She is nationally known for leading the Mountaineer Parents Club, a network of thousands of active families of West Virginia University students. He has built a legacy around leading hundreds of WVU musicians for decades.

Former WVU first lady Susan Brown Hardesty and Director of Bands Emeritus Don Wilcox will be inducted into the Order of Vandalia WVU s highest award for service to the institutionin recognition of their significant contributions.

A special ceremony is planned for Saturday (May 17) at the Erickson Alumni Center. Hardesty and Wilcox also will be recognized at Fridays (May 16) 7 p.m. Commencement Honors Convocation at the WVU Coliseum.

Susan Brown Hardesty

Born and raised in Morgantown, Hardestys parents, Clifford and Carolyn Brown, instilled in her a pride in West Virginia and its flagship University. Hardesty received her bachelors degree in music education from WVU in 1967 and masters in special education from the College of Graduate Studies in Institute, W.Va.

For 16 years, Hardesty taught music and special education. An avid community volunteer, she involved herself in a variety of activities, including directing her church choir and helping to organize the first Keynotes Concert, featuring the Mountaineer Marching Band, in Charleston. In 1988, she was instrumental in founding a Read Aloud West Virginia program in Jackson County. To her credit, as news of the programs success spread, Read Aloud programs expanded to every county in West Virginia.

Hardesty was a charter member and has served as chair of the College of Creative Arts Board of Visitors. She is also the past chairperson of the Council of Presidentsand ChancellorsSpouses for the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. In 2001 and 2004, she was included in The Dominion Posts list of the areas100 Most Influential Citizens,and the WVU Office of Student Affairs honored her with their first Outstanding Achievement Award. She served as the chair of the 2004 and 2005 WVU United Way Campaigns.

One of her most rewarding efforts has been chairing the Mountaineer Parents Club. She and her husband, WVU President Emeritus David C. Hardesty Jr., formed this unique organization in 1995 to foster student success and to better involve parents in University life.

Since its beginning with a handful of members, the Mountaineer Parents Club has grown to proudly include more than 18,500 families in its membership, some 70 local clubs and a network of state chairs from coast to coast. Among its many helpful activities are the Mountaineer Parents Club Helpline, a parent E-News, informative newsletters and support for summer send-off picnics for WVU students and their families.

Susan is one of the most inspiring people I know,said Christine Garbutt, a longtime member and officer of the Monongalia County Mountaineer Parents Club.Her enthusiasm for the task at hand is infectious and draws you into the project, and her seemingly boundless energy encourages you to continue until that task is finishedand then go on to the next project. What a wonderful example she is to us all. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to work with her in the Mountaineer Parents Club.

For her extraordinary efforts on behalf of her alma mater, the West Virginia Society of Washington, D.C., named Hardesty itsDaughter of the Yearfor 1997. In 2007, Hardesty was inducted into the College of Human Resources and Educations Hall of Fame.

Don Wilcox

When Wilcox retired as director of bands from WVU in the summer of 2005, he had guided the development of the Universitys band program for 34 years. During this time, the WVU Wind Symphony performed numerous special concerts for regional and national conventions of the American Bandmasters Association (ABA), College Band Directors National Association, National Association for Music Education and World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles and toured nationally.

The Mountaineer Marching Band was the 1997 recipient of the Sudler Trophy, and during the summer of 2001, the centennial years of the WVU band program, the WVU Alumni Band toured Europe, performing concerts in England, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. In 2005, it made its second European tour with performances in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Slovak Republic and Vienna, Austria. In 2007, the ensemble made its third European tour to Scandinavia with concerts in Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

Wilcox is a 1958 graduate of the University of Michigan and is active at the national level in numerous professional organizations. He is past president of the ABA and has served on the board of directors of both the John Philip Sousa Foundation and the ABA . He has received WVU s Outstanding Teaching Award, the 1993 Golden Apple Outstanding Faculty Award and was chosen for the Great Teachers Seminar. Wilcox was the first teacher named Distinguished Fine Arts Alumnus of California State University at Long Beach.

In addition, Wilcox is a National Arts Associate of Sigma Alpha Iota and the recipient of the Sudler Order of Merit from the John Philip Sousa Foundation. He has also been recognized with the Distinguished Service to Music Award from the National Council of Kappa Kappa Psi and WVU s Heebink Award for Outstanding Service to the University and the state. He has received special citations from four governors for his contributions to the state of West Virginia, and in 2006, he was named Outstanding Bandmaster of the Year by Phi Beta Mu.

I think the Order of Vandalia is certainly a well-deserved award for Don Wilcox for his many years of service to the University and community,said Bernie Schultz, dean of the College of Creative Arts.The college is thrilled for him to receive this great honor; were very proud of him.

In a teaching and conducting career spanning half a century, Wilcox has worked with musicians of all ages and abilities, conducting bands from one-room schools in rural Appalachia to several of the major concert halls in the world, and in all 50 states and 21 foreign countries.

In the fall, he will return to Tokyo for his fifth time as guest conductor of the renowned Musashino Academia Musicae Wind Ensemble, each three-month visit culminating in tours of Japan and CD recordings for Sony.

Wilcox has served as guest conductor or visiting lecturer at more than 70 universities in the United States, Europe, Japan, Thailand and China, and inretirementmaintains an active international schedule as a clinician and conductor.