Monday, October 25, 2004

Oct. 25, 2004

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Margaret Weller-Stargell will be recognized Thursday, Nov. 4 by the University of North Carolina Wilmington as an Albert Schweitzer Honors Scholar.

This award is given annually by the UNCW Honors Scholars Program and Randall Library to a person from the Cape Fear area who exemplifies the attributes or interests of Albert Schweitzer. Each scholar delivers a lecture to the freshman honors seminar and is recognized for his or her contributions to the region at the annual program and reception.

Weller-Stargell is being recognized for her almost 20 years of service to the community through her involvement at Coastal Horizons Center Inc. Now president and chief executive officer of Coastal Horizons Center, Weller-Stargell served as director of crisis intervention services and the rape crisis center from 1985 to 1995. Under her direction, the Coastal Horizons Center has flourished and provides crisis intervention and substance abuse treatment services in a three-county area.

Weller-Stargell’s lecture will be held at 12:30 p.m. Nov. 4 in King Hall Auditorium, with a reception to follow in Randall Library. While the address is directed to the freshman honors students, it is open to the public.

The Albert Schweitzer Honors Scholars program is the legacy of the Albert Schweitzer International Prizes. Held on the UNCW campus from 1973 to 1993, the prizes were awarded to recognize individuals who had contributed significantly in the areas of music, medicine or humanities – areas that exemplify the interests and contributions of Albert Schweitzer. Each scholar is chosen by students and faculty in the UNCW Honors Scholars Program based on his or her contributions in one of these areas.

Previous recipients were: Gerald Shinn, Ph.D., professor emeritus of philosophy and religion at UNCW who established the original Albert Schweitzer International Prizes, and Kenneth White, M.D., local physician who is also known for his years of organizing and spearheading medical mission trips to the Dominican Republic that involved volunteers from the Wilmington area.