Intense, busy, practical, academic, hard-working, thoughtful.
Unselfish, open, creative, fun-loving, supportive, wise.
These are the adjectives Hill Walker’s colleagues use to describe him.
Perfectionistic, demanding, insatiable, generous with a good sense of humor.
That is how Walker, expert on youth violence and this year’s winner of the Presidential Medal, describes himself.
“It’s just a tremendous honor,” he said. “I was very surprised.”
Each year since 1991, the University president and an awards selection committee select a member of the community who has made large contributions to the University. As one of the University’s highest honors, the medal is awarded to someone who has shown a commitment to higher education.
Walker is the first faculty member ever to earn the prestigious award.
Walker is a senior professor in the college of education and a nationally recognized researcher and expert on violence, early intervention and anti-social behavior in youth.
“I think it must be a reflection of the broader community impact our work has had,” Walker said. He also noted the award is timely because more attention has been brought to his area of work with recent school shootings.
Within the college of education, Walker’s friends said he has also been a mentor, an educator, a researcher and a leading fund raiser.
Jeff Sprague, senior research associate in the college of education, met Walker in 1977 as a University undergraduate. In 1994, Walker called Sprague to see about starting the Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior; they are now the co-directors of that program. Since then, they have led the center to a position of high authority on the issue of youth violence.
The pair’s relationship developed as Sprague took additional courses with Walker, and he later served on Sprague’s doctoral dissertation committee. Sprague described Walker as a top-notch scholar with an ability to translate complicated research into information that non-experts, such as legislators, can use.
Martin Kaufman, dean of the college of education, said Walker “exemplifies the values and contributions associated with being a senior faculty member.”
Walker has been a member of the faculty since 1966, after receiving both his masters and doctoral degrees from the University. He serves as the director of the Center on Human Development and co-director of the Institute on Violence.
Rebecca Scarola, office manager at CHD, said Walker keeps his staff busy, but he is always available when they need him.
“We all like working for him,” she said. “And his work is really spectacular.”
Sprague added that Walker does not use his position of authority to bully others in the department who have competing interests and, in his experience, always comes up with ideas that make everyone a “winner.”
“He is a first citizen in the college in terms of stepping forward to contribute to the collective well-being of his colleagues,” Kaufman said. “He not only puts a spotlight on his own research but a floodlight on the work of others.”
Walker has accounted for $27 million in federal grant money and is working on several research projects.
Mike Bullis met Walker when he took a course in grant writing at the University in 1980. To Bullis, Walker — who introduced Bullis to his wife — has been “both colleague and mentor but also a friend.”
“He’s right up there in my pantheon of heroes,” Bullis said.
Walker has written 13 books and published 170 professional and scholarly works. His 1990 book, “Social Competence for Workers with Developmental Disabilities: A Guide to Enhancing Employment Outcomes in Integrated Settings,” won the National Book Award from the President’s Committee on Employment of People With Disabilities.
Walker will receive the award at spring commencement. Past recipients include Thomas Autzen, Earle M. Chiles and Charles H. Lundquist. All recipients are presented with a hand-forged, solid silver medal.