First-Time R. Thayne Robson and Fellow Awards Presented at Fall Conference

The AUBER board of directors recently created two new awards to honor members who are long-time supporters and leaders of the association: the R. Thayne Robson Award and the AUBER Fellow Award. The award recipients were announced by Richard Wobbekind, Chair of the Commendations Committee, at the awards luncheon at the annual conference in Tucson. His remarks appear below.

It is indeed my honor to serve as Commendations Chair this year. As you know, we added two awards in the last two years to honor the
great contributors to this organization: the Thayne Robson Award and the Fellow of AUBER Award.

The Commendations Committee has worked hard to establish criteria, and these have been codified in our bylaws.

I would like to thank the committee members, Jerry Wall, Tom Witt, Ashvin Vibhakar, and Marshall Vest, as well as the other board members who assisted in creating the criteria and nominating candidates.

I would like to read the criteria to you before presenting each award. (Note: The criteria for the awards are listed on the AUBER web site, www.auber.org.)

For those of you who have not heard this previously, we are not presenting any honorary memberships at this meeting. The Membership Chair, Jerry Conover, has received many worthy nominations over the past six months; however, our specific selection process needs to be refined. The new membership chair and board intend to make this selection process a top priority.

Lastly, I am definitely not doing these individuals justice in presenting the awards in that they have contributed far more than the few items I have listed. These comments are brief, but indicate the level of commitment the honorees have exhibited to AUBER.

Our first honoree is a three-decade member of AUBER.

• This person assisted in managing the organization in the mid 1980s when his/her university held the Secretary/Treasurer Office.
• This person was a board member in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1997, and 1998.
• He or she created the organization Guide to Starting a Research Bureau in the early 1980s as well as the Guide to Running a Conference.
• And this person should know something about that, having personally planned and executed three conferences: Hilton Head, Boston, and Hawaii.
• In addition, this person has organized and participated in countless conferences.
• Because this person was both here for the past three decades and remembers, we have affectionately labeled her "the historian."

For all these reasons and many, many more, we recognize Lorena Akioka as a Fellow of AUBER.

Lorena's remarks:

Thank you, AUBER friends and colleagues, for this distinguished honor. Little did I know that my many years of service on AUBER's behalf would culminate with this accolade, which I am proud to accept.

Who knew-all those years ago, when I attended my first AUBER conference at Lake Tahoe-that I would be here, still involved and still anticipating each fall conference. Perhaps it's because I enjoy everything about it: the friends I've made; the countless sessions I've chaired and/or presented; the committees on which I've served; my three separate terms on the board; and yes, the three fall conferences I've hosted. And, of course, I can't forget all those memorable AUBER bus trips, some of which are now AUBER legends.

Few other organizations can offer its members such diversity. For example, where else could you hear a keynote speech about the current economy in a morning session, then learn to line dance (remember the Electric Glide?) after the evening's banquet? That's what I appreciate about AUBER.

Now, as an AUBER Fellow, I look forward to mentoring new members and integrating them into the organization. That sounds pretty staid, doesn't it? Well, just wait until the next AUBER bus trip in Montana!

Lorena Akioka
Selig Center for Economic Growth
University of Georgia

Our next Fellow Award honoree:

• This person attended their first conference in 1967, but began regular attendance in 1986.
• Board member in 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, and 1997.
• Vice President in 1998.
• President Elect in 1999.
• President in 2000.
• Conference host in 2002 (remember the helicopter ride!).
• Chaired numerous committees and organized countless sessions.
• Participates in numerous AUBER sessions presented at other organizations' meetings, including WRSA WEA, and NABE.
• Participates actively in academic conferences that enhance the image of AUBER centers.

For all these reasons and many, many more, we recognize R. Keith Schwer as a Fellow of AUBER.

Keith's remarks:

It was an October surprise. No, I'm not referring to politics or the Boston Red Sox, but the AUBER Fellow Award. Please accept my thanks for the kind honor. The value of this kindness is exceeded only by the warmth, affection, candor, veracity and encouragement of AUBER members.

Keith Schwer
Center for Business and Economic Research
University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Our first R. Thayne Robson Award honoree:

• Attended first annual meeting as director in 1987.
• Board member in 1991 and 1992. When not a board member, he strongly supported the organization.
• Second Vice President in 1995.
• First Vice President in 1996.
• President in 1997.
• Since that time this person has remained a staunch supporter and spokesperson for AUBER, developing strong relationships outside our organization.

Here are a few comments about Tim I received in support of his nomination:

• "Tim's service is motivated by two deeply held convictions. The first is that universities have a duty to participate in the economic and policy areas of their states, providing objective and sound analysis and creating information to help policymakers make sound decisions."
• "At his retirement party, Lee McPheters-another long-time colleague and friend-described his tenure at the head of the Seidman centers as 'the Hogan era.'"
• "Tim has been instrumental in mentoring many novice AUBER members, and thanks to his guidance they grew to assume positions of leadership within the organization."
• "Tim is not only well known and respected among his colleagues in the ASU community, he is universally liked for his warm, approachable personality and wonderful sense of humor. (not sure about that...)."
• "I will say as someone who tends to be on the loud end of the spectrum (not Janet loud) I have tremendous respect for the quiet people who let their actions speak for them. Tim Hogan is just such a person."

I am extremely proud to call him an AUBER colleague and a friend.

For all these reasons and many, many more, we recognize Timothy Hogan as our first Thayne Robson Award winner.

Tim's remarks:

I want to thank AUBER for choosing me as the recipient of the 2004 R. Thayne Robson Award. I was taken by surprise at the awards luncheon in Tucson in October, and I did not think fast enough to make an appropriate statement of thanks at that time. I was pleased when I read that AUBER was creating this award to honor the memory of one of the most respected and well-liked members of our organization (and it made me think how I was going to miss seeing him again at the fall conference). If it had been created a few years earlier, I am certain that its first recipient would have been Thayne himself, because he personified all of its criteria. So I feel very honored to have been chosen as the first person to receive the award. My role as an emeritus faculty researcher is still evolving, but I am looking forward to continued participation in AUBER and keeping in touch with all my AUBER friends in the future.

Tim Hogan
L. William Seidman Research Institute
Arizona State University

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