January 14, 2008

LIVINGSTON, Ala.--In addition to the more than 600 graduates honored during fall commencement exercises, The University of West Alabama recognized a distinguished alumnus and three former faculty members for their outstanding achievements. Andrew I. Killgore received an honorary Doctor of Laws, while former professors Violet M. Reed and Richard L. Thurn were inducted into the Society of the Golden Key, the highest honor bestowed upon a UWA graduate or faculty member. Longtime professor Dr. Richard L. Buckner was named Emeritus Professor of Biology.

Retired U.S. Ambassador to the Emirate of Qatar Andrew I. Killgore of Washington, D.C., received a bachelor’s degree in English from UWA in 1943 and a jurist doctorate from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1949 after serving in the 7th Fleet of the U. S. Navy during World War II. After the war, the Demopolis native served as a member of the U.S. Displaced Persons Commission in Germany, and in 1950, he joined the Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer, where he served for over 27 years in numerous posts, including Frankfurt, London, Beirut, Jerusalem, Amman, Baghdad, Tehran, Bahrain and New Zealand. Killgore served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Emirate of Qatar from 1977 until his retirement in 1980.

The publisher of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, a monthly magazine with the largest circulation of any Middle East related publication in North America, Killgore has written extensively on the Persian Gulf states and the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. He is also president and one of the founding members of the American Educational Trust, a non-profit organization founded in 1982 by retired Foreign Service Officers to provide the American public with balanced and accurate information concerning U.S. relations with Middle Eastern states. In 1996, he received the Foreign Service Cup, an annual award given to the retired Foreign Service Officer selected by his or her peers as the outstanding retiree of the year. Killgore is also an active member of the board of the American Near East Refugee Aid Foundation.

Former UWA physical education instructor and library media specialist Violet M. Reed of Livingston received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees and A.A. certification from the University of Alabama. During her career, the Bibb County native taught at the elementary, high school and college levels.

A longtime friend of UWA, Reed came out of retirement in 2004 to assist the UWA financial aid office. In addition to her dedication to UWA, her late husband, Nathaniel E. Reed, also served the University as a professor of English, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Provost.

Reed is a member of Primrose Club, the Livingston Book Club and Alpha Delta Pi, having served as president of each of these organizations. She is also one of the founding members of the Sumter County Wildflower Society, and she has been the membership chairperson of the State Association of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. She is also an avid supporter of the Sumter County Fine Arts Council.

Reed enjoys gardening, crafts and UWA athletics, and she has traveled extensively throughout the United States and abroad. Reed is a member of Brewersville United Methodist Church, where she serves as treasurer and teaches Sunday school to her second generation of students. She has two daughters, Sarah Reed Akin and Dr. Teresa Reed, and three grandchildren.

Former UWA physical science professor Richard L. Thurn earned a bachelor’s degree in geological engineering from Princeton University, a master’s degree in geology at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and an Ed.S. in science education from the University of Iowa.

Before turning to education, Thurn had a successful career as a geologist, serving the U.S. Army as a ground shock research assistant and as an intelligence analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency. He was also a petroleum exploration geophysicist for Phillips Petroleum Company.

Thurn taught at the University of Iowa, where he served as a special research assistant in science education and as summer program coordinator for the Yellowstone Field Program, which hosted high school students from throughout the United States. He also taught science at West Senior High School in Iowa City, Iowa.

In 1980, Mr. Thurn joined the UWA faculty and engineered the expansion of the geology curriculum. He has been a leader in science education in the region, organizing numerous workshops and seminars for state and regional teachers, leading field trips for the Birmingham Paleontological Society and working with the Sumter County Nature Trust to provide summer educational experiences for children. Upon his retirement in August 2002, UWA recognized his distinguished service by naming him Emeritus Professor of Physical Sciences.

Thurn is a longtime member of the Livingston Beautification Board and the Livingston Community Services Society, Inc., serving as an officer in both organizations. He is an active supporter of the Livingston Presbyterian Church, the Sumter County Community Chorus and local theatre groups.

Emeritus Professor Dr. Richard L. Buckner earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology from Western Kentucky University and a doctorate in zoology at The University of Nebraska. He taught at Indiana State University before joining the UWA faculty as an assistant professor of biology in 1978. He was promoted to associate professor in 1984 and professor in 1988. Buckner was instrumental in organizing the University’s environmental science program and in establishing many of the program’s internship sites at regional businesses and industries.

Buckner has published 19 journal articles, and in recent years, he has also pursued his interest of photography through his work on a photographic inventory of Black Belt flora and fauna. His photographic work has also been included in various study guides for biology courses at UWA. Buckner has also served as a reviewer for the Journal of Parasitology, the Journal of the Helminthological Society of Washington and Systematic Parasitology.

He is a member of the Alabama Academy of Science, the American Society of Parasitologists, the Association of Southeastern Biologists, Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society, Helminthological Society of Washington, Phi Kappa Phi and the Southeastern Society of Parasitologists. He is married to Charlotte Pope Buckner, and he has a son, a stepson and a granddaughter.