The College of Liberal Arts has announced four winners of the 2008 Pro Bene Meritis Award. College alumnus Julius Glickman, Vice Provost Judy Langlois, philanthropist Lynn Schusterman and Professor Thomas Staley were chosen for their outstanding service to the College of Liberal Arts.
Glickman is an attorney and managing partner of Glickman and Hughes, LLP, in Houston. He is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Houston. As a civic leader and philanthropist, Glickman chairs the Chancellor’s Council at The University of Texas System and serves on the Commission of 125. A longtime supporter of the arts and humanities, Glickman is a major contributor to the Plan II honors program, a founding member of the Blanton Museum of Art and member of the board of directors of Humanities Texas.
Langlois, vice provost and the Charles and Sarah Seay Regents’ Professor of Developmental Psychology, is a leading researcher in children’s social development. She has received national attention for her groundbreaking research on infant development and the formation of social stereotypes. Langlois, who earned her doctor’s degree from Louisiana State University, joined the faculty at the university in 1973. She has served in several key leadership roles on campus, including past associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and interim dean of the college in 1998 and from 2006 to 2007.
Schusterman is an influential philanthropist and friend of the College of Liberal Arts. In 2006, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation endowed the college with a $6 million challenge grant to establish the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies. Schusterman is a leader in many national and international Jewish organizations, including Hillel, The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, Synagogue Transformation and Renewal, and B’nai B’rith Youth Organization. She has focused much of her philanthropic work on programs that promote diversity and leadership among students.
Staley, director of the Harry Ransom Center and professor of English, holds the Harry Huntt Ransom Chair in Liberal Arts. In 2006-07, he chaired the search committee for the dean of the College of Liberal Arts. Staley has written or edited 13 books on James Joyce, Italo Svevo and modern literature. He has chaired four international James Joyce symposia in Dublin and Trieste and is the founding editor of the James Joyce Quarterly, which he edited for 26 years. He also edits a series on literary modernism at The University of Texas Press. Staley has written and spoken widely in the United States and Europe on literary subjects, libraries and the state of the humanities in contemporary culture.
The Pro Bene Meritis Award honors individuals who are committed to the liberal arts, who have made outstanding contributions in professional or philanthropic pursuits, or who have participated in service related to the College of Liberal Arts. This year’s winners will be honored at an awards ceremony on April 17.
