The first lecture, "The Challenge for Outreach for Land-Grant Universities as They Move Into the 21st Century," was given by Russell G. Mawby, chairman emeritus and trustee of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Michigan.
The lecture series, which will feature outstanding guests from all fields, and the Walter Barnard Hill Awards for Distinguished Achievement in Public Service, given each January since 1992, provide The University of Georgia opportunities to acknowledge the many contributions to society made by those in public service, here at the University and beyond. The lecture series and awards program are sponsored by UGA's Office of the Vice President for Services (Outreach).
Also in honor of Hill, The University Georgia renamed an area in the Georgia Center as the "Walter Barnard Hill Atrium." A permanent exhibit is placed at the entrance to the Hill Atrium, which includes information about Hill, the lecture series, and the awards program.
In his address, Mawby sought to look at "public service . . . as dynamic and creative teaching and research carried out in the full dimensions of the human lifespan and the broad range of human association both on and off campus."
"In summation, public service is the spirit which animates some of the best things our public universities do," Mawby said. He also discussed five challenges/ideas ahead for public service and ways in which universities could begin to meet them. The challenges Mawby detailed were as follows: there is a shift in power/control in addressing societal needs back to local responsibility; a dichotomy exists between the nature of the problems (complex) which concern society and the solutions devised (perhaps too narrow); new technologies offer limitless opportunities for the outreach mission; institutions must commit to outreach; and structures and processes for lifelong education must be established within institutions.
"I challenge you now as leaders in higher education to so act that 50 years from now, astute observers will note that you were the cadre that influenced the evolution of higher education, reset its trajectory, dramatically responding to the challenges of your era. May you as educational leaders respond, as did Chancellor Hill a century ago, with the boldness that our time demands," he said.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 by W.K. Kellogg with the goal to "help people help themselves." The Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the world, centers its activities on agriculture, education, health, leadership, and youth and recognizes individual and group initiative (W.K. Kellogg Foundation Annual Report, 1992).
Hill's term is characterized by historians as one of energetic shifts toward a "different" university. According to F. N. Boney (1984, p. 94; cited on p. 6), "Hill began the transformation of a small liberal arts college educating just a chosen few into a major state university committed to serving all the people of Georgia."
Some of the accomplishments of the Hill Administration included expanding the curricula and campus, adding several colleges and schools and planning for others, undertaking successful fundraising efforts, and bringing in a number of faculty who played key roles for many years at the University.
(For more information about Hill: see Boney, F.N. (1984). A Pictorial History of The University of Georgia. Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press; Brooks, Robert Preston. (1955). The University of Georgia Under Sixteen Administrations 1785-1955. Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press; Dyer, Thomas G. (1985). The University of Georgia: A Bicentennial History. Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press; Mathis, Gerald Ray. (1967). Walter Barnard Hill: Chancellor, The University of Georgia 1899-1905. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of Georgia; or contact the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library/University of Georgia Libraries.)
For more information about the Walter Barnard Hill Distinguished Lecture Series, the Walter Barnard Hill Awards for Distinguished Achievement in Public Service, or the service (outreach) program at The University of Georgia, contact the Office of the Vice President for Services (Outreach), 300 Old College, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602-1692, 706-542-6125.