ECU believers, visionaries inducted to Leo Jenkins Society
Art, belief and vision sparked excitement and inspired the Dec. 1 celebration of East Carolina University’s 2022 Leo W. Jenkins Society inductees.
Brilliant purple and gold canvases, painted by artist Bob Rankin ’70, were gifted to each attendee.
“These represent the high energy and vitality I experienced at ECU,” Rankin said.
Rankin was among the 24 new members inducted into the society recognizing benefactors and their planned gifts to ECU. Eleven society members were honored for additional planned gifts made in the past year.
ECU alumni Bob Rankin shares his art in his Raleigh studio. Rankin’s art was gifted to each attendee. (Contributed photo)
BUILDING A FOUNDATION
Bob Rankin ’70 was lucky that he knew what he wanted to do when he was in high school. When his art teacher at Raleigh’s Broughton High School took students to visit art schools in North Carolina, Rankin knew immediately East Carolina University was where he was meant to be.
“When I walked on campus, I knew I was home,” Rankin said.
The Raleigh artist and retired high school art educator cheered and celebrated with fellow 2022 inductees of the Leo Jenkins Society at a luncheon on campus Dec. 1.
For Rankin, the foundation of his success was attending “one of the best art education programs in the country at ECU.”
He combined his love of art and teaching into a career as an art educator spanning three decades.
During his 25 years at Sanderson High School in Wake County, Rankin was influential in the decision of at least 100 students attending ECU.
Caroline Allen, Rankin’s niece, was his student at Sanderson and was an ECU student when she died in 2003. The family created a scholarship in her honor in 2005. The Caroline Allen Endowed Scholarship is presented annually to a student in fashion merchandising.
Betsy Rankin Allen, his twin sister and Caroline’s mother, joined Rankin at the luncheon.
“ECU surrounded us with love and support during a very difficult time and we’ll never forget that,” Rankin said.
Rankin has been led throughout his life by his father’s wisdom and the influence of ECU mentors and professors.
His father wanted Rankin and his siblings to follow their passions and to “travel now and talk about it later.” Rankin followed his passion for art to ECU’s School of Art and Design and has traveled the world from the coral reefs of Fiji to the mountains of Rwanda. His art is influenced by the beauty he has experienced in his travels.
His art has been exhibited in select galleries throughout the United States, including Art Works in Greenville. His paintings can be found in collections in 11 countries.
Rankin’s ECU professors provided great experiences in learning art history and understanding that teaching was one of the most important jobs he could pursue, he said.
Rankin has remained connected to the School of Art and Design. In addition to encouraging students to attend ECU, he has juried student art exhibitions. He received an Outstanding Alumni Award in 2012.
Today, he paints in his home studio in Raleigh.
— Patricia Earnhardt Tyndall
Inductees in the 2020 and 2021 classes also were celebrated as this was the first in-person luncheon since 2019.
Jenkins, the university’s fifth president and first chancellor, is celebrated as a visionary who oversaw exceptional growth during his tenure. Society inductees were honored for being among the university’s newest visionaries and for their unwavering support of ECU’s mission.
Greg Abeyounis ’06, senior associate vice chancellor for development, congratulated the society members and the former chancellor in reflecting on the mantra, “We Believe.” Abeyounis told of Jenkins once offering a strong “do you believe me now” when critics challenged the university’s impact.
“His visionary leadership laid the foundation for what our great university has become today,” Abeyounis said.
Benefactors in the Jenkins Society continue to move the mission forward with their commitments to numerous ECU purposes. In the past year, ECU received 37 new planned gifts valued at $22,049,723.
“Let me assure you that your unwavering belief through your visionary support enables ECU to carry out our mission of student success, public service and regional transformation now and perpetually,” Abeyounis said. “For that, we all say thank you. Your passion and vision fuel the work we do every day.”
Rankin, a former head cheerleader, did not need a megaphone to magnify his love of ECU when he cheered on his fellow inductees.
Diana Haytko receives a Leo W. Jenkins Society medallion from Chancellor Philip Rogers. (Photo by Rhett Butler)
“It’s great to be home,” Rankin exclaimed.
Rankin shared his deep affection for ECU and the impact his School of Art and Design experience had in his career in art education and as a professional artist.
His success has brought numerous accolades over the years, including being named the North Carolina Art Education Association’s secondary art educator of the year in 1990 and induction into the Wake County Public School System Hall of Fame and Raleigh Hall of Fame.
For Rankin this list of honors demonstrates what great things an ECU graduate can achieve.
When he wasn’t in an art studio as a student, Rankin was cheering the Pirates as a varsity cheerleader. As luck would have it, Rankin was friends with Chancellor Jenkins’ daughter, Suzanne.
“When it rained, Suzanne and I would have cheer practice in the chancellor’s house.” Rankin said.
Rankin continues to advocate and be a head cheerleader for ECU and the School of Art and Design because of the foundation it provided for him.
The planned gifts of society members helps ensure ECU student success. Students Noah Presley, Ono Abhulimen and Jackson Bostic shared video messages of appreciation with the audience.
“You’ve chosen to be part of something great and you’ve chosen to help students like me pursue gold,” Presley said. “For that I just want to say thank you.”
Abhulimen, a junior EC Scholar, expressed her gratitude for the opportunities her scholarship has provided, including the ability to create a student organization to study health disparities.
