Community Service Award to Wayne Green

D. Wayne Green, professor emeritus of physics at Knox College and a trustee of Carl Sandburg College, has received the 2008 Thomas B. Herring Community Service Award. The annual award from the Galesburg Area Chamber of Commerce is given to "an outstanding area citizen who has distinguished himself or herself through service to the community."

Green, who taught physics at Knox from 1954 to 1989, has been a trustee of Carl Sandburg College since 1985. He also serves on the board of the Carl Sandburg College Foundation and has held leadership posts on the governing boards of United Way of Knox County and First Presbyterian Church of Galesburg.

"Dr. Green is very well respected among his peers as a leader and professional," said Thomas Schmidt, President of Carl Sandburg College, who nominated Green for the award.

Green received the award at a luncheon on November 20. The presenter -- traditionally the previous year's winner -- was Jack Larson, a 1944 Knox graduate honored in 2007 for his support of music education. The keynote speaker was Martin G. Carver, president and chief executive officer of Bandag Inc. of Muscatine, Iowa.

"Education is not a case of teachers teaching, it's a case of students learning," Green said at the award presentation. "I encourage all of you to make learning part of your world... Learning is onward and upward, and I will continue to pursue it."

Green is currently in his fourth six-year term on the CSC Board of Trustees, which is elected by residents of the college's eight-county district in Western Illinois. He has served as chair of the Illinois Community College Trustees Association and received the association's 1998 Ray Hartstein Trustee Achievement Award.

Green has written and lectured extensively on the importance of accountability and assessment in education.

At Knox, Green taught physics and served as registrar. He is a member of the Illinois Science Teachers Association and the American Association of Physics Teachers, and has received distinguished service awards from both organizations. Green also served on the board of the Knox College Credit Union and was inducted into the Illinois Credit Union League Hall of Fame in 1996.