| SFSU Public Affairs Press ReleasePublished by the Public Affairs Office at San Francisco State University, Diag Center. |
SAN FRANCISCO, May 2, 2001 ---Thomas Ehrlich, a senior scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in Menlo Park, has been selected to receive the San Francisco State University Presidential Medal for his long commitment to community service learning in higher education.
Ehrlich, who until last year was a Distinguished University Scholar who was based at San Francisco State University, will be awarded the medal at SFSU's commencement exercises on Saturday, May 26 at 12:30 p.m. in Cox Stadium on the campus. The award honors those who have made outstanding contributions to the University and the city of San Francisco that will have long-lasting and widespread benefits for San Francisco State University students and faculty. Past medal winners include arts patron Jane Hohf eld Galante, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, philanthropist Richard Goldman and August Coppola, dean emeritus of SFSU's College of Creative Arts. Recipients are chosen by the University's president, Robert A. Corrigan.
"Thomas Ehrlich's deep commitment to university service learning programs has helped San Francisco State University become a national model in this area," said President Robert A. Corrigan. "Even more, Thomas Ehrlich has galvanized hundreds of universities across the country to take up civic engagement as a vital part of their educational mission. Thanks in large measure to his imagination and determination, American higher education is giving many more students hands-on experience in community settings . As a result, our students are poised to continued to care about their communities long after they leave campus."
Ehrlich, who was president of Indiana University from 1987 to 1994, joined San Francisco State University in 1995 after his retirement from Indiana University. The provost at the University of Pennsylvania from 1982 to 1987, Ehrlich was dean of the Stanford University Law School in the 1970s. He also served as the first director of the International Development Cooperation Agency and the first president of the Legal Services Corporation.
Currently chair of the American Association of Higher Education, Ehrlich is the former chair of the Campus Compact Executive Committee. In addition, Ehrlich serves on the boards of Bennett College, the Center for Civic Education, the Center for Law and Social Policy, the Corporation for National Service, the Public Welfare Foundation and the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. He is also a trustee for the University of Pennsylvania.
Ehrlich, who was instrumental in promoting service learning in the undergraduate curriculum throughout the California State University system, is the author or editor of eight books. His most recent work, "Civic Responsibility and Higher Education," is a collection of essays from national leaders on their work to infuse higher education with civic responsibility among college students. The essays provide both philosophy and working examples of innovative new programs to promote civic responsibility in c olleges and universities across the country. His other books include "The Future of Philanthropy and the Nonprofit Sector in a Changing America," edited with Charles T. Clotfelter (1999); "The Courage to Inquire" (1996); and "International Law and the Use of Force," written with Mary Ellen O'Connell (1993).
A Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude graduate of Harvard in 1956, Ehrlich received his law degree from Harvard in 1959.
Editors note: For more information on the San Francisco State's Commencement on Saturday, May 26 at 12:30 p.m. in Cox Stadium, go to: http://www.sfsu.edu/~pubaff
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