MISSOULA – 

The University of Montana will celebrate its 117th birthday with a party and the annual Charter Day Awards ceremony and reception Thursday, Feb. 18. Area and campus community members are invited to attend the events, which are free and open to the public.

The birthday party, featuring free cupcakes and a UM saxophone quartet, will be held from noon to 1 p.m. in the University Center Atrium.

The Charter Day Awards ceremony and reception to recognize exemplary campus and community members begins at 5 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom.

The University holds birthday festivities each year to celebrate the anniversary of its chartering by the Montana Legislature in 1893 and to honor its dedication to excellence.

Missoula Mayor John Engen will attend the Charter Day Awards ceremony to present an official proclamation of University of Montana Day.

UM Provost Royce Engstrom will preside over presentation of the following 2010 Charter Day Awards:

• Montana Alumni Award:  Dianna Reber Riley. The award recognizes a former UM student for extraordinary service to the University. Riley, a 1988 UM graduate, served as a host parent for African-American students in the earliest days of the University’s Black Studies program and was integral in organizing the fall 2009 40th reunion of Black Studies. 
• ASUM Student Service Award: John Blake. The award recognizes distinguished service and achievement. A UM junior majoring in international relations, Blake represented Montana and the UM student group he co-founded, Montana Equality Now, at the National Equality March in Washington, D.C. 
• Neil S. Bucklew Presidential Service Award: Robert Burke. The award recognizes Montanans who have been notable in their efforts to enhance the bonds among the community, state and University. Burke is a trustee emeritus of the UM Foundation and a University business alumnus. He has served as president of the Montana Bankers Association and as financial adviser for Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. 
• George M. Dennison Presidential Faculty Award for Distinguished Accomplishment: UM Professor Dan Pletscher. The award recognizes distinguished accomplishments that have brought significant recognition to UM at the regional and national levels. Pletscher, who directs UM’s Wildlife Biology Program, joined the faculty in 1984. His research includes endangered species, predator/prey interactions and strategies for conservation. He was featured in a 2007 New York Times article that focused on UM’s ability to draw international graduate students to the Wildlife Biology Program because of its instructors and Montana’s intact natural laboratory that no other leading wildlife program can claim. 
• George M. Dennison Presidential Staff Award for Distinguished Accomplishment: Julee Stearns. The award recognizes distinguished accomplishment within the employee’s work unit that brings excellence, merit, distinction or glory to UM. Stearns earned a master’s degree in health and human performance at UM in 1999 and is now the health promotion specialist for Curry Health Center. As chair of the UM Tobacco Task Force, she leads the effort to create a tobacco-free UM campus beginning fall 2011. 
• Montana Faculty Service Award: UM Professor Donald Potts. The award recognizes dedication and unflagging commitment to UM and its faculty. Potts, who teaches watershed management in UM’s College of Forestry and Conservation, joined the faculty in 1979. He became chair of the Department of Forest Management in 2007. He serves on the Faculty Senate and has chaired and served on the Academic Standards and Curriculum Review Committee and on the Executive Council of the Faculty Senate. He was appointed state climatologist in 2006. 
• Robert T. Pantzer Presidential Humanitarian Award: Kenneth Welt. The award recognizes those who make UM a more humane learning environment. Welt is a clinical psychologist and director of Curry Health Center’s Counseling and Psychological Services. He is a founding member of the UM Crisis Intervention Response Team and a long-serving member of the Admissions Review Committee and the University Council on Student Assault.

For more information about the University’s Charter Day events or the award recipients, call the UM Office of Alumni Relations at 406-243-5211.