CONWAY, Ark. (October 18, 2019) – Hendrix College will award its
2019-2020 Odyssey Medals on Thursday, November 14, during a special reception
in the Great Hall of the Clinton Presidential Center. Alumni receiving this
year’s honors are Patterson Clark ’77 for Artistic Creativity; Dr. Rebekah
Miles ’82 for Research; and Mike Mills ’74 for Professional and Leadership
Development. The reception begins at 5:30 p.m., with the presentation of medals
at 6 p.m.
The Odyssey Medal is presented to alumni whose life achievements
exemplify the ideals of the Hendrix Odyssey Program. Medalists are selected by the
Hendrix Board of Trustees for their accomplishments in one of the six Odyssey
categories: Artistic Creativity, Global Awareness, Professional and Leadership
Development, Service to the World, Research, or Special Projects.
Artist and journalist Patterson
Clark produces data visualizations and informational graphics related to
energy and environmental policy for the news organization Politico. His
journalism career began at The Arkansas Gazette in the 1980s and continued at
The Miami Herald. For 20 years, Patterson served as science graphics editor for
The Washington Post and highlighted unusual details about D.C.’s flora and
fauna in Urban Jungle, a weekly natural history column he wrote and illustrated.
As a National Park Service volunteer, he removes invasive vegetation from a
park near his Washington, D.C. home and converts the harvest into art that
spotlights the hidden value inherent in alien weeds.
Native Arkansan and sixth generation United Methodist Dr. Rebekah Miles is Professor of
Ethics and Practical Theology at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist
University in Dallas. She teaches and writes in the areas of ethics and
theology, shepherds students through their theological education, and works to
strengthen ties between theological school and church. A moral theologian, she
is an author, co-author, and editor of numerous articles, books, essays, and
papers. Miles is currently working on a book on death and several essays on
political theology. She and her husband, Len Delony ’81, are United Methodist
clergy members of the Arkansas Conference where they once served as co-pastors
for two rural churches.
For more than four decades, Mike
Mills has been the Natural State’s foremost tourism ambassador and
entrepreneur. In 1976, he founded Buffalo Outdoor Center on the Buffalo
National River, and later developed the state’s first log cabin resort and
first zip line canopy tour. He has served on numerous organizations devoted to
conservation, economic development, hospitality, and outdoor recreation. A 2018
Arkansas Tourism Hall of Fame inductee, Mills has appeared in National
Geographic among many other state and national publications, and has received
numerous awards and honors for his tireless advocacy of Arkansas’ outdoors and
tourism.
Established in 2004, the Odyssey
Program requires all
Hendrix College students to complete three Odyssey experiences or projects
during their undergraduate careers, in three of the six Odyssey categories. The
program ensures that students look beyond the classroom to experience
educational opportunities in the liberal arts and sciences.
About Hendrix College
A private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix College
consistently earns recognition as one of the country’s leading liberal arts
institutions, and is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools
That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges. Its academic quality and
rigor, innovation, and value have established Hendrix as a fixture in numerous
college guides, lists, and rankings. Founded in 1876, Hendrix has been
affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. To learn more, visit www.hendrix.edu.