DETROIT, MI, Oct. 4, 2002 - Wayne State University will celebrate the 26thanniversary of the WSU Arts Achievement Awards at 4:00 p.m. on October 25,2002. Seven outstanding alumni and one member of the community will be recognized for their artistic achievements and dedication to the arts.

Each year, the university recognizes alumni from the Departments of Art and Art History, Art Education, Communication, Dance, English, Music and Theatre. In addition, WSU gives the distinguished Arts Advocate Award to an individual who has shown deep commitment and leadership to the Detroit area art community.

This year's recipients include:
Peter Cummings (Arts Advocate Award)

Mr. Cummings serves as a Board member and Chairman of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and was the founding Chairman of the Martin County Council for the Arts (Florida). Active in real estate development and management, he currently serves as Chairman of The Greater Downtown Partnership, a Board member for Comerica Bank and recently served on the Board of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.

John Nick Pappas - Art and Art History

(BFA '58, MA '59), is a retired professor of sculpture and drawing at Eastern Michigan University, where he taught for 40 years. A 1966 recipient of the Rome Prize Fellowship in Sculpture, his work has been commissioned by hospitals, private individuals and companies.

Harvey Goldstein - Art Education

(BFA '66, M.Ed. '72), is an art teacher and department chair in the Farmington schools. In 2001, he was awarded the National Elementary Art Educator of the Year Award, and the Art Serve Michigan Art Educator of the Year Award.

Dr. Sidney A. Ribeau - Communication

(BA '71), serves as the ninth president of Bowling Green State University. Dr. Ribeau is a member of the State Funding Commission for Higher Education, the American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow Selection Committee, and the ACE Commission on Leadership and Advisory Council. He is also a member of the Boards of the United Way, The Greater Toledo Urban League and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra.

Jennifer Noyer - Dance

(MA '68), is the dance critic for The Albuquerque Journal and past president of the Mountain Arts Council. She initiated the dance program at University-Liggett Schools in Grosse Pointe and is the former Director of Dance at the Cranbrook/Kingswood Schools. Ms. Noyer has received the Dance Teacher of the Year award by the Michigan Dance Association, and the Detroit Metropolitan Dance Project Annual Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Dance Community.

Anca Vlasopolos - English

(BA '70), is an international novelist, poet and Wayne State University Professor of English. She has received the WSU Board of Governors Faculty Recognition Award, YMCA National Writer's Voice Writer-in-Residence Award for Creative Non-Fiction, and the Excellence in Teaching Award. Professor Vlasopolosis listed in the 2000 Outstanding Scholars of the 20th Century, International Authors and Writers Who's Who, and The World of Who's Who among Women.

Don Palmer - Music

(BS '62, M. Ed. '64), is a freelance violinist in the concert, film and television recording industry of Los Angeles. He is also a member of the New American Orchestra, the Los Angeles Modern String Orchestra, and the Composers Workshop.

Kathleen Gaffney - Theatre

(MFA '73), is the co-founder and director of Artsgenesis, Inc., a non-profit arts-in-education organization. Ms. Gaffney is the recipient of the first-ever US Dept. of Education's John Stanford Education Heroes Award, and has received the New Jersey Arts Person of the Year Award, the Jersey City's Woman of Action Award, and Brooklyn School District 21's Arts Education Leadership Award. Ms. Gaffney has also earned distinction as a playwright, artistic director and actress.

The Arts Achievement Awards will take place in the Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium, located in WSU's Law School. The award ceremony will be followed by a reception in the Law School's East Atrium. Both the ceremony and the reception are free and open to the public. A dinner will take place that evening on the campus of Wayne State University. For more information, contact Casandra Ulbrich at (313) 577-5336.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 14 schools and colleges to more than 31,000 students.