Wallace L. Chandler '49, Seena A. Granowsky and A. Wayne McBride received Elon Medallions at ceremonies on opening day of the university's annual planning week, Aug. 20. Medallions are awarded by President Leo M. Lambert to individuals who have rendered outstanding service to Elon over a period of many years. Details…
Chandler, a 1949 alumnus, has served four decades on Elon’s board of trustees, chaired the board from 1991 to 1994 and has been a trusted adviser to three Elon presidents. Chandler served on the search committees that recommended both J. Fred Young and Leo M. Lambert as presidents of Elon and chaired the board’s investment committee, working to increase the university’s endowment.
Chandler has been generous to his alma mater and Chandler Fountain and Plaza at the Ernest A. Koury Sr. Business Center, Wallace L. Chandler Residence Hall, the Chandler Lounge at Rhodes Stadium and the Wallace L. Chandler Scholarship Fund all bear his name. He is a member of the Numen Lumen Society, a $1 million lifetime giving society.
Chandler was awarded Elon’s Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 1978 and received the Ernest T. Steward Award for Alumni Volunteer Involvement from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) in 2005, a national award for service to one’s alma mater.
Granowsky served Elon as a professor of psychology for 30 years before her retirement in 2005. During her time at Elon, she helped establish the psychology department and the psychology major. She was also the director of the women and gender studies program and created many courses such as “Psychology of Women in Latin America” and “Women in Crime.”
Granowsky was honored with Elon’s Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1998. She served Elon in many capacities, participating in the general studies program, developing and leading study abroad programs, and co-authoring a Carnegie grant to advance the scholarship of teaching..
She has also shared her talents with the community, serving as director of the Women’s Resource Center, a member of the Women’s Health Committee at Alamance Regional Medical Center and a facilitator for the Alamance County Women’s Legislative Agenda.
McBride is principal-in-charge of campus planning for McBride Hess Design Group, P.A., a landscape architecture and campus planning firm based in Raleigh, N.C. He is credited with creating the master plan for Elon’s outstanding campus, widely recognized as one of the most beautiful in the nation. He began his work in the mid-1970s, envisioning a physical environment that would reflect the quality of Elon’s academic and cultural programs. He advocated, beautiful vistas, pedestrian-friendly walkways and architecturally harmonious buildings. Among his first suggestions was to replace a parking lot in front of Elon’s signature building, Alamance, with a beautiful plaza and fountain, setting the stage for developments that have continued over his 32-year association with the university. McBride has been integral in the design and planning of numerous Elon facilities including academic buildings, residential complexes, athletic facilities, Young Commons and the recently completed Wallace L. Chandler Fountain and Plaza.