CEU Names Five for “upon Their Shoulders” Recognition

By Sun Advocate

College of Eastern Utah will recognize (posthumously) five faculty/staff members whose dedicated service to the college is legendary. The families of John Yack, Leonard Shield, Irel Longhurst, Bill Peterson and Curt Jenson will be in attendance at the annual Founder’s Day Dinner on March 27 to accept the “Upon Their Shoulders” award for these fine men. Brad King, vice president for Institutional Advancement stated, “These men, who went before us laying a strong foundation for what College of Eastern Utah has become, and left a legacy of excellence for all who followed. ‘Upon their shoulders’ we now stand.”
Business professor, John Yack, joined the college faculty in 1939 (the second year of classes) until his retirement in 1973. Yack taught every type of business class except secretarial and in one yearbook was identified as the treasurer of the College. A native of Utah’s Uintah Basin he devoted 34 years to the students and left a legacy of hundreds of well trained professionals in the world of business.
Leonard Shield taught industrial arts classes at the college for 36 years, starting his career in 1942 and teaching until retirement in 1974. His welding skills were learned at the finest technical schools and then honed in the mines of Carbon County. His vocational classes were taught both during the day and in the evening and even at times on Saturday. His training has impacted the lives of our residents and the industry of our county.
Irel Longhurst, trained as an engineer, came to the College in l945 where he assumed the leadership of the vocational programs and taught the broad variety of courses, perhaps best described as pre-engineering. Skilled in all of the areas of industrial arts he inspired his colleagues to seek additional education which in turn was a benefit to the students. During his 31 years at the college he developed many new vocational programs including mining and nursing.
CEU invites the public to attend the annual Founder’s Day Dinner to be held on Saturday, March 27 at the Jennifer Leavitt Student Center. A reception to honor those receiving awards starts at 5 p.m. followed by the dinner and awards program. More information is available by calling 435-613-5256.