Riverside, CA – In its seventy-ninth annual commencement service on June 17, La Sierra University honored community members, faculty, a student, and the president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, for service to the University, the community, and the world.

Before an audience of several thousand, La Sierra University President Lawrence T. Geraty presented crystal trophies to several special people.

The President’s Award to an Outstanding Senior was given to Kar-Yee Yung. Ms. Yung, a graduating senior from Loma Linda, California, as described in her President’s Award recommendation letter from the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, has a "sweet and winning personality making her a delight to work with" and, at the same time, "she’s not a shy and retiring individual, but willing to push and challenge her teachers." She is also described as having a deep, personal commitment to her God and "she lives what she believes, and lives it with pride." Ms. Yung completed her degree with a major in Graphic Design and a minor in Chemistry and has completed the Honors Program. Through her extensive involvement in campus and extra-curricular activities (one of the latest examples being the highest quality Perspectives ever produced, co-edited with Kathy Khoo), Ms. Yung has been a living example of the University’s mission, To Seek, To Know, and To Serve.

Dr. Geraty commented, "The award is based not only on her academic record but on her service to the University, the church and the community. I present it today in recognition of her excellent scholarship and community service within the framework of commitment to the highest ideals of the University."

The Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award was given to René M. Ramos. Dr. Ramos, associate professor of music, came to La Sierra University in 1983. He holds a PhD in historical musicology from Indiana University, Bloomington, a Master of Music degree in piano performance from Andrews University, and a Profesor Superior de Musica degree from Conservatorio Nacional de Musica, of Buenos Aires, Argentina. At La Sierra, Dr. Ramos has taught music history and theory, music form and counterpoint, and other courses. He often writes or contributes to the concert program notes on music selections and performance artists for both La Sierra University and the Riverside concert series. In 1976-77, Dr. Ramos was recipient of an Indiana University Fellowship, and was inducted to Pi Kappa Lambda music honor society in 1977. In 1992, the La Sierra University College of Arts and Sciences recognized him with the Godfrey T. Anderson Award for Excellence in Teaching. His teaching faculty colleagues selected him to receive the 2001 Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award.

Said Dr. Geraty at the presentation: "Dr. Ramos is a demanding but popular teacher. His LSU teaching colleagues, through a process supervised by the Faculty Senate, have selected him for this year's Distinguished Teaching Award based on the following criteria: establishes and maintains a rapport with students seen both inside and outside the classroom, involved in the use of new methods of instruction and active teaching techniques, provides prompt feedback to students, holds high expectations for student achievement, respects diversity of talents and ways of learning, remains involved in mentoring students in research or other areas of student growth, consistently receives high evaluations from students. So it is indeed a privilege, to present him with this plaque and check for $1,500."

The Presidential Citation for Service as a Trustee was presented to Elsie C. Y. Chan. Mrs. Chan has been a Trustee of La Sierra University since 1990. Mrs. Chan is deeply committed to many causes, most of them involving Christian education. She is a philanthropist, church elder, musician, mother of four La Sierra alumni, Pathfinder director, business woman, medical technologist, and member and chair of many boards of directors, including the Loma Linda Chamber of Commerce. She has won numerous awards and citations, including being named one of La Sierra's 75 Outstanding Women by the La Sierra University Women's Resource Center. Mrs. Chan is so well known and loved in Southern California that you will often find her at social and church functions and private gatherings. On those occasions, she is a worthy ambassador of La Sierra University, always seeking connections and support for La Sierra. This year she concludes her service as chair of the La Sierra University Board of Trustees’ Development and Membership Committee.

Commenting on Mrs. Chan, Dr. Geraty said, "Mrs. Chan is first of all a mother of four distinguished alumni of this university, at least one of them with three degrees from LSU. As a University Trustee, she has chaired the Board's Development and Personnel Committee, being personally responsible for bringing to the University more gifts in terms of dollar amounts than any other Trustee. Those of us who know her recognize that seldom does a good thing happen here within the Inland Empire without Elsi Chan being somehow involved. So it is a pleasure for me to present her with this Citation in recognition of her extraordinary service and commitment to the mission and programs of the University as Trustee, ambassador, and friend."

The Presidential Citation for Service to Seventh-day Adventist Higher Education was presented to Phyllis Bryan Paytee. Mrs. Paytee is associate superintendent for curriculum and instruction for the elementary schools of the Southern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. She has served with distinction as an educator in the Southern California Conference and Pacific Union Conference in a variety of teaching and supervisory roles since 1958. Mrs. Paytee has also held contract teaching positions in English and education at La Sierra University since 1970. She holds a Master's degree in education from UCLA. Among her numerous awards and citations, Mrs. Paytee received the 1988-89 Zapara Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the 1991-92 Educator of the Year Award from the National Federation of King's Daughters, USA. She is a member of Phi Delta Kappa Honor Society in Education, and several professional councils and associations. Mrs. Paytee is an active member of the Seventh-day Adventist church, as Sabbath School teacher and superintendent, chorister, organist, and cellist. She is the author of ten resource manuals for teachers and administrators, and 12 curriculum-specific manuals to support and enrich the educational growth of students throughout North America.

