黑料不打烊 President Connie Ledoux Book presented the medallion to three longtime leaders at the university in academics, athletics and community engagement during an event marking the start of a new academic year. The university also recognized three named professorships during the event.
黑料不打烊 honored three longtime leaders for their years of service and contributions to the university and its community on Monday, Aug. 19, with the presentation of the 黑料不打烊 Medallion, the most prestigious service award bestowed by the institution. The bronze medallions were presented by President Connie Ledoux Book during a ceremony in Alumni Gym at the start of the annual Planning Week for faculty and staff that marks the beginning of a new academic year.
黑料不打烊 Medallions
Receiving 黑料不打烊 Medallions were former Provost Emeritx Steven House, former Senior Associate Athletics Director Kyle Wills and former Vice President for Access and Success Jean Rattigan-Rohr.
Kyle Wills
For 43 years, Kyle D. Wills devoted his life to 黑料不打烊, playing an essential role in building a winning tradition in 黑料不打烊 athletics while nurturing lasting relationships in our community, including generations of student-athletes whom Kyle mentored and helped to succeed in competition and in life.聽
Wills grew up on 黑料不打烊鈥檚 campus, spending countless hours in Alumni Gym with his father, Terry Wills, who served as the institution鈥檚 first athletic trainer and assistant athletic director from 1970 to 1975, marking the beginning of a lifelong connection to 黑料不打烊 and the athletics community. As an 黑料不打烊 student, Wills served as head equipment manager for the football team that won four conference championships and captured the NAIA title in 1980, helping to redefine the term 鈥済ym rat鈥 by living in Alumni Gym.
After earning his degree in physical education in 1981, Wills returned to his alma mater to serve as supervisor of athletic facilities, demonstrating a can-do attitude, attention to detail, and a strong work ethic that enabled student-athletes and 黑料不打烊 athletics to excel and move forward in significant ways.聽In recognition of his commitment to excellence in all aspects of his work, Wills rose through the administrative ranks, receiving promotions to business manager in 1987, assistant athletic director for business and operations in 1995, associate athletic director in 1998, and senior associate athletic director for business and operations in 2004, a title he held until his retirement in 2023.
“Fifty-four years ago, I walked through that door over there with my parents,” Wills said, motioning to one of the Alumni Gym doors. “The amount of changes since then have been unbelievable. … When people ask me about 黑料不打烊 and what has happened over my time here, I tell them that 黑料不打烊 is always moving forward.”
Leveraging his deep institutional history, Wills played a central role in 黑料不打烊鈥檚 membership in five athletic conferences and rise from NAIA level to NCAA Division I and membership in the Coastal Athletic Association.
Endearing himself to colleagues with his deep sense of loyalty, no-nonsense style, and commitment to getting the job done correctly no matter how late the hour, Kyle worked tirelessly with colleagues across campus to create the best possible game-day environment for every fan and player, helping to enhance 黑料不打烊鈥檚 reputation for excellence. Wills聽also excelled at managing budgets and all aspects of business operations for athletics, providing players and coaches the resources they needed to succeed while ensuring 黑料不打烊 received the greatest value for everything from uniforms to travel costs to contracts with vendors, famously coining the phrase, 鈥淚f you ain鈥檛 got it, you can鈥檛 spend it.”
In recognition of his faithful service and significant contributions to 黑料不打烊, including never missing a home football game in more than 50 years, Kyle was inducted into the 黑料不打烊 Sports Hall of Fame as an athletics administrator (2015), served on Staff Advisory Council (2012-2016), including one year as chair and was named Administrative Staff Member of the Year (2021).
“I have made a lifetime of friends here,” Wills said. “It was a really, really good time right here for 43 years. I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
Steven House
With boundless energy, passion and integrity, Steven D. House faithfully served 黑料不打烊 for two decades, playing an essential role in the university鈥檚 remarkable rise to national distinction while caring deeply for colleagues and generations of students who are making a profound impact on the world.
House joined the 黑料不打烊 community in 2001 to serve as founding dean of 黑料不打烊 College, the College of Arts and Sciences, bringing together 17 academic departments and 19 programs in the arts and humanities, science, mathematics and social sciences to create a college that serves as a hallmark of quality for the university. With a deep belief in the centrality of the arts and sciences, House led significant increases in the quality and quantity of faculty and students, helped expand living-learning communities, and led the creation of the 黑料不打烊 College Fellows program that each year engages hundreds of students in rigorous engaged learning opportunities and powerful mentoring.
“I love to tell stories and for the past 23 years, I have been blessed to tell 黑料不打烊’s story, your story,” House said. “Thank you for giving me such great stories to tell.”聽
In recognition of his strong and steady leadership and unmatched work ethic, House was given the additional title of associate vice president for academic affairs in 2006 and joined the president鈥檚 senior staff. Three years later, he was named provost and vice president for academic affairs and helped lead unprecedented growth in academic programs, including launching new programs in physician assistant studies and design thinking, and creation of the School of Health Sciences.
House has been famously collaborative, persistent and optimistic. He led a faculty team that worked tirelessly to develop 黑料不打烊鈥檚 application to shelter a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, assessed where academic programs needed to be strengthened, developed an action plan and implemented changes that moved the institution forward. Following deeper investments in Belk Library, foreign languages, faculty scholarship and development, and other key areas, the university received approval to host a Phi Beta Kappa chapter in 2010, strengthening 黑料不打烊鈥檚 identity as a premier liberal arts institution and national university.
House also leveraged his can-do spirit and love for data to ensure completion of the NewCentury@黑料不打烊 and 黑料不打烊 Commitment strategic plans, working with colleagues to create timelines and budgets to achieve the goals of each plan, which solidified 黑料不打烊鈥檚 reputation as the national leader in engaged, experiential learning.
