For Immediate Release February 24, 2006

For More Information Contact: Diane Brown, 317-274-7711 habrown@iupui.edu

Taylor Excellence in Diversity Award Winners Honored

Pam King David Sabol Hal Broxmeyer

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Chancellor Charles R. Bantz recently presented three individuals with the 2006 Joseph T. Taylor Excellence in Diversity Awards. The winners were honored during the 17 th Annual Joseph Taylor Symposium luncheon held on Feb. 22, 2006, in the University Place Hotel Ballroom.

The names of the winners and summary descriptions of their contributions follow.

Pamela King, director of Adaptive Education Services, works tirelessly to remind the IUPUI community that ability is an important part of diversity and is a constant and effective advocate for students with disabilities. King has gone beyond her office's mission to provide students with disabilities with accommodations that enable their full participation in academic life at IUPUI by developing a series of innovative programs and events designed to enhance the climate for students with disabilities and to assist in the transition from high school to college

David Sabol, lecturer in English and University College, has distinguished his work in and out of the classroom by integrating concerns for diversity into the content, pedagogy, and extra-curricular connections of his courses. Beginning from a deep conviction about the importance of including all students in the strategies for retention and academic success, Sabol has created strategies for engaging and supporting minority students in the Summer Academy Bridge program, the curriculum of the Template for First Year Seminars, and the themes of the Themed Learning Communities that he taught.

Hal E. Broxmeyer, professor and chair of microbiology and immunology and scientific director of the Walther Oncology Center, has directed the Bridges to the Doctorate program at IUPUI. Funded by an National Institutes of Health Bridges grant, Dr. Broxmeyer has led and sustained the connection between the Indiana University School of Medicine and Jackson State University, sponsoring summer research opportunities for undergraduate and master-level students in the hope that such close work with medical research will encourage students from underrepresented populations to pursue careers in academic medicine and perhaps enroll in graduate and professional programs at IUPUI.

The Taylor Symposium was established to honor Joseph T. Taylor, the first dean of the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI. He served as a sociology professor from 1965 to 1983 and as dean from 1967 – 1978. Taylor, who died in September 2000, is remembered for his commitment to dialogue and diversity.

In honor of Taylor 's legacy, the Excellence in Diversity Awards, now in their sixth year, recognize exemplary work by an individual, group or project that has led to at least one of the following:

• increased recruitment and retention of African-American, Hispanic and/or Native American faculty, staff or students;
• enhanced campus climate for diversity through social, cultural, or developmental programs or events;
• engagement of the IUPUI community in promoting diversity as a value through innovative curriculum, research programs or events.

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