Ripon College Honors Four Alumni

Ripon College honored four of its alumni during a ceremony Friday, June 27. The event was among Alumni Weekend activities at the College.

Jacqueline M. Vieceli, class of 1974, received the Distinguished Alumni Citation. She brings the views of philosophers from throughout history to the forefront of current dialog. Since 2006, she has been director of the Kessel Peace Institute at Minnesota State University, Mankato, which is dedicated to advancing the understanding and the existence of peace at all levels, from the individual to the global community, and promotes peace education; and advocates for human rights, social justice, and sound energy and environmental policies.

In 2011, she was selected to present the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences’ annual Frontier Forum Lecture. Her presentation, “It’s All Mine, But I Stole It Fair and Square,” examined principles of economic justice as expounded by a sample of philosophers around the globe and through history. She discussed economic and political insights of selected thinkers from six civilizations: Western Christian, African, Buddhist, Confucian, Hindu and Islamic.

Her book, A Philosophy of Global Pluralism: A Multicultural Approach to Political Theory, was published in January 2013 by The Edwin Mellen Press.

Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Vieceli lives in Mankato, Minnesota, where she is a professor in the government department at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Lawrence E. Hamilton Jr., class of 1963, received the Distinguished Alumni Citation. He is chief executive officer of Hamilton Properties Corporation, preserving historic buildings while revitalizing downtowns. At Ripon College, he was student body president and editor of the campus newspaper. As a history major, his interest in historic structures would emerge later in his professional life.

In his military career, he directed a Czech-German border resident intelligence office during
the Cold War. In 1970, he joined the Colorado Governor’s Office to build a new downtown campus for the University of Colorado at Denver and two other colleges. The Auraria Campus was the largest capital construction project in state history and preserved several historic buildings slated for demolition: Tivoli Brewery, St. Cajetan’s Church, the Golda Meir house and others that today give the campus its architectural diversity.

After helping write the city plan that led to Denver’s downtown renaissance, he saw
opportunity in Dallas, Texas, which had a huge daytime office population that fled each evening to the suburbs. In 2005, he was pictured on the front page of the Wall Street
Journal that credited him with jump-starting downtown Dallas’s revitalization. His developments there in the past dozen years have brought more than 1,000 loft apartments
and 500 hotel rooms in converted historic buildings that have transformed its downtown into a 24/7 environment of live/work and play.

Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Hamilton now lives in Dallas, Texas.

David G. Hartman, class of 1964, received the Distinguished Alumni Citation. He is a leader in his profession and in his community. He retired in 2005 as senior vice president and chief actuary of the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies after more than 34 years with the company. He has been a leader in numerous professional actuarial organizations, including president of the International Actuarial Association, representing more than 95 percent of all actuaries in the world; chair of the ASTIN Section of the International Actuarial Association; chair of the U.S. Actuarial Standards Board; president of the American Academy of Actuaries; and president of the Casualty Actuarial Society.

He is a member and past chair of the board of trustees of the Overlook (Medical Center) Foundation and chaired the centennial campaign that raised more than $110 million. He also has been active with the Summit Area Public Foundation, the Actuarial Foundation (a national organization), Boy Scouts and United Way, and has been a member of the Ripon College Board of Trustees since 2006. He is an elder in Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church.

Hartman has lived in New Providence, New Jersey, since 1971.​

Lacy T. Rourke, class of 2007, received the Outstanding Young Alumni Award. She is a strong voice for the 1,642 men and women still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War and their families. While a student at Ripon College, she attended the Washington Semester Program and was an intern for the National League of POW/MIA Families.

In 2010, she moved to Washington, D.C., to run the national office of the organization. She has represented the league at events throughout the greater Washington, D.C., area; given speeches; acted as liaison for families; and managed outreach. She also has laid a wreath at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial during the 2012 Memorial Day ceremony; represented MIA families at the White House; and spoken on CSPAN television.

In the fall of 2012, she began a master’s program with the Institute of World Politics in
Washington, D.C. She continues to volunteer with the league as a regional and area coordinator. This year, she will be the communications chair for the league’s 44th Annual Meeting. She also will start a position as special consultant to the Vietnam War 50th Commemoration.

Originally from Yuma, Arizona, Rourke lives in Washington, D.C.

Posted July 2, 2014 in Alumni.

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