{"id":6577,"date":"2025-09-10T16:30:51","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T21:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/secu\/?p=6577"},"modified":"2025-09-10T16:30:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T21:30:51","slug":"honorary-degrees-committee-annual-report-2024-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/secu\/honorary-degrees-committee-annual-report-2024-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Honorary Degrees Committee – Annual Report – 2024-2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Members:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Name<\/th>Rank<\/th>Department<\/th>Div<\/th>E\/A<\/th>Term Ends<\/th>Email<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Kennan Ferguson<\/td>FAC<\/td>Political Science<\/td>SS<\/td>E<\/td>2027<\/td>kennan@uwm.edu<\/td><\/tr>
Cesar Ferreira<\/td>FAC<\/td>Spanish & Portuguese<\/td>AH<\/td>E<\/td>2027<\/td>cferr@uwm.edu<\/td><\/tr>
Jun Kim<\/td>FAC<\/td>Music<\/td>AH<\/td>A<\/td>2027<\/td>kimjy@uwm.edu<\/td><\/tr>
Michele Polfuss, Chair<\/strong><\/td>FAC<\/td>Nursing<\/td>PR<\/td>E<\/td>2027<\/td>mpolfuss@uwm.edu<\/td><\/tr>
Ionel Popa<\/td>FAC<\/td>Physics<\/td>NS<\/td>E<\/td>2027<\/td>popa@uwm.edu<\/td><\/tr>
Susana Antunes<\/td>FAC<\/td>Spanish & Portuguese<\/td>AH<\/td>A<\/td>2026<\/td>antunes@uwm.edu<\/td><\/tr>
Sunny Brysch<\/td>AS<\/td>Teaching and Learning<\/td>–<\/td>A<\/td>2026<\/td>brysch@uwm.edu<\/td><\/tr>
Michael Farrell<\/td>FAC<\/td>Finance<\/td>SS<\/td>E<\/td>2026<\/td>farrell1@uwm.edu<\/td><\/tr>
Melinda Kavanaugh<\/td>FAC<\/td>Social Work<\/td>PR<\/td>E<\/td>2026<\/td>kavanaug@uwm.edu<\/td><\/tr>
Maria Gillespie<\/td>FAC<\/td>Dance<\/td>AH<\/td>E<\/td>2026<\/td>gillespi@uwm.edu<\/td><\/tr>
Derek Webb\u00b2<\/td>AS<\/td>UWM Libraries<\/td>–<\/td>A<\/td>2025<\/td>webbds@uwm.edu<\/td><\/tr>
Gerlinde H\u00f6bel<\/td>FAC<\/td>Biological Sciences<\/td>NS<\/td>A<\/td>2025<\/td>hoebel@uwm.edu<\/td><\/tr>
< >3<\/sup><\/td>FAC<\/td> <\/td>GS<\/td>A<\/td>2025<\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
Mark Schwartz<\/td>FAC<\/td>Geography<\/td>NS<\/td>E<\/td>2025<\/td>mds@uwm.edu<\/td><\/tr>
< > 1<\/sup><\/td>FAC<\/td> <\/td>GS<\/td>E<\/td>2025<\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
Joan Nesbitt<\/td>VC<\/td>University Advancement (Chancellor Rep)<\/td>x-o<\/td>o<\/td>2025<\/td>nesbitjm@uwm.edu<\/td><\/tr>
Johannes Britz<\/td>Vice President<\/td>UW System rep<\/td>x-o<\/td>o<\/td>2024<\/td>jbritz@uwsa.edu<\/td><\/tr>
< ><\/td>Student<\/td>Undergrad<\/td>–<\/td>A<\/td>2025<\/td> <\/td><\/tr>
< ><\/td>Student<\/td>Grad<\/td>–<\/td>A<\/td>2025<\/td> <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
< > Yet to be appointed
x-o\u00a0 Ex-officio
o\u00a0 Serves by virtue of office
Students (2)-1G, 1UG
1 Repl. C. Evans (2025-E)
2 Repl. J. Ebert (2025-A)
3 Repl. G. Jamison (2025-E)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Charter:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A3.1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Honorary Degrees Committee<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Membership<\/span>.\u00a0 Nineteen members as follows: Ten elected Faculty members; three appointed Faculty members; two Academic Staff from the Division of Academic Affairs appointed by the Academic Staff Committee; one graduate student and one undergraduate student; two ex-officio members.\u00a0 Each of the five Faculty Divisions is represented by at least two elected members.\u00a0 Appointed Faculty members are selected by the University Committee.\u00a0 Ex-officio members are the President of the University System, and the Chancellor or designee.\u00a0 The Chair of the committee is designated by the Chancellor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Functions<\/span>\n
      \n
    1. Considers and recommends candidates for honorary degrees in accordance with the following procedure.\u00a0 During the spring semester, the Chair of the Honorary Degrees Committee shall transmit to the Deans, Directors and the Chairs of the Divisions, centers, colleges and departments, invitations for submission to the committee of names of persons to be considered for honorary degrees. A list of previous recipients is to be attached to the call for nominations.\u00a0 At least one-half of those presented as candidates for honorary degrees should have some connection with the University system, the City or the State.\u00a0 The Committee shall present its report and recommendation at a meeting of the University Faculty or Faculty Senate in accordance with the provisions of 1.04(8).\u00a0 A two-thirds affirmative vote of those present and voting at the Faculty meeting or Faculty Senate meeting shall be required to nominate a candidate for an Honorary Degree.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Considers and recommends candidates to be honored on the Ernest Spaights Plaza marker.\u00a0 During the fall semester, the Chair of the Honorary Degrees Committee shall issue to the UWM community a call for submission to the Committee the names of persons to be considered for nominations.\u00a0 The Committee shall meet in the spring semester to select candidates for recommendation to the Chancellor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Considers and recommends, in consultation with the University Committee, candidates for a citation for distinguished service or significant contributions to UWM.\u00a0 The award is given by the Chancellor.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Meetings:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      The UWM Honorary Degrees Committee had a productive AY 2024-25.  The committee met twice (October 2024 and April 2025). The following are highlights of the committee’s accomplishments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      In October 2024, nominations for the 2025 UWM Honorary Degrees were discussed.  Four nominations were received.  All submissions met the criteria based on the SAAP 1-12 Honorary Degrees and Criteria and were reviewed by the committee. Post discussion, four nominees were recommended and shared with the Chancellor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The Spaights Plaza Award Criteria and Call for Nominations were reviewed, and revisions were made and approved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      In April 2025, the Honorary Degrees Committee reviewed the materials of two nominees for the 2025 Ernest Spaights Plaza Award. Both candidates were recommended for the Award. The Honorary Degrees Charter revision was reviewed, and suggested revisions were made. Subsequently, the Codification Committee approved the revision with editorial wording changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Members: Name Rank Department Div E\/A Term Ends Email Kennan Ferguson FAC Political Science SS E 2027 kennan@uwm.edu Cesar Ferreira FAC Spanish & Portuguese AH E 2027 cferr@uwm.edu Jun Kim FAC Music AH A 2027 kimjy@uwm.edu Michele Polfuss, Chair FAC …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5217,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[62],"tags":[17,82,24],"class_list":["post-6577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-honorary-degrees-committee","tag-2024-2025","tag-annual-report","tag-faculty"],"yoast_head":"\nSecretary of the University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/secu\/honorary-degrees-committee-annual-report-2024-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Honorary Degrees Committee - 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