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| Adams wins national award for professional contributions The National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Foundation Board of Directors recently presented Donald V. Adams, executive assistant to President Maxwell for community and alumni affairs, with the national Pillar of the Profession Award. The award recognizes distinguished NASPA Foundation members who have made significant contributions to the student affairs profession and signifies the high regard in which its recipients are held by their student affairs colleagues across the country. "I am very flattered to receive this award," Adams said. "Drake's compatibility with my personal and professional values and the values of the NASPA Foundation has enabled me to develop into the productive professional I am today. I have had the opportunity to work with great student leaders over the years. To see Drake students who see it as the highest honor to be in a position of leadership is a dream come true to an administrator like me." While president of NASPA from 1977-78, Adams worked with the president of the American Council on Education to establish a NASPA office at ACE in Washington, D.C. He also served as consultant and evaluator for the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and ACE. David Walker named Drake Law Dean  David S. Walker, the Dwight D. Opperman distinguished professor of law at Drake
University Law School, became dean of the Law School on July 1.Walker was selected through a national search. He succeeded C. Peter Goplerud III, who, following a 12-month sabbatical, will return to the Law School faculty. Prior to coming to Drake in 1975 as an associate professor of law, Walker was an assistant professor at the University of Akron School of Law from 1969 to 1971. He then worked as a staff attorney and as director of litigation at the Legal Services Organization of Indianapolis. Walker served as dean of Drake Law School from 1987 to 1996. He was named Professor of the Year in 1978, 1981 and 1986. "It is deeply gratifying to have the opportunity to serve again as the dean of the Law School," said Walker. "This is a great law school, strong academically and equally distinguished by its tradition of professional and public service. I am really looking forward to working with President Maxwell and Provost Troyer; with our outstanding faculty, staff and students; and with our many supportive alumni and friends to build on the Law School's accomplishments, fulfill our mission and aspirations, and enhance the University however I can." Fifth-graders visit chemistry labs 
The Drake Chemistry Club welcomed fifth-grade students from Moulton Elementary,
an inner-city school in Des Moines, to campus to participate in hands-on chemistry
activities inside Drake's chemistry department laboratories.At least once a year, the chemistry club opens the chemistry labs of Drake University to young students from the Des Moines community. Past kids-in-chemistry projects have included students from schools in Des Moines' suburbs, as well as children from the Boys' and Girls' Club. This year, Molly Uhlenhake, a general chemistry lab instructor at Drake, suggested bringing the Moulton Elementary School students to Drake because her mother's fifth-grade class was covering the chemistry portion of the students' science curriculum. The kids-in-chemistry projects are meant to encourage students from disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue higher education. "Exposure to a college campus will make college seem less foreign, and seeing the flash and color of chemistry might create an interest in taking more science classes - or even pursuing a career in science," said Bob Berendt, co-president of the chemistry club. In future projects, the chemistry club hopes to provide young students with a tour of Drake's campus, including residence halls, food services and classrooms. |
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| More
than 100 of Drake's best and brightest students were honored at the annual
Leaders & Luminaries ceremony held in April. The celebration honors top students
from each class, as well as outstanding student employees, athletes, leaders
and organizations. During the ceremony, Amber Clapp was named the Oreon E. Scott
Outstanding Senior of the Year, which earned her the honor of representing the
class of 2003 as the student speaker at commencement. Graduates of the Adams
Academy, part of the Donald V. Adams Leadership Institute, accepted their certificates
during the ceremony as well.
