ASU recognizes 'Visionaries' for 'Passion to Innovate'

April 16, 2007

Arizona State University’s West campus hosted its fifth annual “Visionaries Celebration” April 14, honoring seven community leaders during a celebration that attracted over 300 attendees.<separator></separator>Recognized for their “critical direction and financial support, visionary thinking, commitment to advancing higher education, and their works symbolic of the great accomplishments of ASU’s West campus over the past 23 years,” Rick Miller, Betty and Jean Fairfax, Dr. Carol G. Peck, Jerry and Vickie Moyes and Pit Lucking were honored as 2007 Visionaries.<separator></separator>“Visionaries help this campus work,” said Marjorie Zatz, interim vice president and executive vice provost at the West campus. “Those honored tonight have lifted ASU to a higher level through their generosity and their focus on education and this community’s youth. We are grateful and better for the important role they have played in our success.”<separator></separator>Sponsored by APS, Visionaries were selected by the dean of each of the four colleges at the West campus: John Hepburn (College of Human Services), Barry Ritchie (New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences), Mari Koerner (College of Teacher Education and Leadership) and Gary Waissi (School of Global Management and Leadership). Additionally, Lucking’s recognition was campus-wide.<separator></separator>Here’s a look at the 2007 Visionaries:<separator></separator>Rick Miller (College of Human Services): Miller has spent 40 years advocating, teaching, and supporting America’s children. In addition to his support of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the Phoenix Boys and Girls Club, Miller founded Kids at Hope in 1999. As a national initiative designed to change the paradigm of youth at risk to “Kids at Hope,” the organization has since trained over 14,000 caring adults, and supports over 300 organizations in outreach to more than 300,000 children. Miller is also a founding member of the ASU College of Human Services Dean’s Advisory Board and its Dean’s Advisory Board Scholarship Fund.<separator></separator>Betty and Jean Fairfax (New College): Sisters Betty and Jean Fairfax have been philanthropists for more than three decades and have accomplished much in their lives. Betty Fairfax taught in both Cleveland and Phoenix and continues to work with the Phoenix Union High School District to this day. Since 1970, Jean Fairfax has built a national reputation for increasing the participation of women and minorities in grant-making institutions as donors, policymakers and recipients. The Fairfax sisters have been long-time supporters of the West campus through their funding of a variety of projects, including the recent production of “August in April.”<separator></separator>Dr. Carol G. Peck (College of Teacher Education and Leadership): Dr. Peck is president and CEO of the Rodel Charitable Foundation. The Foundation seeks to improve Arizona’s education system at such a rate it is recognized as one of the best in the country by 2020. A distinguished alumna of the ASU College of Education (now the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education) and former superintendent of the Alhambra School District, Peck serves on ASU’s College of Teacher Education and Leadership Dean’s Advisory Board. Under Peck’s direction, the Rodel Foundation sponsors the Rodel Community Scholars Program at ASU.<separator></separator>Jerry and Vickie Moyes (School of Global Management and Leadership): The Moyes have invested a lifetime of service to children’s and youth organizations, including Swift Charities for Children, the Boys and Girls Club of Metropolitan Phoenix, the West Valley Child Crisis Center and Golden WHEEL. Sponsors of the Jerry and Vickie Moyes Scholarship at the West campus, the Moyes also support higher education with significant contributions to their alma mater, Weber State University, in Ogden, Utah.<separator></separator>Pit Lucking (West campus): Lucking has been instrumental in establishing the ASU Volunteer Services Office and virtual web site to promote involvement and active support of many local non-profit organizations that depend on such participation. An emeritus member of the ASU Foundation’s board of directors, Lucking sponsors the J. Charles and Katherine Wetzler Scholarship at ASU in honor of her parents.