Weber Receives the First University Alumni Medallion Award
Dr. Arthur D. (Dad) Weber, vice president emeritus at Kansas State University, Manhattan, has been selected to receive the first University Alumni Medallion.
The award will be presented to him by KSU President James A. McCain during commencement May 31.
A seven-man committee composed of five alumni and two faculty selected Dr. Weber for the initial award.
"There is no one more deserving or fitting to receive our first award than is Dr. Weber," H. Dean Hess, executive secretary of the alumni association, said.
"His importance is truly international in scope," Hess said, "and he has contributed greatly to mankind."
Dr. Weber holds two degrees from KSU and a doctorate from Purdue University. He began his career as an instructor at K-State in 1924.
He later held every rank at the university, including dean of agriculture and vice president. He was acting president for six months in 1957 and frequently for shorter periods.
He was named vice president in 1962. A year later he became director of all international activities at the university.
The last three years before his retirement in 1958, he was chief of the K-State faculty in India and was a special adviser at Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University.
In addition to being active in a number of scientific and honorary organizations, Dr. Weber also is a frequent contributor to the agricultural press.
He has a world-renowned reputation as a livestock judge, having taken part in expositions all around the world.
He was the first American to select a grand champion steer at the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago.
Along with a number of distinguished service awards and honors, Dr. Weber was named by the Kansas Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, as one of the 10 most outstanding Kansans in the first century of statehood.
He was born June 17, 1898, in Muscotah, Kan., and was graduated from Atchinson County High School in 1917. He recieved a B.S. degree from K-State in 1922, and an M.S. in 1926.
Announcement that the University Alumni Medallion has been created was made in February.
In future years, other alumni will be selected on the basis of their outstanding careers; contributions to community, state and nation; and humanitarian service to society.