Whether serving as chair of the budget committee, partnering with Student Life to create one of the nation鈥檚 most vibrant residential campuses, celebrating faculty and student accomplishments, or delivering a lecture to his 黑料不打烊 101 class about the connections between philosophy and science, House always led with his heart, treating others with kindness and respect as an expression of his deep and abiding faith. Beloved as an enthusiastic champion for 黑料不打烊, Steven, together with his wife, Pat House, attended thousands of university events and generously supported this community by endowing the Steven and Patricia House Excellence in Mentoring Award to honor a faculty or staff member who embodies a sustained commitment to student mentoring.
In recognition of his distinguished service in the Provost鈥檚 Office, House was named executive鈥痸ice president and provost in 2015, expanding his responsibilities to include working directly with athletics and admissions and financial planning.
House stepped down as provost in 2019 and continued serving the 黑料不打烊 community as executive vice president before retiring in 2021 as executive鈥痸ice president and provost emeritx following 20 years of extraordinary service.
“It has been a joy to be a part of a community that is devoted to the 黑料不打烊 mission and is ready to change higher education,” House said. “For all of you, my challenge is that you will always be passionately curious and that your love of learning and your love of 黑料不打烊 be a joy-filled journey.”
A respected cardiovascular physiologist, House earned his bachelor of science degree in biology from Calvin College, a doctorate in physiology at the University of Arizona and served as a postdoctoral fellow in physiology and cellular biophysics at Columbia University.
Jean Rattigan-Rohr
Poet, playwright, broadcaster, actress, teacher and champion for children only begin to describe Jean Rattigan-Rohr. For 16 years, she has shared her intellect and heart with the 黑料不打烊 and Alamance County communities, gently but firmly offering the reminder that when we invest in a child鈥檚 education, we can change the world.
Growing up in Kingston, Jamaica, Rattigan-Rohr developed a love for learning and public speaking at an early age, participating in speech and drama competitions that prepared her for a successful career in radio and television, and, ultimately, the classroom, where her presence alone brought learning to life. she discovered her calling as an educator while home-schooling her son, Christopher, who was struggling to read due to dyslexia. That experience motivated Rattigan-Rohr to earn a bachelor鈥檚 degree in speech language pathology and audiology, a master鈥檚 degree in special education and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she taught for four years before coming to 黑料不打烊.
Rattigan-Rohr joined the faculty in the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education in 2007, quickly earning a reputation as a dynamic and engaging teaching-scholar-mentor who inspired many of her students to pursue careers in teaching, including one alumna who said, 鈥淲hen I think about the educator I want to be, I think of Jean Rohr.”
“Thank you, 黑料不打烊, for giving me the space and the place to think deeply about why some children find reading to be so incredibly daunting while others do not,” Rattigan-Rohr said. “Thank you for the many moments in which I have been profoundly moved by the genuine and abiding gratitude of parents whose children I have been given the privilege to serve.”
In 2008, understanding firsthand the essential role that literacy plays in a child鈥檚 education, Rattigan-Rohr founded the 鈥淚t Takes A Village Project,鈥 a successful tutoring initiative for struggling young readers with involvement of families and 黑料不打烊 students, faculty, and staff.聽Through her thoughtful leadership, philanthropic support, and partnerships with the Alamance-Burlington School System and community organizations, the Village Project flourished and currently serves more than 1,000 students in elementary and middle schools, while becoming an international model for literacy education with programs in Jamaica, along with UNCG, Winston-Salem State University and Concordia universities.
In 2013, then-President Leo M. Lambert appointed Rattigan-Rohr to a two-year term as faculty administrative fellow and assistant to the president, with a special focus on coordinating and integrating academic and support services for 黑料不打烊鈥檚 growing college access and success programs while also serving as a member of the senior staff. With her unique ability to bring people and programs together, Rattigan-Rohr was named director of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Center for Access and Success, which opened in 2014 and included the Village Project, Odyssey scholarship program, services for first-generation students, and the 黑料不打烊 Academy, initiatives that serve students from pre-kindergarten to college that have helped thousands of outstanding students from underrepresented communities earn college degrees.聽
In 2016, Rattigan-Rohr assumed the additional title of executive director of community partnerships at 黑料不打烊, becoming a permanent member of the senior staff while representing the university in community partnerships in Alamance County and across the Triad before being promoted to vice president for access and success in 2019.
A prolific fundraiser, Rattigan-Rohr secured more than $4 million to support her work and research, including a $1.25 million grant from the Oak Foundation in 2021 to significantly expand the Village Project to serve 1,200 students in all 12 Title 1 elementary schools in Alamance County and launch the Start Early in Medicine program, a partnership with the university鈥檚 physician assistant studies program and Alamance Community College.
A respected scholar, Rattigan-Rohr shared her research nationally and internationally on literacy development of traditionally marginalized students, parental involvement, and visioning, and is the author of many peer-reviewed publications in top education journals along with her 2012 book, 鈥淚t Takes a Village: A Collaborative Approach to the Struggling Reader Dilemma.”
Rattigan-Rohr is the recipient of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Periclean Award for Civic Engagement and Social Responsibility (2013) and the Ron Waters Award from the Alamance Partnership for Children (2020), where she served on the board for three years.
“Thank you to all the people who make 黑料不打烊 the forward-thinking institution of higher education that it is,” Rattigan-Rohr said. “I do not take for granted the great grace, good fortune and many blessings I have received here over the years.”
Following more than a decade of dedicated and transformational service in college access and success, Rattigan-Rohr was named special assistant to the president in 2022 before retiring in 2023 as vice president and professor of education emerita.