Convocation Features Nobel Laureate, Awards

By Kim Griffing
(336) 758-5237
Jan. 29, 1999

Wake Forest University will celebrate Founders' Day Convocation on Tuesday, Feb. 2, with an address by Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka (Woh-leh Shaw-yin-ka) and the awarding of the Medallion of Merit, the university's highest honor.

The ceremony, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 11 a.m. in Wait Chapel.

Nigerian-born Soyinka is an awarding winning author and human rights advocate. Considered among Africa's finest writers, he won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1986, the first black individual to win the prize in literature. Soyinka, currently the Woodruff Professor of the Arts at Emory University, is also known for speaking out against the human rights violations of Nigeria's military dictators.

Wake Forest will present several awards during Convocation, including its highest honor, the Medallion of Merit. The award's recipient is chosen for outstanding service to the university.

Additional winners will be announced for: the Reid-Doyle Prize for Excellence in Teaching, the Kulynych Family Omicron Delta Kappa Award for Contribution to Student Life, the Award for Excellence in Research and the Joseph Branch Excellence in Teaching Award to a law school faculty member.

Convocation is part of Wake Forest's Year of Globalization and Diversity. For information about Convocation or other events during the year, call 336-758-5237 or visit the Web site at www.wfu.edu.