Convocations

Dick Hynes is currently responsible for Sales, Customer Marketing and local marketing functions of Alberto Culver’s Personal Care business in North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America. He is a thirty year veteran in the packaged goods industry where Dick has held positions in sales, marketing, strategic planning and general management with Union Carbide, Frito-Lay, Kraft Foods, Con-Agra and Alberto Culver. A graduate of Florida Atlantic University and the Advanced Executive Program at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business, Dick has served on the Board of Directors of the Students in Free Enterprise, the Industry Affairs Council of the Grocery Manufacturers of America as well as a position on the editorial board for the “Journal for Entrepreneurship Education”.

At the age of 23, Russell Ball began his career in nuclear energy by working on the Manhattan Project, US Army Corps of Engineers, at Berkeley, California. Unable to tell his wife what he actually did at work, he told her he was “making better butter.” When the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, he told her “that was the butter.” He was selected to attend the Oakridge School of Reactor Technology in Oak Ridge, Tennessee – at the time the only such school in the world. He was then assigned to the newly established Nuclear Weapons laboratory at Livermore, California, to serve as technical advisor to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Manager. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, he was the Director of Classification where his assignment was to assign security classifications to all elements of the entire national nuclear weapons program. Back in Livermore (again) he headed the division administering Edward Teller’s program to identify very large engineering projects suitable for the use of nuclear explosives. He completed his 30 year career with the AEC as the head of the La Jolla, California AEC Office administering the design and construction of a novel type of nuclear reactor plant. In addition to his education in nuclear engineering, Mr. Ball holds masters degrees in Chemistry (UC Berkeley) and Economics (BYU). He currently resides in Irvine, California.

Galen Abdur-Razzaq is a talented and extraordinary flutist from Monclair, New Jersey, who has performed both internationally and domestically for over thirty years. Galen is a former student of the Berklee College of Music, Boston, Massachusetts, and a graduate of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Galen holds a master’s degree of fine arts. Galen has performed with other world renowned artists such as pianist Billy Taylor, Houston Person, Melba Moore, Sun Ra, John Patton and many others. Galen is a major entertainment figure on university and college campuses and known for his intellectually stimulating lectures and powerful jazz performances which always result in a demand for an encore performance. Galen’s keen ability to transform an audience with the smooth rich sound of his flute leads to the common conclusion that he is indeed a “master” of music.

"I believe that public education is the great common denominator for our multifaceted, heterogeneous, multicultural society. It is critical that we maintain the public schools as places where the diverse elements of our society come together for common goals," says Steven O. Laing, Utah’s state superintendent of public instruction. As a native of Utah and an educator for more than 25 years, Superintendent Laing understands the need for common goals. He has been a teacher, coach, assistant principal, and principal. He served as the director of secondary education for Iron School District and then as superintendent of Box Elder School District. He was an associate superintendent at the Utah State Office of Education prior to being appointed by the Utah State Board of Education as the state superintendent and taking office in January 1999. At Brigham Young University, he earned a master of education degree with an emphasis in educational administration/community education administration and later an Ed.D. with an emphasis in educational leadership. Superintendent Laing’s vision for the future of Utah’s schools includes a focus on improving literacy and reading skills, continued development of high standards for students along with greater flexibility to reach those standards, increased accountability for administrators and teachers, and improved standards for licensure and professional development.

Gayle F. McKeachnie, Utah’s Lieutenant Governor, has had a distinguished career as a lawyer and legislator in Utah. He is an alumnus of Southern Utah University where he received his B.A. degree. He earned his J.D. degree from the University of Utah College of Law where he was a member of the Utah Law Review and elected to the Order of the Coif. He served four terms in the Utah House of Representatives where he was chairman of the Rules Committee, House Parliamentarian and Majority Whip. He has also served 12 years as a member of and 10 years as the chairman of the Utah State Constitutional Revision Commission. In 1995 he was given the Southern Utah University Distinguished Alumni award and in 1997 he received the Utah State Bar Association Distinguished Lawyer of the Year award. He and his wife, Kathlene, live on and operate a farm and ranch in Vernal, Utah.

Omar Kader is currently President and CEO of Pal-Tech, Inc. in Arlington, VA. Pal-Tech is a government contracting firm and advises in areas such as development assistance, Democracy and governance, Information Technology, Health and Nutrition, and other areas. He has also been the project director for the International Conference “The Technology of Terrorism”. He was the Executive Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and the first full-time Executive Director of the United Palestinian Appeal. He has taught at BYU where he was Assistant Dean in the College of Social Sciences. He has published widely on topics pertaining to the Middle East and Islam. A Palestinian by heritage and a Utahn by birth, he brings a unique perspective to present events in the Middle East.

Damon Polk (Quechan /San Carlos Apache) is the director of the Paradise Child Care Center on the Quechan Indian Reservation. He has also worked as the Wellness Coordinator for the San Pasqual Unified School District where he implemented the Alcohol and Drug Awareness Program for grades K-12. He serves as consultant with the Native Wellness and Healing Institute which serves native people throughout Indian country. Damon is currently seated on the San Pasqual School Board of Trustees and the Regional Occupational Programs Board of Trustees in Imperial County California. Damon travels extensively participating in many Pow-Wows, ceremonies and cultural events. He has served as Head Dancer, Arena Director and has recently emerged as a “Dynamic” Master of Ceremony at many Pow-Wows.

Best known as the founder and Executive Producer of the Tony Award winning Utah Shakespearean Festival, Fred Adams is one of the icons of culture not only in Southern Utah but throughout the entire country. His vision and will have created a cultural treasure which has defined excellence in regional theater and done much to establish a tradition of excellence in the arts for SUU and the community it serves. In addition to his work with the Shakespeare festival, Professor Adams has been on the boards of several other theater companies. He has received the Ernst and Young LLP Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Community Enrichment and several other awards. He is one of the great cultural treasures of Southern Utah in general and SUU in particular. To hear him is to hear the history of the arts in Southern Utah.

Professor Gillette has been the Colbert Curator at MNA from 1998 to 2003 where his responsibilities were research and educational initiatives associated with this endowed chair. He has had a great deal of experience doing field-oriented research dealing with the Cretaceous of Southern Utah, including plesiosaurs and dinosaurs new to science. His honors include a Fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Distinguished Lecturer for the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the James H. Shea Award for science writing and communications and his appointment at MNA as Colbert Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology.