[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 71 (Friday, June 9, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E940]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


    HONORING BALL STATE PRESIDENT JOHN E. WORTHEN--A GREAT EDUCATOR

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                         HON. DAVID M. McINTOSH

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 8, 2000

  Mr. McINTOSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on the floor of the House of 
Representatives to honor a leader in education in Indiana and the 
nation. In the heart of my district in East Central Indiana lies Ball 
State University, one of the premier institutions of higher education 
in the Midwest. For the last sixteen years Ball State has been under 
the capable guidance of University President John E. Worthen. Sadly, he 
is leaving the university this year.
  Mr. Speaker, greatness is setting bold goals and then having the will 
to accomplish them. John Worthen brought vision and greatness when he 
came to the university in 1984 and has spent the last sixteen years 
putting his vision into practice. Ball State, Indiana, and the nation 
are the better for his efforts. At the start of his administration, 
President Worthen focused on broad goals. He aimed for excellence in 
all things. The university has reached beyond its grasp to accomplish 
his vision. His plan was anchored in the premise that learning should 
be a lifelong pursuit. Under his leadership, Ball State's central 
mission has been to arm students with the skills, knowledge, and 
enthusiasm to continue learning after they leave the university.
  John Worthen always looked to the future of education, not its past. 
He viewed technology as a fundamental component of that mission, and he 
directed Ball State's resources toward acquiring that technology. Ball 
State established courses and workshops to train faculty aid staff to 
use the new technologies and started the Center for Teaching Technology 
to help faculty use this new tool to enhance their instruction. During 
the past ten years, Ball State has spent eighty million dollars on 
renovations that have added computer labs, put Internet access in every 
residence hall room, and wired every classroom to an interactive 
fiberoptic multimedia network. The university now has a student-to-
computer ratio of thirteen-to-one, one of the lowest in the country. 
This year Yahoo! Internet Life magazine ranked Ball State among the top 
twenty in its annual survey of ``most wired'' universities. These 
technological capabilities have also made Ball State a national leader 
in distance education.
  President Worthen's education and training gave him a solid 
background for the challenge of running a university. A Midwesterner, 
he earned a bachelor of science degree in psychology at Northwestern 
University in 1954 and received his master's degree in student 
personnel administration from Columbia University in 1955. He served 
four years in the Navy as a carrier pilot and education and legal 
officer. He attained the rank of lieutenant. He earned an Ed. D. at 
Harvard University in 1964 in counseling psychology and administration 
in higher education. John Worthen began his career in education as the 
dean of men at American University in Washington, D.C., then moved to 
the University of Delaware where he taught education courses and 
accepted various administrative responsibilities. In 1979, he became 
president of Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Ball State University 
invited him to become its eleventh president in 1984.
  Mr. Speaker, I know all of my colleagues join me in saluting a real 
educator, John E. Worthen. Under his leadership, Ball State has 
flourished. In almost the most important fields of education--social 
sciences, science, and technology--President Worthen has made Ball 
State a leader in Indiana and across the nation and both are better off 
for his efforts.
  Mr. Speaker, I have been honored to work along side John Worthen. I 
will miss the benefit of his counsel and wisdom. I wish he and his wife 
Sandra much happiness as they move on to new challenges.

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