“Witness: The Power of the Photographic Image With David Hume Kennerly,” a free, public lecture and slide presentation by the esteemed news photographer, will take place Thursday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m. in UT’s Student Union Room 2592.

Kennerly

In a career of more than 50 years in photography, Kennerly has been present at and documented many notable moments of the 20th century: President Richard Nixon’s famous farewell from the White House, the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fight of 1971, combat during the Vietnam War, and Robert F. Kennedy’s speech just before his assassination.

James Earl Jones said of this photographer’s presence at history in the making, “David Hume Kennerly is like Forrest Gump, except he was really there.”

At age 25, Kennerly won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography. He is a contributing editor for Newsweek Magazine and has traveled to more than 140 countries on assignment. From 1974 to 1977, he served as President Gerald Ford’s personal photographer.

“It’s truly an honor for us to have David Hume Kennerly come to UT,” said Deborah Orloff, UT professor of art. “He has an incredible array of rich experiences to share as both a photographer and witness to history. This is a really unique opportunity, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”

Kennerly’s visit is presented by the College of Communication and the Arts, and is sponsored by Canon’s Explorers of Light Program.

As a Canon Explorer of Light, Kennerly regularly travels all over the country to discuss his career. Canon Explorers of Light are an elite group of highly accomplished master photographers who share their experiences and insights on their art form. Their lectures and travel are subsidized by Canon.

Click here to download a photo of Kennerly.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Oct. 3, 2013)

The presidents of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and Battelle Memorial Institute will speak at The University of Toledo’s commencement ceremonies Sunday, May 5.

Pianalto

In the morning ceremony Sandra Pianalto, who has been president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland since 2003, will speak to graduates from the colleges of Business and Innovation, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Visual and Performing Arts, and Languages, Literature and Social Sciences at 9:30 a.m. in Savage Arena on the University’s Main Campus.

At the afternoon ceremony Jeff Wadsworth, president and CEO of the Battelle Memorial Institute since 2009, will address graduates from the Judith Herb College of Education, Health Science and Human Service and the College of Adult and Lifelong Learning at 2 p.m.

There are 3,041 candidates for degrees, including 886 candidates for doctoral, education specialist and master’s degrees, and 2,155 for bachelor’s and associate’s degrees. Each ceremony will be webcast live on video.utoledo.edu.

“We are honored to have such accomplished professionals as Sandra Pianalto and Jeff Wadsworth at this celebration of academic achievement,” UT President Lloyd Jacobs said. “These individuals know well the value of higher education and have gone on to do incredible things within their professions and as productive members of their communities. They are both positive role models for our graduates as they move forward in the next chapter of their lives equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills taught by our wonderful faculty.”

Wadsworth

Pianalto will receive an Honorary Doctor of Business Administration and Wadsworth an Honorary Doctor of Engineering. Also receiving an Honorary Doctor of Commercial Science is Robert Savage, a distinguished UT alumnus and co-founder of the Savage & Associates insurance and financial management business in Toledo.

Pianalto began her career at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland in 1983 as an economist in the research department. In 20 years, she ascended to assistant vice president of public affairs, vice president and secretary to the board of directors, first vice president and chief operating officer and finally president and CEO — a position she’s held for 10 years.

Her professional success comes directly from her understanding of the importance of education. The daughter of Italian immigrants who came to America more than 50 years ago, Pianalto had helped them study for their United States citizenship examinations as a third-grader.

Pianalto went on to receive bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from Akron University and The George Washington University.

Wadsworth is president and CEO of Battelle Memorial Institute, which is the world’s largest nonprofit research and development organization. Formed in 1925 in Columbus, Battelle has developed the Xerox machine and a number of innovations in medical technology, telecommunications, environmental waste treatment, homeland security and transportation.

Savage

Before his current position, Wadsworth led Battelle’s Global Laboratory Operations business where he oversaw the management of six national laboratories of the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center.

Wadsworth earned a bachelor’s degree and doctorate in metallurgy from Sheffield University in England. The University also awarded him a Doctor of Metallurgy degree in 1991 for his published work and received an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree in 2004.

Savage, who will receive a UT Honorary Doctor of Commercial Science, received his bachelor’s in business in 1959 from the University and was awarded in 2003 the Gold T Award, the highest honor for UT alumni.

A generous alumnus, he gave in 2006 a $1 million donation that was the catalyst for a new, state-of-the-art center for students in the College of Business and Innovation: The Savage & Associates Complex for Business and Learning Engagement, which opened in 2010.

Savage was a member of the UT Board of Trustees for nine years and trustee for The University of Toledo Foundation for nine years.