“Some of these opportunities would not have been possible to me at all without this support and help from this scholarship,” Abhulimen said. “I’m just so grateful to be part of this wonderful cohort of EC Scholars.”
Chancellor Philip Rogers echoed appreciation for the new society members for their willingness to champion and support ECU.
Rogers shared his pride in pursuing the university’s mission in the footsteps and with the qualities of Leo Jenkins.
“I love to talk about Leo Jenkins,” he told the audience, which included members of the Jenkins family. “A portrait of him hangs in my office and I look at it before I make big decisions.”
Jenkins’ qualities — including pride, loyalty, perseverance and toughness — guide Rogers and ECU in pursuit of and dedication to the university’s mission.
“We are delivering on the promise we were built to deliver,” Rogers said.
Because of great gifts and critical scholarship support of society members, Rogers said he, ECU faculty and staff are able to be intensely and unapologetically dedicated to making East Carolina University a national model of innovation and student success.
Rogers presented each new society member with a Leo Jenkins medallion, including:
- Jim Galloway ’69 and Bonnie Galloway ’69 ’72 were celebrated for their gifts to the Dr. James M. & Mrs. Bonnie T. Galloway Access Scholarship and the James M. and Bonnie Taylor Galloway Math and Science Education Scholarship.
- ECU Marketing and Supply Chain Management professor Diana Haytko was honored for her support of the College of Business by providing two professorships, the Elizabeth Haytko Distinguished Professorship for Marketing Education and the Dr. Diana L. Haytko Professorship for Marketing, as well as the Dr. Diana L. Haytko Study Abroad Scholarship Endowment.
- Rankin was recognized for supporting the College of Fine Arts and Communication through the Robert G. Rankin IV Endowed Scholarship for the School of Art and Design.
Inductees not in attendance:
- Sonya Gurganus Bowen ’79, whose gift supports the Sonya Bowen Medical Scholarship Endowment in the Brody School of Medicine.
- (Ret.) James Worth Carter Jr. ’77 ’81 and Dolores H. Carter, whose gifts support the Dolores and Worth Carter Service Scholarship Endowment in the College of Business and the Col. J. Worth Carter Jr. Distinguished Military Service Society Scholarship Endowed Fund within Air Force ROTC.
- Mark M. Haupt Sr. and Sandra M. Haupt, whose gift supports the Mark M. Haupt Sr. and Sandy M. Haupt Scholarship Endowment in the Division of Student Affairs.
- David Sears Holloway ’97, whose gift supports the Eva Woosley Warren Memorial Scholarship in the College of Nursing.
- Steven Wayne Jones ’91 and Terry Theobald Jones ’92, whose gift supports the Steven Wayne and Terry Theobald Jones Access Endowed Scholarship Fund.
- Bruce Maurice Klitzman and Hardee Brown Klitzman, whose gift supports the Rachel Klitzman Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund in the College of Nursing.
- Miriam Grace Mitchell ’68, whose gifts support the Dr. Miriam Grace Mitchell Scholarship Endowment and the Dr. Miriam Grace Michell College of Education Endowment.
- John Mark Mueller ’87, whose gifts support ECU Athletics, as well as scholarship endowments in the ECU Alumni Association, Division of Student Affairs, Honors College, and School of Communication.
- Robert “Bobby” S. Rippy ’75 ’96 and Jennifer Rippy ’73, whose gifts support ECU Athletics, the Bob and Jenny Rippy Scholarship Endowment for the Miller School of Entrepreneurship, and the Bob and Jenny Rippy Scholarship Endowment for Integrated Coastal Programs.
- Irwin Cecil Roberts Jr. ’66 and Lucy Ervin Roberts ’65 ’73, whose gift supports the Irwin & Lucy Roberts Scholarship Endowment in the Honors College.
- Eileen L. Shokler and Dr. Howard A. Shokler, whose gift supports the Eileen Shokler TEDI BEAR Education Fund in the Brody School of Medicine.
- Steven Wayne Jones and Terry Theobald Jones, whose gift supports the Steven Wayne & Terry Theobald Jones Access Endowed Scholarship Fund.
- Dan Reed Winslow ’63 and Evelyn Eakes Winslow ’62, whose gifts support the Dan Reed Winslow and Evelyn Eakes Winslow Distinguished Professorship in Psychology in the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences and the Dan Reed Winslow and Evelyn Eakes Winslow Distinguished Professorship in Psychiatry Fund in the Brody School of Medicine.
Several previous Jenkins Society inductees made additional gifts during 2022, including:
- Patricia Leland Andrews ’80
- Jeffrey Winslow Brame ’74 and Diane Brame
- Charles Neil Bullock ’71
- Garland Herrington Dunstan, Jr. ’82
- Dennis L. D. Elwell ’82
- William Luther Grant, Jr. ’86 and Dr. Mary Francis Grant
- Ernest Victor Logemann’68 and Martha Clayton Logemann
- Harold C. Troxler ’57
ECU Chancellor Philip Rogers speaks to attendees at the 2022 Leo W. Jenkins Society luncheon. (Photo by Rhett Butler)
ECU is in the public phase of the Pursue Gold campaign to raise half a billion dollars. This ambitious effort will create new paths to success for Pirates on campus, across the country and around the world. Donor gifts during the campaign will keep us constantly leading and ready to advance what’s possible. Learn more at pursuegold.ecu.edu.