The College of Arts and Science at the University of Missouri will honor University of Nevada President Milton Glick with a Distinguished Service Award Feb. 16 during its annual Arts and Science Week.

Glick, who served as dean of the college from 1983 to 1988, is one of five living former deans receiving the award at a banquet ceremony that concludes the week of campus activities. Nearly 300 Missouri faculty, alumni and staff are expected to attend the event, which also marks the college's centennial.

Glick is credited with several advances during his administration, including the establishment of Missouri's writing-across-the-curriculum program, which became a national model for other universities. The National Council of Writing Program Administrators calls it one of the premier programs in the nation.

This program focused on writing as a way of learning, with benefits including formulating and expressing an opinion, giving and taking criticism, and listening to and comprehending alternative ideas and opinions.

"This program affected the entire campus in ways that went far beyond the issue of student composition competencies," Glick recalled. He credited the program's success to more than 200 faculty across the university who quickly became engaged with the program.

In a move that was considered revolutionary at the time, Glick also placed a networked computer in the office of every faculty member of the arts and sciences.

Current Arts & Science Dean Michael O'Brien, whom Glick appointed as associate dean at Missouri in 1986, will present the awards and introduce a video tribute to the honorees.

"Milt Glick was a forward-thinking dean who taught me the essential skills of leadership," O'Brien says. "His influence continues at this college."

The other former deans being recognized are Armon Yanders, director of Missouri's Alzheimer's Disease Research Program and the Spinal Cord Injuries Research Program; Richard Wallace, Missouri chancellor emeritus; Larry Clark, Missouri professor emeritus of theater; and Richard Schwartz, Missouri professor of English.

The Mizzou independent student newspaper, The Maneater, published an article about the former deans' recognition.

The tradition of celebrating Arts and Science Week at the University of Missouri began in 1929. Among the activities are public lectures, a reception to honor outstanding students and faculty, a student talent show and a luncheon to unite donors with their scholarship recipients.