, the Columbus and Franklin County Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Family Physicians, and is co-founder of the Columbus Chapter of the National Medical Association.

   Since his 1995 retirement, he was appointed to the Ohio Commission on Minority Health and serves as its vice chairman. He is a member of the Development Committee of Ohio State's Department of Family Medicine and a trustee of the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians Foundation Inc. He continues as a valued adviser and mentor to Weddington's Society of Future Physicians, an association of minority pre-medical students.

Contact: Karissa L. Shivley, University Relations, (614) 292-8295