VOLUNTEERS AWARDED
FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE

President Lloyd W. Benjamin (left) congratulates Distinguished Volunteer Service Award recipients Marilyn A. Siebert and John Thyen, Charlotte Zietlow and Donald Buttrey.

Three Indiana State University volunteers and a Valparaiso-based foundation were recognized for their dedicated service to ISU and presented with Distinguished Volunteer Service Awards during the university’s seventh annual Volunteer Recognition Banquet Nov. 17.

Those honored at this year’s banquet included Donald W. Buttrey, a member of ISU’s Board of Trustees from 1992-2000; Charlotte Zietlow, president of ISU’s Board of Trustees since 1997; John and Marilyn Siebert Thyen, graduates of Indiana State and promoters of the university’s efforts in and around Jasper, Ind.; and the John W. Anderson Foundation of Valparaiso, Ind.

Created in 1994, the Distinguished Volunteer Service Award is the highest honor the university bestows on its volunteers. Past recipients have included:  Jerry and Jo Einstandig, Michael Alley, John P. Stelle, Wilburn Smith, Welby and Frances Frantz, Timothy O’Neill, Mark Blade, Ralph and Julie Cutter, Maurice Modesitt, Chuck Willis, Dixie Brown and Leadership Terre Haute, Spiro "Bud" Mitsos and former ISU President John W. Moore.

Donald W. Buttrey

Donald W. Buttrey’s ties to Indiana State University extend back to the 1950s when he earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration in 1956 from the then Indiana State Teachers College.  He was a member of the University’s Board of Trustees from 1992 to 2000 and recently served as the Board’s vice president.  Currently he is an honorary life member of the ISU Foundation Board.

After completing his bachelor’s degree at Indiana State, Buttrey continued his education at Indiana University where he earned the juris doctor degree in 1961.  A practicing attorney in Indianapolis, he is president of McHale, Cook and Welch law firm.

Admitted to the practice of law before the Indiana Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court and the United States Tax Court, he is a member of the Indiana State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Indianapolis Bar Association.  Buttrey has served as president of the latter association, on the Board of Governors of the Indiana State Bar Association, and on the Taxation Section regional committee of the American Bar Association. He is also a fellow of all three organizations. His legal expertise has been recognized by his selection to Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law and as one of the Best Lawyers in America. In October 1999, the Indianapolis Bar Association selected him as the recipient of the Honorable Paul H. Buchanan, Jr. Award, and in May 2000, ISU honored him with the William Albert Jones Medal.

Buttrey is actively involved in the Indianapolis community where he serves on the Board of Directors of the Indianapolis Athletic Club and was president of its Arts Foundation, was a member of the Judicial Nominating Committee for the Marion County municipal court, and has been involved with the Contemporary Art Society of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. He is also a member of Theta Chi fraternity, Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity, the Skyline Club, and the Second Presbyterian Church.

Donald and his wife, Karen Lake Buttrey, have three sons -- Greg, Alan and Jason.

Charlotte T. Zietlow 

Community leadership, volunteerism, education and government are all areas of involvement and service for Charlotte T. Zietlow. Indiana State University is one of the organizations that Zietlow has served during a distinguished career of activism.

Initially appointed to the Board of Trustees of Indiana State University in 1989, she was reappointed to the Board in 1993 and 1997 and has served as president since 1997. She also is a member of the ISU Foundation Board.

A graduate of Valparaiso University, with a bachelor of arts degree in German and French literature in 1957, she earned her master’s from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1959. In 1969, she completed her doctor of philosophy degree in linguistics, also at the University of Michigan.

An active participant in the cultural, educational and political scenes of Bloomington, Indiana, and the surrounding Monroe County, Zietlow has been elected to two political offices and has served on various city and county committees in leadership positions. She has served as chair of the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, as director of resource development and community affairs for Planned Parenthood and as a board member of the Monroe County Library Foundation Board.  In September 2000 she was selected as the recipient of the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce Leadership Award for Community Service. 

Zietlow is also active in organizations and programs involving women’s health and currently co-chairs the Women’s Health Care Task Force at the Indiana State Department of Health. She also is a member of the Equal Justice Fund, the Bloomington Rotary, the Code Blue Committee and Stone Belt Arc. In May 2000, she was awarded ISU’s William Albert Jones Medal.

Zietlow and her husband, Paul, professor emeritus of English at Indiana University, have two children, Rebecca and Nathan.

John T. and Marilyn A. Siebert Thyen

John T. and Marilyn A. Siebert Thyen have been actively involved in supporting Indiana State University for many years. As graduates of Indiana State, their loyalty to their alma mater has lasted almost four decades. John received his bachelor of science degree in business administration from ISU in 1962, and Marilyn earned a bachelor of science degree in elementary education in 1964.

John is currently senior executive vice president of Kimball International, Inc.  Marilyn previously worked as an elementary school teacher but later chose to become a housewife and mother to the couple’s two children, Phil and Maria.

The Thyens have personally supported the University’s recruitment and development efforts in the Jasper area by hosting receptions for the Alumni, Development and Admissions offices. They also have been active in the promotion of the university to young people in Jasper, opening their home for Sycamore Send-Offs, a program for area students leaving to attend Indiana State. John has also served on the ISU Foundation Board as a member of its Development and Athletics Development committees, and was instrumental in rebuilding ISU’s Dubois County Alumni Club. He also serves as a member of the Continuing the Legacy Steering Committee (the University’s 2000-2001 fundraising campaign for athletics).

Philanthropically, the Thyens have given their support to ISU through both personal donations and the acquisition of gifts from Kimball International, Inc. Some of those gifts have included donations of furniture to the University, including performance quality pianos,  and support of the President’s Scholars Golf Outing and of ISU’s academic and athletic programs.

The John W. Anderson Foundation

The John W. Anderson Foundation of Valparaiso has for almost two decades supported Indiana State as part of its philanthropic mission to support the development and education of America’s young people. Established in 1967 by John W. Anderson, founder of the Anderson Company, a leading manufacturer of ANCO windshield wiper blades, the Foundation supports a number of charitable, religious, scientific, literary, and educational programs and institutions in the United States. The purpose of this support is to promote the mental, moral, intellectual, and physical improvement, betterment or relief of Americans of all races and creeds.

ISU has been fortunate to be the recipient of annual grants and gifts from the Anderson Foundation. These gifts have been used in support of the Cunningham Memorial Library, the President’s Society and the University’s general scholarship fund.

The philanthropy of the Anderson Foundation has been crucial to continuing excellence at ISU.

 December 13, 2000