UM professor emeritus, president receive award

University of Montana President George Dennison and philosophy Professor Emeritus Fred McGlynn are among the winners of the 2009 Montana Governor’s Humanities Award.

Established by Gov. Marc Racicot in 1995 and presented by Humanities Montana, the awards honor achievement in humanities scholarship and service and enhancement of public understanding and appreciation of the humanities.

Dennison has been president of UM since 1990. A UM graduate who grew up in Montana, Dennison has chaired the Montana Commission on Community Service since 1991. In 1993 he created the Montana Campus Compact, which has become the largest higher education consortium in the state. He continues to chair MTCC, which has a presence at 19 campuses across the state.

A historian by training, Dennison serves on many state and national boards. He sat on the board of directors of Humanities Montana in the mid-1990s. Throughout his long career, Dennison has been a tireless proponent of the public purposes of higher education — community service, service-learning, volunteerism and civic engagement.

McGlynn, a native of Butte with a graduate degree from Northwestern University, has introduced students to the study of the humanities at UM for more than 40 years. One of the University’s most admired professors, McGlynn has taught philosophy to three generations of students, performed in a number of UM theater productions and played for many years as a member of the UM Jazz Band. He was one of the first professors to win the UM Outstanding Teaching Award, and his nomination for the Governor’s Humanities Award came with letters of support from dozens of associates and students.

Other winners of the 2009 award are:

• Brian Kahn of Helena
• Rick Newby of Helena
• Corby Skinner of Billings

The 2009 recipients will be honored during a ceremony and reception with Gov. Brian Schweitzer at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, June 4, at the Capitol Rotunda in Helena.

A banquet will follow the ceremony and reception, with no-host cocktails at 6 p.m. and a dinner and program at 7 p.m. at the Great Northern Hotel in Helena. For reservations or more information, call Clair Leonard at 406-243-6022 or e-mail clair.leonard@humanitiesmontana.org.