LeRoy Walker to Deliver Commencement Address May 18;
Four Distinguished Individuals to Receive Honorary Degrees

LeRoy Walker, a legendary figure in Olympic coaching as well as higher education, will give the keynote address at UNC Asheville’s annual commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 18. Walker is one of four accomplished individuals who will receive honorary degrees. The other honorary degree recipients are Tom Fazio, a world-renowned designer of golf courses and a notable benefactor of children’s causes; Muriel Siebert, a national leader in the field of finance and the first woman to be named a member of the New York Stock Exchange; and Edward Villella, a preeminent figure in dance. The four recipients will each be awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. Commencement will be held at 9:30 a.m. on the terrace of Ramsey Library. Some 520 students are expected to graduate.

Dr. LeRoy Walker

Walker began his 45-year career in education as an athletic coach at N.C. Central University, where he eventually served as chancellor from 1983-1986. The first African American to earn a doctorate in exercise physiology and biomechanics from New York University, Walker became one of the nation’s most successful track and field coaches, producing 111 All-Americans, 40 National Champions and 12 Olympians. Walker also coached Olympic teams from Ethiopia, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya and Trinidad-Tobago. In 1976 he became the first African American to coach a U.S. Olympic team. Twenty years later, at the apex of his four-year term as president of the U.S. Olympic Committee, his influence and stature were cited as pivotal reasons for the 1996 Summer Games to be held in his native Atlanta. In addition, he served as president of the Special Olympics World Games in 1999. Walker has earned an array of awards and recognitions, including an induction into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame.

Tom Fazio

Fazio is a world-renowned designer of golf courses and a notable benefactor of children’s causes. Many of the most acclaimed golf courses built in the United States in recent decades bear his stamp. The popular journal Golf Digest discontinued its poll for best modern-day golf course architect after Fazio claimed that award three consecutive times. He and his wife Sue, who are the parents of six children, reside in Hendersonville. They are active in a variety of charitable endeavors, both in the local community and beyond. Fazio and his wife share a special interest in the welfare of children, providing support for children’s causes throughout the nation via the Tom Fazio Children’s Charity Fund.

Siebert is a national leader in field of finance. In 1967, she became the first woman to be named a member of the New York Stock Exchange and for the next ten years was the only female among its more than one thousand members. Her firm, Muriel Siebert & Co., was an innovative leader in introducing discount brokerage services in 1975. From 1977 to 1982, Siebert served as Superintendent of Banking for the State of New York. Resigning from that post to run for the United States Senate, she lost the Republican primary but remains active in civic and charitable activities.

Edward Villella

Villella is a preeminent figure in dance. Principal dancer with the New York City Ballet from 1958 to 1976, he later became founding artistic director and chief executive officer of the Miami City Ballet, a post in which he continues to serve. Villella has the distinction of being the only American ever asked to dance an encore at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. He has served as a visiting artist at a number of the nation’s leading institutions of higher education, including Harvard, Yale and the United States Military Academy at West Point. Villella serves as a trustee of the Wolf Trap Foundation and the School of American Ballet.

For more information, call the Academic Affairs Office at 828/251-6470.

Media Contacts:

• Tom Byers, UNCA Executive Assistant to the Chancellor, 828/251-6500
• Jill Yarnall, UNCA Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526