Four of five award winners announced during the Governor’s Conference on Postsecondary Education Trusteeship earlier this week have ties to AIKCU institutions.

Secretary of State Trey Grayson presented the Acorn and Outstanding Alumnus of Kentucky (OAK) Awards on behalf of the Kentucky Advocates for Higher Education, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of postsecondary education in Kentucky.

Peter Stanley Fosl, a philosophy professor at Transylvania University, is one of two 2006 Acorn Award recipients. The Acorn Award, first presented in 1992 by the Kentucky Advocates, recognizes outstanding teachers at Kentucky’s public or independent colleges and universities with a $5,000 honorarium. Recipients are chosen based on information they provide about their reasons for selecting college teaching as a profession, their philosophy of teaching, and their professional achievements.

Dr. Fosl, a Louisville resident, earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in philosophy and economics from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He went on to earn a Master of Arts degree and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

As one of his associates described him – “he is a superb and inspiring teacher, an active scholar, a dynamic colleague, and is more than deserving of national recognition.” Dr. Fosl was named Bingham-Young Professor at Transylvania University in 2004. This position brings responsibility to involve all on campus in a thematic and multidisciplinary exploration of a topic. To this end, Dr. Fosl developed and deployed a two-year “Liberty, Security, and Justice Program” that included a new philosophy course, a film series, faculty/student reading groups, and national guest speakers in an effort to focus campus intellectual life around this issue.

When describing why he chose teaching as a profession, he says “There’s a sense in which I didn’t choose teaching as a profession. Rather, teaching chose me.” He is a contributing editor to The Philosophers’ Magazine and has been a member of the editorial board of The Journal of Transcendent Philosophy. His latest book, a collaboration with Julian Baggini called The Ethics Toolkit expected later this year, discusses how to think about ethical issues aimed at a mass audience.

“Transylvania has always placed a high priority on teaching excellence,” said Translvania President Charles L. Shearer. “Peter is one of the finest teachers I have known. He is simply superb, and I am thrilled that his dedication has been recognized by the Council on Postsecondary Education.”

The OAK Awards were inaugurated in 1987 to recognize outstanding alumni of Kentucky colleges and universities. Recipients of the OAK award hold an undergraduate degree from a public or independent Kentucky college or university, have achieved national stature and reputation in their chosen career and have exhibited a lifelong affection for, and attachment to, their alma mater and to Kentucky.

This year’s OAK winners are:

Karen Kaye Caldwell - Transylvania University and the University of Kentucky College of Law

The Honorable Karen Kaye Caldwell, a Lexington resident and a native of Lincoln County, is an alumna of Transylvania University and the University of Kentucky College of Law. After serving as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 1987 – 1991, Caldwell became the youngest in the nation to head the Office of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky at age 35. She was nominated by former President George Bush as one of eight women in the nation and the first woman in Kentucky to serve as a U.S. Attorney.

Caldwell returned to private practice in 1993 specializing in civil and criminal litigation at one of Kentucky’s leading firms. Due to her quality work and reputation for successfully fighting public corruption, President George W. Bush nominated her to the federal bench in 2001. She was unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate to serve as U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky, where she continues to serve today.

As a Transylvania trustee since 2001, Karen has served as a member of the Alumni Executive Board, the president of the Bluegrass Area Alumni Club, and as an adjunct professor. She has given and helped raise money for several projects, including establishment of an endowed scholarship fund for students to study abroad. Transylvania University has honored Karen as a recipient of the Distinguished Services Award, as a nominee at National Philanthropy Day, and as the commencement speaker for the Class of 2005.

Marcetta York Darensbourg - Union College

Dr. Marcetta York Darensbourg is a native of Artemus, Kentucky in Knox County. She received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Union College in Barbourville and her doctorate in inorganic chemistry from the University of Illinois in Urbana. Dr. Darensbourg currently resides in College Station Texas and is a professor at Texas A & M University where she directs the Marcetta Y. Darensbourg Research Laboratories. In addition to her undergraduate and graduate course offerings, Marcetta has served as a research advisor to nearly 40 doctoral students and numerous undergraduates. She goes out of her way to make sure students are exposed to national meetings and visiting scientists, including Noble Prize winners, and continues to be a mentor to many students long after graduation.

Dr. Darensbourg has served as a foreign lecturer and published over 140 research papers, including an article in Nature, a premier international scientific journal, in 2005. She has received several awards for her work in inorganic chemistry including the American Chemical Society Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry. She served on a panel that developed the “Hydrogen Storage Think Tank” report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy to discuss potentially new and promising hydrogen storage technologies.

Dr. Darensbourg attributes much of her success as a scientist and an educator to her experience at Union College. Union college honored Dr. Darensbourg with its inaugural Distinguished Alumni Scholar Award.

William T. Robinson III - Thomas More College and the University of Kentucky College of Law

William T. Robinson III, a resident of Erlanger, Kentucky in Kenton County, is a graduate of Thomas More College and the University of Kentucky College of Law. He currently serves as managing partner of Greenebaum, Doll & McDonald, PLLC, managing the firm’s Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati offices.

As a student at Thomas More, he was instrumental in the founding of the Thomas More Chapter of Phi Alpha Delta International, a professional society for pre-law students, which continues to thrive today. Mr. Robinson began his practice of law in 1971 and continued to be very involved at Thomas More, as a member of the campus community and of the Thomas More Alumni Association. He serves as a college trustee and is very influential in fundraising for the college.

Mr. Robinson has served Kentucky as the president of the Board of Directors of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, member of the National Conference of Community and Justice in Greater Cincinnati, member of the Board of United Way of Greater Cincinnati, an advisory trustee of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, vice chair for Economic Development for the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, chair of the Partnership for Greater Cincinnati, and founding board member of CINCY-TECH USA, the new economy initiative of the Cincinnati Chamber. He was a founding board member of the Tri-County Economic Development Corporation, which has spearheaded the economic renaissance of Northern Kentucky since 1987.

Mr. Robinson has been recognized with a number of distinguished awards and distinctions including Best Lawyer in America for five of the last nine years. He was presented the Governor’s Economic Development Leadership Award in Kentucky in 1997, and was given the Distinguished Alumni Award by Thomas More College in 1982.

(Thanks to CPE and Transylvania PR staffs for providing content for this post. The CPE press release is available here. Full bios of award winners are here . The full Transy release on Dr. Fosl is here.)