Fort Wayne played large at Ball State University's 155th Commencement ceremonies May 9 on campus. Native sons Ronald Venderly and Craig Hartman were honored by their alma mater for their respective contributions to their professions, communities and higher education.

Venderly, a member of the Class of '64 with a master's degree in guidance and counseling, was recognized with the President's Medal of Distinction, awarded to those who have made significant and unselfish contributions to the advancement of the university, the community, the state or the nation. First struck in 1989, the medal usually is given to honor individuals who have made outstanding contributions outside the academic arena. In Venderly's case, those contributions came first in uniform, then in the business community, and now in a series of charitable benefactions supporting chiefly students, colleges and universities in Indiana.

Following separate careers as an Army infantry officer, schoolteacher and administrator, and successful investment executive with Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch, Venderly with his wife, Joan, established the Venderly Scholarship Fund in 1998. Each year the fund makes it possible for several students from Fort Wayne area high schools to pursue degrees in education at Ball State. He also provides similar scholarships for an additional group of students through his local church. All told, more than 60 students have been able to pursue degrees in nursing and teacher education at Ball State and other Indiana universities as a result of his generosity.

In 2007, the Ronald E. Venderly Charitable Foundation gave $2 million to Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne for scholarships as well as a much-needed pedestrian bridge spanning the St. Joseph River where it intersects campus.

The Fort Wayne philanthropist also gives support to the city's philharmonic orchestra, civic theater, children's zoo and the Scottish Rite Learning Center for Children, leading Ball State President Jo Ann M. Gora ultimately to extol his "exemplary charitable giving" as a "source of great pride and gratitude" for his alma mater. The President's Medal, with the honorary degree, is the highest honor the university can bestow.

Taking note of the challenging economic environment greeting this year's graduates, Venderly told them not to feel discouraged.

"You could almost see the entire campus from here when I was attending in '62, '63 and '64," he said, looking out from the Arts Terrace on Old Quad and reflecting on the university's remarkable success and growth during the past four, sometimes turbulent decades. He urged the assembled throng to take heart from Ball State's achievements, model them, and revel in the fact that a major milestone in their preparation for the future — however uncertain — already is behind them.

"You've already met a great challenge," Venderly said. "You're getting a degree from a fine institution. Very simply, all I have to say is, 'Go get 'em!'"

"Extraordinary opportunities"

World-acclaimed architect Craig Hartman (more precisely from Churubusco in Whitley County) received an honorary doctor of arts degree during this year's spring graduation ceremony. A fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), he has been recognized with more than 50 national and international awards for his designs, which include the International Terminal at San Francisco Airport, the Cathedral of Christ the Light in nearby Oakland, Calif., the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and the Chinese capital's Finance Street.

Among his latest projects is the restoration, renovation and expansion of the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco, where Hartman currently is in practice. One of the few structures to survive the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, the 1890s building by James Knox Taylor — often called "The Versailles of the West" — was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

A 1973 graduate of the College of Architecture and Planning (CAP), Hartman became the AIA's youngest recipient of its Maybeck Lifetime Achievement Award when he was presented that honor in 2001.

He's also lived out a strong interest in architectural education as an invited lecturer and visiting critic at a number of institutions, including Harvard's Graduate School of Design, Stanford University, Rice University, the University of California, Berkeley, and Ball State, with the latter earning special praise from — in the description of Gora — one of its most prominent and celebrated graduates.

"When I think back to this moment in 1973," said Hartman, welcoming the latest class of Ball State alumni, "I could never have imagined the extraordinary opportunities that this university has provided me as one of its graduates.

"Ball State has prepared me well, and as I look out across this sea of fresh faces and great talent … I have enormous optimism for the future of this country and for the enormous challenges that humanity and the world face. I know they will be met by your talent, your vision and what you have learned at this great university."

Approximately 2,500 students received their associate, bachelor's, master's, education specialist or doctoral degrees at this spring's commencement.

By Kevin Burke