S&T announces 2011 Honorary Knights

Posted by
On March 1, 2011

The St. Pat’s Celebration Committee at Missouri University of Science and Technology has announced its 2011 Honorary Knights of St. Patrick. The Honorary Knights are Harvest Collier, Steve Graham, Irina Ivliyeva, Jim Murphy, Ted Ruth, Mary Sheffield Wray, Lonna Sowers and Larry Thomas.


The new knights will be honored during a public Coronation at 9 p.m. Friday, March 11, in Leach Theatre of Castleman Hall on the Missouri S&T campus.

Missouri S&T has been celebrating St. Pat’s since 1908, when a group of students declared that St. Patrick was the patron saint of engineers.

The 2011 St. Pat’s Parade begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 12, on Pine Street in Rolla. Randy Verkamp, Phelps County commissioner, will serve as the parade marshal and as Honorary St. Pat.

Biographical information is as follows:

2011 Honorary Knight
Dr. Harvest Collier is vice provost for undergraduate studies and professor of chemistry at Missouri S&T. Collier’s leadership with pre-freshman and collegiate STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education programs has been demonstrated to contribute to the success of students at Missouri S&T. He focuses on applying collaborative, technology enhanced and experiential learning themes to improve the student experience. Collier is a big proponent of undergraduate research experiences on campus. He is the former chair of the chemistry department and has served as associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Collier earned his Ph.D. from Mississippi State University.

2011 Honorary Knight
Dr. Steve Graham is senior associate vice president for academic affairs for the University of Missouri System. Graham provides overall leadership for academic affairs issues at the UM System and is responsible for the implementation of the UM eLearning initiative. He also holds the rank of professor in education leadership and policy analysis at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Prior to coming to the UM System office, Graham was associate dean for graduate studies and continuing education at the University of Missouri-Columbia, as well as director of continuing professional education. He co-authored the book Academic Quality Work.

2011 Honorary Knight
Dr. Irina Ivliyeva came to Missouri S&T in 1997. Ivliyeva teaches courses on Russian language, literature and civilization. She is also the advisor to the Russian Club on campus. Previously, Ivliyeva taught for eight years at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute. She earned her master’s degree at Lomonossove Moscow State University and her Ph.D. at the Russian Academy of Sciences. Ivliyeva specializes in word formation synthesis, comparative semantics, methods of foreign language teaching and second language acquisition. She has received 13 Outstanding Teaching Awards at Missouri S&T, where she has successfully incorporated multi-media and computer-assisted instruction into all of her classes.


2011 Honorary Knight

Jim Murphy is assistant vice chancellor for student affairs at Missouri S&T. He has worked on campus since 1988. He has expertise in campus community development, facility management and student retention. Murphy promotes a holistic perspective in the student affairs programs and sees this as an effective strategy for encouraging student success. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Steven’s Point and his master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Stout. He is completing a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Missouri. Murphy is a member of the National Association of Student Personal Administrators and the Association of College Personal Administrators.

2011 Honorary Knight
Ted Ruth is director of design and construction management at Missouri S&T. He came to campus in 1993 as a drafting technician. In the past 18 years, Ruth has advanced through the department of physical facilities in various positions. After serving as assistant director of design and construction management since 2000, he became director in 2010. Ruth is responsible for oversight of Missouri S&T’s master planning efforts and all capital construction project requests. During his tenure, the university has undergone a transformation. Among the projects completed are Kummer Student Design Center, Toomey Hall additions and renovation, Chancellor’s Residence renovation, Havener Center and the civil engineering building.

2011 Honorary Knight
Mary Sheffield Wray is the circuit judge for the 25th Judicial Circuit of Missouri. She has served as a judge since 1982. Judge Sheffield graduated from the University of Miami Law School in Coral Gables, Florida. She received her bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University. Sheffield is the former president of the National College of Probate Judges and past president of the Blue Ridge Institute for Juvenile and Family Law Judges. In 2009, at the request of The State Department, she went to Brussels as a liaison judge for the United States at The Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. Sheffield co-founded the Russell House in Phelps County, which provides shelter and court advocacy services to victims of domestic violence. She chairs the Missouri Family Court Committee.

2011 Honorary Knight
Lonna Sowers earned a bachelor’s degree in clothing, textiles and merchandising from Oklahoma State University. She then studied journalism in graduate school at Oklahoma State. Sowers worked as a feature writer and news reporter for the Rolla Daily News. In 1977, she founded Rolla’s first general trade bookstore, Books ‘N Things, which became the largest volume bookstore in Central Missouri. She was a contributing author to the book A Manual on Bookselling: How to Open and Run a Bookstore. Sowers is president of the Rolla Downtown Business Association and a member of the board of directors for the Court Appointed Special Advocates for children in South Central Missouri. She is also a member of the Rolla Ambassadors and the Rolla Rotary Club.

2011 Honorary Knight
Larry Thomas is executive vice president of Central Federal Savings and Loan in Rolla. Thomas graduated from Rolla High School in 1968. He earned a management and marketing degree from Missouri State University in 1972. In 1983, he graduated from the School of Banking of the South at Louisiana State University. Thomas has lived and worked in Rolla for the past 34 years, serving in many leadership roles. He was named Missouri Banker of the Year in 1986. He is a member of the Rolla Kiwanis Club and the Rolla Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors. A big supporter of St. Pat’s, he is in charge of organizing the Corvettes in the annual parade.

2011 Parade Marshal and Honorary St. Pat
Randy Verkamp has served as Phelps County commissioner since 1989. He has presided over the construction of a new courthouse, a new jail and sheriff’s office, and the creation of an enhanced 911 system. Verkamp earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering management at Missouri S&T in 1972. He received an MBA from Drury University in 1974. Verkamp was an Honorary Knight of St. Patrick in 1999. He has served on the board of directors for Missouri Enterprise for more than 20 years and is vice chairman of the board of directors for Phelps County Bank. He has also served as chair of the Missouri Commission on Intergovernmental Cooperation and chair of the state’s Solid Waste Advisory Board.

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On March 1, 2011. Posted in People