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Willoughby receives
Donald V. Adams Spirit of Drake
Award
Presented annually by the Drake Athletics Department, this award recognizes a faculty or staff member for best exemplifying the "Spirit of Drake." As an administrator, role model, leader, adviser and friend to students, faculty and staff at Drake, Willoughby was given the award for playing an instrumental role in fostering an environment of lifelong learning at the University. He recognizes that students are a priority and has worked tirelessly, both out front and behind the scenes. "My position at Drake allows me to be a part of a dynamic community," said Willoughby, who joined the Drake staff 19 years ago. "What I enjoy most about my job are the people that I interact with each and every day." Willoughby said he is most proud when he reflects upon the families that he has assisted as they've moved through the college selection process. "The students and families that consider and eventually enroll at Drake are truly outstanding," he added. "Drake is a special place." In addition, Willoughby said he considers it to be a great honor to receive an award named for Don Adams, executive assistant to President Maxwell for community and alumni affairs. "I've been fortunate to have worked with Don Adams during my years. He has been a role model, teacher, mentor and friend." Jazzy new dean of students has high hoops for Drake and surrounding community
Basketball has been a part of Dr. Ronald Bakari's life since his childhood in Milwaukee, where he played in city and church leagues. Standing 6-foot-4 and noting poor dribbling skills, Bakari, 46, fondly recalls his time in Denmark in the mid-1980s, where he played and coached for the Copenhagen Basketball Association, leading a team of teenage girls to a national championship. He speaks of pickup games (he hopes for many at Drake), learning to shoot ("As I've gotten older, my jumpshot's gotten better"), and a time long ago when he could throw one down. "I used to be able to get up there to dunk," he said. "Not anymore. But I used to." Bakari, whose deanship was announced in late July, officially began his new position Sept. 1, at which time he had much more than basketball on his mind. Replacing Jerry Price, who resigned last semester after 18 years, Bakari will supervise all student life programs and coordinate the personnel services and programs related to the University's student development efforts, including Residential Life, Greek Life and Student Government. "There was nothing to think about" when he was offered the position of dean of students, Bakari said. Despite having applications pending at other universities, he immediately accepted, citing Drake's academic reputation, extracurricular activities and enjoyable people as reasons that the decision was simple. "And it's Division 1 [athletics]," he said with a laugh. Coming from Oneonta, NY, where he was assistant dean of first-year programs at Hartwick College, Bakari seemed eager to move to Des Moines, where he looks forward to being able to "maneuver easily." Upon settling in, he hopes to eventually take advantage of Des Moines' proximity to his hometown, as well as Minneapolis and Chicago, where he has friends and relatives. His wife, Dr. Rosenna Bakari, will be leaving her faculty position at the State University of New York College at Oneonta, so that she and their home-schooled children can move along with Dean Bakari. Initially, she planned to spend the semester in Oneonta with daughter Nailah, 9, and son Sentwali, 11, but the couple decided that the family's transition would be easier if everyone arrived together. Bakari and his family are avid travelers, having recently visited Canada and Maine, among other places, where they spent time outdoors, took photographs and did "too much shopping." They frequently attend jazz concerts, including recent shows by Nancy Wilson and George Benson. Like their father, who is trained on piano and once played trombone in a funk band called The High Choice of Elements, Nailah and Sentwali are taking music lessons. With his many plans, Bakari's family will likely have to put some family time on hold. Besides hoping to attend school events and make himself available to each of Drake's many student organizations, he plans a large number of outreach programs, not only for the University but also for the surrounding community and Des Moines public schools. "I'd be interested in developing a leadership academy program with minorities in Des Moines middle schools and high schools," Bakari said, adding that such a program could be created in conjunction with the Don Adams Leadership Academy. By enhancing Drake's role in the community, Bakari said, public school students might become interested in higher education, possibly even at Drake. Bakari's educational and professional experiences have been plentiful and diverse. He completed a Ph.D. in college student personnel administration from the University of Northern Colorado, as well as a master's degree in education and a bachelor of science from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Besides his assistant deanship at Hartwick College, Bakari has been the director of the Office of Multicultural Student Services and Center at U.W.-La Crosse, a residence hall director at the State University of New York at Oswego and the assistant director of admissions at Texas Christian University. He has had assistantships and internships in Colorado and Minnesota. With such an impressive background and so many plans, one can't help but wonder if Bakari will even have time for the game he loves. |
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