The UT colleges that will hold individual commencement ceremonies are:

• College of Nursing, 1 p.m. Friday, May 3 in Savage Arena.
• College of Engineering, graduate commencement ceremony 5 p.m. Friday, May 3 and undergraduate commencement 3 p.m. Saturday, May 4, both in Nitschke Auditorium.
• College of Law, 10 a.m. Saturday, May 4 in Student Union Auditorium.
• College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2 p.m. Saturday, May 4 in Savage Arena.
• College of Medicine and Life Sciences, 2 p.m. Friday, June 7 in Stranahan Theater.

Media Coverage
The Blade (April 30, 2013)
The Blade (April 30, 2013)
The Blade (May 6, 2013)
The Blade (May 6, 2013)
The Blade (May 10, 2013)

Tammy Kinsey, professor and associate chair in UT’s Department of Theatre and Film, is available today beginning at 12:30 p.m. to discuss the results of Sunday’s Academy Awards.

Please contact Jon Strunk at 419.530.7832 if you’re interested in setting up an interview.

The military beginnings of the Jeep are well known. What is less known is how this amazing Toledo vehicle has earned its stripes in agriculture as well.

Colorado-based artist collective M12 is collaborating with UT students and faculty on a unique exhibit reflecting this remarkable history of Toledo’s Jeep. The exhibit will feature a 1954 Willys-Overland Civilian Jeep, which was used on Wednesday to assist 10 UT students and the artists plant trees in Bowling Green, to portray the vehicle as reassurance about the future of post-industrial and post-agricultural realities, and a battle cry for positive social action.

** MEDIA OPPORTUNITY **
The “Universal Future (Where There’s a Willys There’s a Way)” exhibit, which includes the vehicle itself as well as photographs of yesterday’s agricultural use and other media, is being installed 1:30-4 p.m. today in the Center for the Visual Arts Main Gallery when students also will participate in a drawing workshop to design 21st century versions of the universal Jeep.

“Universal Future” is one of two exhibits in which the UT Department of Art is exploring the theme of “Reclaim & Collaborate.” “Harvest: Michigan’s Urban Agriculture,” is a photographic display from artist Daniel Farnum that will be shown in the Center for Visual Arts Clement Gallery.

Farnum will present photographic works that document Michigan’s urban farms. His portraits of participants in this new industry include hipsters, neighborhood teenagers, unemployed factory workers and restaurant owners. Farnum’s works address the eclectic nature of community and optimistic passion for sustainable living.

Both exhibits open with a reception 6-8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21 in the UT Center for the Visual Arts located at 620 Grove Place, next to the Toledo Museum of Art. They are free and open to the public.

“Universal Future” will be on display through Oct. 14 and “Harvest” will be shown through Oct. 21.

The Main Gallery is open 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on Sundays.
The Clement Gallery is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and noon-5 p.m. on Sundays.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Sept. 20, 2012)
The Blade (Sept. 27, 2012)
The Blade (Oct. 4, 2012)

Faculty members at The University of Toledo tomorrow will transform an ordinary parking spot into a temporary public place as part of PARK(ing) Day ­ — an annual worldwide event where metered parking spots are turned into public parks.

The UT Department of Art’s Barbara Miner, Arturo Rodriguez and Art Karen Roderick-Lingeman will share a metered parking spot during the event, which will take place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21 on Adams Street in Uptown Toledo.

Associate professors Miner and Rodriguez will print “plantable posters.” Each of the newsprint posters will contain seeds from local native prairie plants. Visitors to the event will receive information on how to plant their own prairie using the posters.

Roderick-Lingeman, an associate lecturer, will set up a table and invite people to create clay “bones” for another art movement: the One Million Bones Project. Through this movement, thousands of people across the country craft bones while becoming informed about global genocides.

To participate in the Million Bones Project, no artistic experience is necessary, and all materials will be provided. In June 2013, bones from all over the country will be taken and laid together in an installation in Washington, D.C., to represent the mass graves resulting from the genocides.

Jeanne Marie Kusina, coordinator of participatory learning and research, and a visiting faculty member in the UT departments of Philosophy and Women’s and Gender Studies, is coordinating the University’s Million Bones Project.

During PARK(ing) Day in the Glass City, there will be several parks put together by other groups, including the Toledo School for the Arts.

The project has grown since its conception in 2005 when a San Francisco art and design studio converted a single parking space into a park and photos of the art piece went viral on the Internet.

In the past, parking spaces nationwide have been converted into several different publicspaces, including free clinics, bike repair shops, political seminars and even wedding ceremonies. Last year, which was Toledo’s first involvement with the event, there were 27 different parks.

The mission of the event is to call attention to the need for more urban space in communities and to generate debate on how public space is allocated. Once the event is over, groups will tear down their parks, and the areas will again be nothing more than metered parking spaces.

For more information on PARK(ing) Day, visit uptowntoledo.org/parking-day.php.

For more information on the One Million Bones Project, visit onemillionbones.org.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Sept. 22, 2012)