Transcript Staff

Bernard Harris Jr., a NASA astronaut and the first African-American to walk in space, will deliver the keynote address at the University of Oklahoma College of Education's annual Celebration of Education in Oklahoma, set for 7 p.m. Friday in the Molly Shi Boren Ballroom of Oklahoma Memorial Union, 900 Asp Ave.

Harris also will be honored with the Award of Distinction for his contributions to education.

Harris was at NASA for 10 years, where he conducted research in musculoskeletal physiology and disuse osteoporosis. He has logged more than 438 hours and traveled over 7.2 million miles in space. On his second flight, Harris became the first African-American to walk in space.

The College of Education also will recognize six other honorees during the Celebration of Education:

OU Regent Larry R. Wade, a native of Elk City and editor and publisher of the Elk City Daily News.

Wade was appointed to the university's governing board in 2004 by Gov. Brad Henry. He also has served as president of the OU Alumni Association.

Regent Wade has served on several state committees aimed at ensuring funding for higher education and has chaired several committees as a regent in support of OU and other state institutions.

Professionally, Wade has served as president of the Oklahoma Press Association and the Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation. He has been the recipient of the H.M.H. Phillips Award for Service to Oklahoma Newspapers.

Longtime Oklahoma educator Clara Luper, known as the "Mother of the Oklahoma Civil Rights Movement."

An advocate of education and civil rights, two callings she viewed as intertwined, Mrs. Luper both taught and made history. For 41 years, Mrs. Luper taught history and public relations at Dunjee High School in Spencer, and at John Marshall and Classen High Schools in Oklahoma City.

Mrs. Luper became the advisor for the Oklahoma City chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Youth Council in 1957. The following year the Youth Council decided to stage a "sit-in" at Oklahoma City's Katz Drug Store. On Aug. 18, 1958, walking into the store and ordering soft drinks, the youth, under Mrs. Luper's guidance, demonstrated their discontent with segregation and launched the nation's sit-in movement. The Youth Council continued to conduct sit-ins throughout the early 1960s, helping to end segregation in public accommodations in Oklahoma.

Luper also will be inducted into the College's Alumni Hall of Fame during the evening.

Longtime Norman educator Margaret W. Pape. She began her teaching career in 1967 as a kindergarten teacher at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, where her husband, Don, was stationed. After three years at Sheppard, Pape taught a year at the College of Education's Institute of Child Development. She then began teaching at Norman's Eisenhower Elementary School in 1973, where she remained part of the faculty until her retirement in 2000.

Sarah E. Peil. A 2000 University of Oklahoma Honors College summa cum laude graduate in elementary education, Peil holds a master's degree in instructional leadership and academic curriculum from the OU College of Education and is working on her doctoral degree in social studies education.

A third grade teacher at Norman's Lincoln Elementary School, Peil was named her school's Teacher of the Year for 2007-2008.

In addition to Luper, the college also will induct two other new members into its Alumni and Friends Hall of Fame. They are:

Joseph D. Purdy, Ph.D. He earned his doctoral degree in psychology and the education of learning handicapped students from the University of Oklahoma in 1968. He also holds a degree in managing organizational change from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Ruth Sanders Purdy, Ph.D. (posthumously). She began her teaching career in 1929 in Arapaho, and in 1930 was named a teaching assistant at Southwestern State University in Weatherford.

From 1933 until 1952, Purdy worked outside of education, including an appointment as assistant to the United States Attorney in Oklahoma City.

In 1966, Purdy earned her doctorate in special education from the OU College of Education. From 1968 to 1976, she worked at Fullerton Junior College School. She went on to work with the dean of the North Orange County Community College District to establish the Cypress College Language Skills Laboratory. In 1969, she became its director.

After retiring from the laboratory, she began a 25-year career in marriage and family counseling.