In citing Mrs. Paytee's accomplishments, Dr. Geraty remarked, "She has excelled at every level of education through the Master's, and has successfully taught students at every level through the doctorate, including as an adjunct right here at LSU. Unfailingly generous and continually positive and inspirational in her demeanor, she has been a mentor to hundreds of successful teachers through her personal example, her extensive classroom visitation and supervision, and her lectures and published material. Mrs. Paytee honors us this morning by accepting this Presidential Citation."

The Presidential Citation for Excellence in Community Service was given to Mary Ann Stalder. Ms. Stalder is the director of Resource Distribution and Planning with United Way of the Inland Valleys, and her career includes over 37 years of experience in human service management, planning, program development and community/government relations. She has served as executive and program director for several community-based nonprofit organizations, and worked with volunteer boards and committees to achieve organizational plans, community initiatives, and needs assessment projects. Ms. Stalder was a founding board member and executive director of Alternatives to Domestic Violence, and was co-executive director of the Riverside YWCA. The United Way of the Inland Valleys would not have attained its current level of success without her efforts, nor would Riverside be the sensitive community it has become without her example of service.

"Mary Ann has mentored a number of LSU students," said Dr. Geraty, "and I can speak personally about the tremendous encouragement she was to me when I served as the Co-Chair of the Year 2000 campaign for the United Way of the Inland Valleys. There is hardly a service organization in the county, which has not been touched by her counsel, involvement, and unselfish support. What a tremendous difference for good she has been for our region. Today we present her with this Presidential Citation for Excellence in Community Service in recognition of her lifetime contributions to nonprofit and service organizations that have positively impacted so many lives in Riverside."

Honorary doctoral degrees were also awarded at La Sierra's commencement. Faculty and administrators assisted University Provost Ella S. Simmons, in ceremonially "hooding" the honorees.

"This is the highest honor a University like LSU can give," said Dr. Geraty. "In both cases today, the honor is really ours that these two distinguished leaders in their respective fields would honor us with their presence on this occasion."

The honorary Doctor of Music degree was conferred on Wayne H. Hooper. Dr. Hooper is a performer, composer, arranger, recording artist, music teacher, singing evangelist, choral director, ordained minister, administrator, hymnal editor, husband and father. His career as a musician started in the 1920s, as the child of a chorister and voice teacher. Dr. Hooper is a 1941 La Sierra alumnus, and later earned a Master's degree in composition, choral conducting, and radio broadcasting at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Since1944, he has been closely associated with the Voice of Prophecy radio broadcasts, first as a member of the King's Heralds quartet, then as the musical director of the radio ministry and its various crusades and evangelistic programs. He was a member of the planning and production committee of the 1985 Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, and co-edited the hymns. He has published nine volumes of vocal arrangements, and a number of solo songs and choral music. La Sierra University honored Dr. Hooper with a musical tribute at its 2001 Alumni Homecoming, at which the University Church was packed with guests and fans. Based upon his long career of service to God and music, his inspiring compositions and arrangements, his teaching and leadership skills, and his more than 60 years of stellar performance, the La Sierra University music faculty unanimously recommended Wayne Hooper for the honorary degree, Doctor of Music.

"It is fitting that Wayne Hooper's work should be crowned with his alma mater's recognition of his musical contributions to Adventism by the conferral of an honorary Doctor of Music," said Dr. Geraty.

The honorary Doctor of Divinity degree was conferred on Jan Paulsen. Dr. Paulsen is the Seventh-day Adventist denomination’s first world leader to come from so strongly academic a background. An alumnus of Washington Theological Seminary and Andrews University, he earned the Doctor of Theology degree in New Testament from Tübingen University. As a teacher of theology and an educational administrator he has served with distinction in Ghana, Nigeria and England, in addition to his native Norway and now in the United States. His academic training and experience have contributed to the characteristics of open-mindedness and balanced judgment that have marked his career in church leadership. Dr. Paulsen has been a consistent advocate of the denomination’s theological maturation, and has worked to enhance formal participation for educators in the church’s decision-making processes. As a result, in his well-recognized style of judicious balance, his quiet integrity, and his work for mutual respect among all of the church’s diverse participants, he continues to set a tone that is influencing the positive direction of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

"Dr. Paulsen is the denomination's first president with an earned doctoral degree," said Dr. Geraty, "and that a Theology Doctor from no less of a university than Tubingen in Germany. It is because of his honest attempt to lead the church away from narrowness and rigidity and to the light of present truth, and in appreciation of his moves in the direction of inclusivity, collegiality, and trust, that I, on behalf of the trustees of LSU, confer on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa. We will work to make sure he can be rightly proud of his associations with us, and may God continue to lead him and use him to His glory."

The honorees and their families were invited to the President's Reception, held immediately after the commencement service, and treated to chocolate strawberries, trifle, petit-fours, and other elegant delectables. In a relaxed atmosphere, Dr. Geraty interviewed several of the guests, and invited others to speak.