Film/TV star Tom Skerritt and Blue Cross/Blue Shield CEO Daniel Loepp head up list of honorees

DETROIT (Feb. 6, 2007) – Wayne State University’s College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts will celebrate the 30th annual Ovation Awards (formerly Arts Achievement Awards) Wednesday, March 7, 2007, at the Ritz-Carlton Dearborn.

Outstanding alumni and long-time friends of Wayne State University will be recognized for their dedication to the arts and communication, for achievements in their respective fields of endeavor or for service to the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts.

The 30th annual Ovation Awards event begins at 6pm, March 7, with a VIP Reception followed by a 6:30 Silent Auction and a 7pm Dinner and Awards Program at the Ritz-Carlton Dearborn. RSVP by February 26 to Ovation Awards, (313) 577-0300 or (866) 7-ALUMNI. Visit www.cfpca.wayne.edu/awards.php for more information or contact Jana Stoyanovich, jstoyanovich@wayne.edu, or (313) 577-5336.

Honorees

Tom Skerritt: 2007 recipient of the Dean’s Award for Career Achievement

Film and television actor, director and writer Tom Skerritt won an Emmy Award for Best Actor for his role in CBS\'s Picket Fences, and has been in over 35 films, including Robert Altman\'s MASH, A River Runs Through It, The Turning Point, Alien, and Top Gun. A Detroit native, Skerritt is a graduate of David Mackenzie High School and attended Wayne State for a year at the beginning of his education as an actor.

Leonard Leone: 2007 recipient of the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Service

Wayne State University Distinguished Professor Emeritus Leonard Leone is Director Emeritus and Founder of Wayne State’s Hilberry Theatre. In 1957, WSU Theatre was selected by the U.S. State Department to tour India in a cultural exchange program. Leone and thirteen student actors staged five plays, in rotating repertory, in major Indian cities over a three month period. Inspired by the progress and improvement of the actors under such intensity, Leone founded the Hilberry Graduate Repertory Theatre after returning to Wayne State. Presenting six major productions per season to an audience of over 70,000, the Hilberry is the first of its kind in the nation. Over 650 graduates have participated and many serve nationally as actors, educators and in related professions.

2007 recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Award:

Daniel Loepp (Department of Communication) is President and CEO of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan. Loepp joined the company in 2000 as vice president for governmental affairs after extensive accomplishments in governmental relations and state government. He served as Director of Communication for Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley and Chief of Staff for Michigan House Speaker Curtis Hertel. He is the author of the influential book, Sharing the Balance of Power - An Examination of Shared Power in the Michigan House of Representatives 1993-1994, published by University of Michigan Press. Loepp played a key role in the enactment of insurance market reform legislation in 2003 that helped stabilize the small business health insurance market in Michigan. Since becoming CEO of Blue Cross/Blue Shield, he has led the company through an important stage of strategic realignment, revitalization and acquisition while maintaining a commitment to the company’s core values. Throughout an extraordinary career, Daniel Loepp has demonstrated a profound mastery of the processes of political, corporate and public communication.

Eunice Moore (Maggie Allesee Department of Dance) is Director of Health, Physical Education and Safety for the Detroit Public Schools. More than any other individual over the past 35 years, Eunice Moore’s contributions to dance education set an exemplary standard for dance administration in the public schools. Moore holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Eastern Michigan University and a Master’s of Education and Educational Specialist degrees from Wayne State University in 1975. Eunice Moore began her teaching career in dance education at Cass Technical High School in 1971, where she taught until 1983. From 1983 until 1998, she served as Supervisor of Dance for K-12 schools, as well as Supervisor for Health and Physical Education for Middle Schools. In 1998, Moore was appointed Director of the Office of Health, Physical Education and Safety for the Detroit Public Schools. Her commitment to dance education in Detroit, as well as in the state of Michigan, and nationally, are a testament to her drive to enhance the quality of all students and teachers’ lives everywhere through dance education in the arts.

Larry Walker (Department of Art and Art History) is Professor Emeritus at Georgia State University where he served as Director of the School of Art from 1983 to 1994. His work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at the Huntsville Museum of Art in Alabama, Morehouse and Spelman Colleges in Atlanta, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the LewAllen Contemporary Gallery in Santa Fe, and the Mobile Museum of Art in Alabama, among many others. His art works are a part of several important collections across the country including the African American Museum in Dallas, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Oakland Museum of California, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and university collections at Clark Atlanta University, Florida A & M University, Lander College and the University of the Pacific. Professor Walker earned his Bachelor of Science in Art Education at Wayne State University in 1958 and taught for a number of years in the Detroit Public Schools. He returned to Wayne to earn the Master of Art degree in drawing and painting, graduating in 1963. In all aspects of his career, Larry Walker has generosity and vision in support of and service to visual art and the people who create it.

Wayne State University\'s College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts is educating the next generation of visual artists, musicians, communication professionals and professional actors and dancers. The college offers 16 undergraduate and 12 graduate programs through its five departments of Art and Art History, Communication, Dance, Music and Theatre with students benefiting from expert faculty and state of the art resources. Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 34,000 students.