Date:
5/18/2006
Contact: Wendel Sloan at 505.562.2253
Photo ID: (L–R) Charles Chambers, Margaret Willen, Frederick Wuori's daughter Ann Gonsalves, Douglas Jackson and Milton Swenson
PORTALES—The Eastern New Mexico University Foundation recently honored five former faculty members with Distinguished Emeritus Faculty Awards at an awards luncheon on campus. Honorees were: Charles Chambers, Margaret Willen, Frederick Wuori's daughter Ann Gonsalves, Douglas Jackson and Milton Swenson.
Below are their biographical sketches:
Charles Chambers
In 1972, Charles Chambers was hired as Assistant Professor of Agriculture at ENMU. Besides teaching agriculture courses, Chambers was also responsible for the university farm. Soon after, he was asked to coach rodeo, which he did until his retirement in 1998.
As a volunteer, Chambers served on the board of directors for the Southwest Region for the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) and served as the National Faculty President from 1983-1984. Since 1976, Chambers has helped produce the College National Finals Rodeo every year. He is also a charter member of the NIRA Alumni Association Board where he represents New Mexico. In years past, Chambers sat on the Roosevelt County Fair Board and helped with 4H and FFA. He is currently a COPE board member.
Chambers was recognized in 1997 with the Spirit of Eastern Award, inducted in the Greyhound Hall of Honors in 2002 and he and his wife, Evelyn, received the Volunteer of the Year Award in 2003. Since his retirement, he has returned to teach half-time in the agriculture department on two occasions.
He continues to stay active in ENMU and Bench Club activities where he supports all the athletic programs. Each semester he helps coordinate the Bench Club tailgate parties with a goal of at least one tailgate party per season per sport. He has served on several ENMU search committees and is an active member of the First Methodist Church.
Dr. Douglas Jackson
In 1978, Dr. Douglas Jackson joined the ENMU faculty. In his tenure at ENMU, he did consulting work for Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, and Brooks Air Force Base. Jackson received tenure in 1982 and was promoted to professor in 1985. He introduced the mathematics and computer science composite major. He has published 20 papers and has incorporated a great deal of this work into the mathematics and computer science curriculum.
Jackson retired after 22 years of teaching Mathematics and Computer Science at ENMU. He received the ENMU Excellence in Scholarly Activity Award in 1985 for improving Eastern's image to the outside world through his research and consulting activities. Jackson's consulting activities at the Life Sciences Division of the Los Alamos National Laboratory enabled students to obtain permanent as well as cooperative positions at LANL. He and his wife reside in Edgewood, N.M.
Dr. Milton Swenson
Dr. Milton Swenson joined the ENMU faculty teaching Music Literature and History in 1966. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, he edited the Liberal and Fine Arts Review, a refereed journal devoted to scholarly and creative arts in the humanities, and initiated the Cultural Affairs Artists Series which sponsored the appearance of many superb performers at ENMU.
Swenson obtained and rebuilt the ENMU Thornton pipe organ. He also began the Collegium Musicum, a group dedicated to the performance of primarily Renaissance and Baroque music using authentic instruments, costumes and practices. Swenson was the director of the Living History Renaissance Festival in 1984. In 1980, he pioneered the International Educational Exchange, a student foreign exchange program. Swenson also provided his talents to ENMU by the building of a two-manual Baroque harpsichord.
Dr. Margaret Willen
Dr. Margaret Willen started at ENMU in 1979 as an Assistant Professor of Modern Languages, Sociology, and Humanities. She served as both a faculty member and an administrator. Margaret taught all levels of French language and literature, courses in women's studies, and Freshman Seminar. Published works include the areas of twentieth-century French and contemporary francophone literatures, and women's studies.
Willen was the sponsor for ENMU's French club, Franco-Fun, and Alpha Lambda Delta, the national freshman honor society. She chaired various committees including the ENMU Diversity Committee, Women's Studies Committee, and Developmental Studies Advisory Group.
Willen headed the institutional self-study and wrote the final report for the North Central Association team visit in 1997 that led to continuing accreditation for ENMU. She became the Director of the Office of Advising and The Freshman Year in 1998 and headed faculty teams that developed ENMU's Freshman Seminar and the textbook. Since retiring in 2002, Willen and her husband have remodeled their home outside of Santa Fe, journeyed to India, and done volunteer work at the local library and elementary school.
In recent years, she has taught courses in detective fiction and became a facilitator with the international organization, Alternatives to Violence Project. Through AVP, she facilitates both community and prison workshops in northern New Mexico aimed at reducing violence and building community.
Frederick A. Wuori
Frederick A. Wuori started at ENMU in 1963 as Associate Professor of Economics. Prior to moving to Portales, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942 for service in World War II. He was commissioned as an officer and assigned to the 45th Regiment Regular Army and served overseas in the CBI (China, Burma and India) theater of operations until December 1945. He served as a volunteer liaison officer with the Chinese Army and the American Task Force in North and Central Burma and as a convoy officer on the Lido and Burma Roads.
Once the war was over, he was hired by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) as an internal auditor and was stationed in Washington, D.C., London, and Paris. Mr. Wuori believed in service to his community by being a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, Kiwanis and served on the vestry multiple times at various Episcopalian churches.