DETROIT -- Cultural historian Dennis Barrie of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and Michigan state Rep. Aldo Vagnozzi of Farmington Hills will receive Distinguished Alumni awards during Wayne State University's winter commencement ceremonies at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 16, in Detroit's Cobo Arena.

Barrie, who earned a doctorate in American cultural history from Wayne State in 1983, is the founding executive director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, where he helped bring the project from conception to reality. His latest creation, the International Spy Museum in the nation's capital, is the only public museum in the world dedicated to the history and contemporary role of espionage.

A graduate of Oberlin College, from which he holds bachelor's and master's degrees, Barrie is president of Cleveland-based Malrite Co., which specializes in planning and building for-profit museums. He began his career with the Smithsonian Institution, where he worked for 11 years. As Midwest director of the Archives of American Art, he worked to document the history of visual arts in America.

Later, he was executive director of the Cincinnati Arts Center from 1983-92.

Vagnozzi, who holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Wayne State, has long been active in politics and community service. As a first-term legislator in the Michigan House, he serves on the Education Committee and the Senior Health, Security and Retirement Committee. He is a former mayor of Farmington Hills, served on that city's council for seven years and was a board member for the Farmington School District.

During a career that spans decades, he served as editor of the AFL-CIO News and the Detroit Labor News and has been active in numerous service organizations, including the Farmington Area Consumer Protection Committee, Farmington Area AARP, Michigan Campaign for Quality Care, Goodfellows of Greater Farmington and the executive committee of Neighborhood House. He has received numerous awards for community service.

Also during commencement, Wayne State seniors Alexandria Conley of Detroit and Daniel Levin of Huntington Woods, Mich., will receive the prestigious David D. Henry Award. The award is given to a man and to a woman in the graduating class who have distinguished themselves through leadership, service and academic achievement.

Conley and Levin are among more than 2,000 students in the winter graduating class.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 12 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students in metropolitan Detroit.