Cecil Bradfield received the alumni association's first citizenship award because throughout his career he has evoked James Madison's spirit of public service.

Alumni Awards Celebrate Citizenship

In honor of James Madison's 250th birthday celebration, the JMU Alumni Association presented the first James Madison Citizenship Award in March. During the James Madison Day Convocation, alumnus and retired professor Cecil Bradfield, Ph.D. ('68), received the award in honor of his 28 years on the faculty and for his role in establishing JMU's Community Service-Learning, Alternative Spring Break and Lifelong Learning programs.

"The JMU Alumni Association thought it appropriate to use this celebration to inaugurate the citizenship award to honor both Madison and an individual who has demonstrated the spirit of Madison's commitment to the public good," says association executive director Justin Thompson. "The programs that Professor Bradfield helped establish on this campus have coalesced into a major component of what the university calls its 'total undergraduate education.'"

Cecil Bradfield retired last year after 28 years as a professor of sociology and more recently as director of JMU's Aging and Family Studies Program, which he founded. He co-founded JMU's Center for Service-Learning with social work professor R. Ann Myers. He also helped establish JMU's Elderhostel program and the Lifelong Learning Institute. He has traveled from Appalachian coal country to Mexico to East Germany raising intercultural awareness and espousing service as an integral part of personal development and civic life.

"The CS-L and Alternative Spring Break programs really connect the in-class and out-of-class learning experience and include communities as active learning partners," says CS-L director Rich Harris.

In April 2000, Bradfield was one of five individuals celebrated by the JMU chapter of the national leadership honor society, ODK, for personifying the university's theme, "all together one." At the ceremony senior Beth Wilkins said, "One thing that I took away from Dr. Bradfield's class was an awareness of the people around me. … The big-gest world problem all of a sudden seemed personal. It made me more aware of the impact I could make. One little personal interaction does make a difference to the whole world. This is the gift that Dr. Bradfield gave us all."

Achievement, service awards

At James Madison Day ceremonies, the alumni association also honored Phoef Sutton ('81) and Jon Craver ('83) for outstanding career achievement and service.

Although unable to attend the ceremony on March 15, Sutton received the Ronald E. Carrier Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award for his Emmy-award winning career in television, film and stage. Craver, of Great Falls received the Distinguished Alumni Service Award in honor of service to JMU during his dual careers in marketing and professional football.

Sutton has received the highest industry awards for writing and producing projects for television, film and stage. He was executive producer and writer for the critically acclaimed NBC television series Cheers, for which he won a pair of Emmy Awards. He also wrote and produced two Bob Newhart sitcoms and served as creative consultant for Almost Perfect (CBS) and Kristin (NBC). His newest project, The Fighting Fitzgeralds premiered on NBC in March.

Sutton has also written screenplays for Mrs. Winterbourne, starring Shirley McLaine, and The Fan, featuring Robert DeNiro. His other film writing and producing credits include Analyze This, A Guy in Love and Men in Black.

Sutton has received a National Endowment for the Arts Playwriting Fellowship, the Norman Lear Award for Comedy Playwriting and the Roberts/Shiras Playwriting Award. He served as a fellow at ShenanArts Playwriting Retreat in Staunton, and his plays have been produced at New Playwrights Theatre in Washington, D.C. In addition to his dramatic writing, Sutton also wrote the novel Always Six O'Clock.

"From his comic shenanigans in JMU's first production of Dinner Theatre in the early 1980s to his current support of JMU and the theater department, Phoef has demonstrated an abiding interest and concern for his alma mater," says JMU theater professor Roger Hall, who nominated Sutton for the award.

This year's alumni ser-vice award winner, Jon Craver, is a partner with the Accenture Consulting firm (formerly Andersen Consulting) and CEO of the new Accenture Business Launch Centre in the greater Washington, D.C., region.

Accenture Consulting is an $8.9 billion global management and technology consulting firm that employs 65,000 people, including 200 JMU alumni, in 48 countries. Jon is a partner in the firm's communications and high technology marketing unit, specializing in electronic commerce, new ventures and telecommunications marketing.

Prior to joining Andersen Consulting, Craver played professional football in the National and Canadian football leagues while attending graduate school at the University of Virginia.

Craver has obtained guest lecturers for JMU's Computer Information System classes, participated in the information systems consulting course and served on the advisory boards of JMU's Electronic Commerce Program, CIS program and College of Business. "Jon has been instrumental in obtaining summer internships for dozens of students, conducted job interviews on campus and participated in the annual job fair," says CIS professor Glenn Smith.

"For over a decade Jon has given his time to students and faculty," says Robert Brookshire, CIS director. "He was instrumental in arranging the donation of more than $70,000 in telecommunications equipment used in a program offered jointly by the College of Business and the College of Integrated Science and Technology. He has helped shape curricula and improved the quality of our programs."

JMU's alumni awards are selected annually from nominations to the alumni board's recognition committee. Recipients are chosen for accomplishment in professional work, recognition by colleagues and commitment to community.

By Michelle Hite ('88)