President Kenneth Garren and Elsie give thumbs-up at the Student Center groundbreaking. (Photo: Lynchburg College, 2013)
The medal is the highest honor given to alumni of the college. It recognizes Roanoke College graduates for leadership, intellectual integrity and dedication to serving their communities.
Garren, who graduated from Roanoke College in 1962, was a member of the track team and is a member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.
He worked at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, where he was part of the manual abort launch of Apollo, before earning his master’s degree in mathematics at William & Mary and a doctorate at Virginia Tech.
Garren returned to Roanoke where he started the college’s math national honor society, Pi Mu Epsilon.
After 34 years with the college, Garren became president of Lynchburg College in 2001. Since joining LC, the college’s undergraduate enrollment has increased by 32 percent and graduate program enrollment has grown 169 percent.
(source: Amy Trent, http://www.newsadvance.com)