Greetings! Welcome to our Honors Program website here at Millikin University.  Our Honors community is a vibrant, challenging program where we work together to produce some amazing scholarship and creative works.  With our small seminars, superb faculty committed to individual mentoring, and our fabulous opportunities for original work, I hope you will want to apply to our program. Please contact me with any questions about our programs. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Dr. Michael O'Conner Director of Millikin Honors Phone: 217-424-6276 or 424-5096

History

In the fall of 1973, the Vice President for Academic Affairs established a special ad hoc committee to begin planning for a comprehensive honors program at Millikin. The committee members included Dr. Henry Gromoll (Chairman, Behavioral Sciences), Dr. Daniel Guillory (Assistant Professor, English), Dr. Robert McIntire (Chairman, Political Science), and Dr. Ron Shelton (Chairman, Mathematics). Dr. McIntire assumed responsibilities as the first Chairman of the "James Millikin Scholars Committee." New members were then added to the Committee, including Professor William Chapman (Accounting), Mr. James Kettelkamp (Admissions), Professor Norman Jensen (Biology), and Professor Susan Schoen (Music). During the 1973-74 academic year, the Committee developed a set of procedures for identifying and interviewing prospective candidates for the JMS Program. In May of 1974, at the regular monthly faculty meeting, the James Millikin Scholars Program was formally approved by a vote of the entire faculty. The Program became operational with the entering class of September, 1974. In January, 1975 Dr. Daniel Guillory began serving as Chairman, and later that year two members were added to the Committee: Dr. Neil Baird (Biology) and Professor Mary Lauerman (Foreign Languages). Acting on Committee recommendations made in the spring of 1976, Dr. Givens, Academic Vice President, appointed eighteen faculty members to serve as special JMS Advisors, beginning with the fall term, 1976. At that time the Program membership had grown to about sixty-five students and some two dozen faculty and administrators.

Today, the Honors Program comprises approximately 140 Freshman and Sophomore Honors Scholars and nearly 50 James Millikin Scholars at the junior and senior levels.

Annual Awards

Honors Convocation, Distiguished Faculty Lecturer

Teaching Excellence and Leadership Award

James Millikin Scholars Educator of the Year

Alpha Lambda Delta Outstanding Teacher Award

Outstanding JMS Project of the Year