AWARDS

Montgomery, AL -- Huntingdon College President J. Cameron West honored 1967 alumna Billie Ruth Stewart Sudduth with the President's Medallion during a dinner at the home of Board of Trustees chairman Dr. Laurie J. Weil on Thursday, April 7. Sudduth and her husband, Doug, who is also a Huntingdon alumnus, were in town to celebrate the opening of her show, "Math in a Basket," at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. A world renowned artist who works in the medium of basketry, Sudduth's show is the first collection of her work to be shown in Alabama, and will run through June 5.

The Huntingdon President's Medallion is awarded at the president's discretion in honor of an individual's reponse to challenge, his or her dedication to profession or service, exemplification of faith, and/or personal achievement. Sudduth is the third individual to whom the award has been given since West took office in June of 2003. Rabbi David Baylinson, a 33-year member of Huntingdon's faculty, was honored upon his retirement in May, 2004; and the Reverend Dr. Karl Stegall, senior minister of First United Methodist Church, Montgomery, was honored during Founders Day, 2005, for his lifetime commitment to the integration of Christian faith and higher education. In presenting Sudduth with the medallion, West read from a citation written in her honor, "We often hear that life is a continuum – every living thing, every human, every idea connected to another, and another, and another throughout the rhythmns of time and nature. Billie Ruth Sudduth explores these natural sequences and connections in her baskets – each one exquisitely built, unique, at once both inspired and inspirational."

Sudduth's work replicates the patterns found in nature as represented by the famous mathematician Fibonacci in his formula known as the Nature Sequence. Sudduth's baskets are so exquisite they are part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Museum, and have been displayed all over the world. She has been described as “the foremost basket weaver in the country” and was the first woman to be named a North Carolina Living Treasure. Her work has been pictured in Smithsonian Magazine, Southern Living, Southern Accents, American Craft, Home, and the New York Times, among other publications. She was an artist for the 1998 Christmas tree at the White House and has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, “Handmade in America.”

Reading from the citation, West said, "In awarding [Billie Ruth Sudduth] this President’s Medallion we recognize and honor her achievement. Billie Ruth Sudduth has achieved much, but, truth be told, achievement was never her mission. She simply seeks to make beautiful, lasting, useful art that is as much a story of the earth as a floret in the middle of a sunflower, a spiral on a seashell, or the curve of an elephant’s tusk." West is a North Carolina native who served as senior minister in several United Methodist churches in the state and as vice president at Brevard College before taking the post of president at Huntingdon. "Spending time with Billie Ruth brings back so many fond memories of my home state," said West. "I am reminded of the tremendous artistic community who live and work in the midst of the natural beauty of the area. I am pleased and honored to recognize a woman who is a treasure not only for North Carolina and for Huntingdon College, but for the world community." Huntingdon College is a community of faith, wisdom, and service preparing skilled leaders to serve a complex world. Founded in 1854, Huntingdon is celebrating its 151st year as a college of the United Methodist Church serving the people of Alabama and the Southeast.