2013 Schedule of Events

Wednesday, February 20

Thursday, February 21

11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
STATE Showcase
Old Main & Concourse, Bone Student Center


Exhibit Registration
Deadline for entries January 25.

2 p.m.
Founders Day Convocation
Braden Auditorium, Bone Student Center

Join us for presentations of some the highest awards bestowed from Illinois State University such as Distinguished Professor, University Professor, Outstanding Teacher and Researcher, Service Initiative, A/P and Civil Service Distinguished Service, Team Excellence, Herb Sanders, Neil Gamsky, Williams Technology Award, Strand Diversity and many others.

6 p.m.
Alumni Awards Dinner
Alumni Center

Please register at Alumni.IllinoisState.edu/awards. Cost to attend is $25.

2013 honorary Degree Recipient

Sean Hayes

Sean Hayes, a former student of voice and acting at Illinois State University, has received critical acclaim for his roles in film, television, and theater, and has become a successful producer. Hayes gained fame as the sarcastic and hilarious Jack McFarland on NBC’s Will & Grace, for which he won an Emmy Award and four Screen Actors Guild Awards and received seven Golden Globe nominations.

Hayes has appeared in several films and received rave reviews last year for his depiction of Larry in the comedy The Three Stooges. He has also appeared in Hit and Run, The Bucket List, and Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss. Up next, he will lend his voice to Monsters University, the prequel to Monsters, Inc.

Hayes’ television credits include roles on Scrubs, 30 Rock, and Martin and Lewis, and guest appearances on Parks and Recreation and Portlandia. He currently can be seen in multiple episodes of the NBC sitcom Up All Night and the NBC drama Smash.

In 2011, Hayes debuted on Broadway in the wildly successful Promises, Promises. Hayes received a Tony Award nomination for his starring role. That same year, he also served as the host of the Tony Awards and later received an Emmy for his work as host.

In 2003, Hayes and producing partner Todd Milliner formed Hazy Mills Productions. Their first production, Situation: Comedy, a documentary television show in search of the next great sitcom, premiered on Bravo in 2005 and garnered wide critical praise. Hazy Mills is currently producing the fourth season of Hot in Cleveland, a scripted comedy for TV Land starring Betty White, among others. Its premiere season generated the highest ratings in the history of TV Land, and the show continues to be one of the top performers on cable television every week. The pair’s other productions include the NBC series Grimm and a sitcom for NBC that will star Hayes.

Posthumous honorary Degree Recipient

J. Michael Adams '69

J. Michael Adams received a Bachelor of Science from Illinois State University in 1969, a Master of Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1972, and a Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1976. He also received a degree from Harvard Graduate School of Education’s institute for educational management program in 1997.

Adams started his academic career at the State University of New York at Oswego, where he became full professor and dean of the Alumni College. He was also a Congressional Fellow for Rep. Carl C. Perkins and served as dean of the Nesbitt College of Design Arts at Drexel University for 15 years.

In July 1999, he became the president of Fairleigh Dickinson University where he launched several innovations, including PublicMind, an independent survey research group, and the United Nations Pathways program. He also helped the institution gain nongovernmental organization (NGO) status at the United Nations and made Fairleigh Dickinson University the first university in the world to earn “Special Consultative Status” with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

Adams died June 21, 2012, of acute myeloid leukemia.