Published: Dec. 7, 2000

Editors: For additional information on the award recipients contact Greg Swenson at the Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ-Boulder Office of News Services at (303) 492-3113.

The University of Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ at Boulder will honor four alumni with prestigious awards at the university commencement ceremony on Friday, Dec. 22, at 9:30 a.m. at the Coors Events/Conference Center.

NASA astronaut James Voss and computer software pioneer David Stern will be awarded honorary doctor of science degrees. Charles Wilcox, a staple of the Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ Shakespeare Festival, will receive the University Medal. Barbara Hornby, a longtime proponent of preserving and protecting historic Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ, will receive the universityÂ’s Distinguished Service Award.

Voss is a veteran of four space flights, including a trip to the International Space Station aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. He is scheduled to make a fifth flight in February 2001. Voss received a masterÂ’s degree in aerospace engineering from Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ-Boulder in 1974 and was assigned to NASAÂ’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in 1984, where he was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1987.

Stern, who was born and raised in Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ, conceived and developed Interactive Data Language, a computer language used by scientists and engineers in dozens of fields to rapidly analyze data. IDL is one of the principal processing and visualization tools for Hubble Space Telescope images and El Niño satellite monitoring systems. Stern founded Research Systems, Inc. in Boulder and built it into a company with 75,000 customers worldwide, including NASA, Porsche, Abbott Laboratories and many other companies and laboratories. In October, Stern sold the company to the Eastman Kodak Co.

Wilcox, who received a masterÂ’s degree in theater from Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ-Boulder in 1976, has devoted nearly 30 years of his life to theater production, including 20 years performing with the Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ Shakespeare Festival. He has played many of ShakespeareÂ’s characters including Brutus, Toby Belch, Bottom, Gonzolo, Caliban and John of Gaunt. During the annual Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ Shakespeare Festival he is also frequently seen portraying "Will Shakespeare," a character he created who takes on the role of the famous playwright.

Hornby has spent nearly three decades prompting historic preservation of Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ landmarks and structures and helping present-day Coloradans maintain their connection to Coloradans of the past. She graduated from Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ-Boulder in 1944 with a bachelorÂ’s degree in English literature, and went on to serve as the first woman and professional president of the century-old Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ Historical Society and was one of the founding board members of Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ-BoulderÂ’s Center of the American West. She now serves as vice chair of the Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ Historical Foundation and of the Denver Landmark Commission.