In the midst of significant expansions, Grand Valley State University will take time out this coming Wednesday to honor the community leaders who have driven some of the school's recent successes.
The Grand Valley University Foundation's Enrichment Dinner this year will honor Charles E. Johnson II, Fred M. Keller, and Stuart B. Padnos for their generous support of GVSU. Their inductions into the Grand Valley State Hall of Fame will highlight an event that also features renowned political satirist Mark Russell.
Each of these leaders has served his own community well, but we also want to recognize their commitment to higher education in West Michigan, said GVSU President Arend D. Lubbers.
Johnson, the past president and CEO of SPX, has been a corporate and civic leader in Muskegon for more than 25 years. As chairman of GVSU's Lake Michigan Center campaign, he has guided the drive for $5 million to near-completion. The university will break ground June 15 for the new facility on Muskegon Lake, which will be the home of the Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute, including the university's two Great Lakes research and education vessels.
Keller is the noted industrial and philanthropic entrepreneur who took over the Grand Rapids-based Paragon Die and Engineering Company in 1963 and, until recently, served as its chairman. In recognition of his leadership, gift to GVSU, and long support of skills education and GVSU, the university has named the new Fred M. Keller Engineering Laboratories Building in his honor.
Padnos' renaissance-style leadership has spanned the worlds of business, art, and education. His work in his family's business, the Louis Padnos Iron and Metal Company of Holland, led him to develop another career as a sculptor. His often-whimsical pieces, made from scrap materials, grace such venues as the GVSU Allendale Campus and the Frederik Meijer Gardens.
Padnos is also committed to education. In memory of his late wife, he established the Barbara Padnos Scholarship fund to expand the personal and professional horizons of GVSU students through international study. This competitive scholarship program has recently awarded its first grants. The 10 recipients' projects range from the study of art in Florence, Italy, to social justice in Brazil, to language and film in China.
The Enrichment Dinner will be hosted once again by the President of the Grand Valley University Foundation, Richard M. DeVos, whose longtime support and interest in GVSU is now represented most visibly in the stunning new Richard M. DeVos Center in Grand Rapids. This stately facility will be dedicated in September.
Political humorist Mark Russell is a perennial favorite who has delighted Grand Valley audiences with his wit and insight, which is never more pertinent than in an election year such as this. Russell says he enjoys his visits to the Grand Valley University Foundation Enrichment Dinners so much that he considers himself an honorary GVSU alumnus.
The Enrichment Dinner is open to donors who have contributed to the GVSU endowment at the $250 level and beyond. A reception begins at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. in the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids. For more information, call the Grand Valley University Foundation at 771-6530.
