College of Arts & Sciences Pillars of Distinction
Recognizing Exceptional Partners
The Pillars of Distinction are awarded each year to exceptional members of the College of Arts & Sciences community who uphold our efforts to offer a world-class education in the liberal arts and sciences, to create and disseminate knowledge, and to serve the people of South Dakota, the nation and the world.
In addition to the award recipients, we will also celebrate the Hall of Fame Class of 2025 inductees. To learn more about this trailblazing cohort, click the button below.
Pillar of Service
This award recognizes those who have made an impact on their local community, state or nation through a commitment to such values as philanthropy, democracy, mentorship and public service.
Pillar of Leadership
This award acknowledges individuals who have provided extraordinary vision and leadership in a particular field, profession or organization.
Pillar of Discovery
This award recognizes those who have pioneered new ideas, expanded the frontiers of knowledge and understanding, or produced innovative solutions.
Pillar of Enlightenment
This award celebrates educators, thought leaders, creators and communicators whose work has deepened collective understanding, enriched public life and fostered critical thinking, cultural awareness or intellectual curiosity.
Learn more about the 2025 Pillars of Distinction recipients below.
Lorraine Hart - Pillar of Service Award
Lorriane Hart is a philanthropist, community volunteer and retired investment manager.
Over a 30-year career in investments, she specialized in fixed-income research and portfolio management. She retired in 2006 after 22 years with Ameriprise Financial, where she was vice president of investments. She led a team of portfolio managers responsible for $67 billion in fixed-income assets.
Since retiring, Hart has served on numerous nonprofit boards and committees in the Twin Cities as well as in South Dakota, Iowa, New York and Georgia. She was a member and chair of the University of South Dakota Foundation Board Trustees.
Hart earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from USD in 1973 and a master of business administration from the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business in 1975. She also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Mark Fisher, M.D. - Pillar of Discovery Award
Mark Fisher, M.D., if a professor of neurology at the University of California, Irvine. He also holds appointments in the departments of anatomy and neurobiology, political science, and pathology and laboratory medicine, as well as the Beckman Laser Institute, and is a member of UCI MIND.
Fisher earned a master's degree in government from the University of South Dakota in 1972 and a bachelor of science in medicine from USD in 1973. He received a medical degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1975 and completed neurology training at UCLA-Wadsworth VA Medical Center.
He joined the faculty at the University of Southern California in 1980, where he established the first stroke program in Southern California. At UCI, he served as chair of the Department of Neurology from 1998 to 2006 and led it into the top 10 nationally for National Institutes of Health research funding.
Fisher has had continuous NIH stroke research funding since 1984 and has received more than 75 citations of clinical excellence as a stroke neurologist. In 2021, he was named director of the UCI Center for Neuropolitics, and in 2023, he received the UCI School of Medicine Innovation in Mentoring Award.
Larry Pressler - Pillar of Leadership Award
Former U.S. Sen. Larry L. Pressler, University of South Dakota class of 1964, returned to his home state in 2024 after the death of his wife, Harriet. Originally from Humboldt, S.D., Pressler credits 4-H and USD mentors William O. "Doc" Farber and Alan Clem for inspiring his career in public service. He was elected president of the USD Student Association in 1963, defeating future governor and congressman William J. Janklow.
A Rhoades Scholar, Pressler studied at Oxford before earning a master's in public administration and a law degree from Harvard. He served as a U.S. Army lieutenant in Vietnam, earning a Bronze Star, and later worked as a Foreign Service officer.
Pressler represented South Dakota in the U.S. House from 1975 to 1979 and in the Senate from 1979 to 1997, becoming the first Vietnam veteran elected to the Senate. He chaired the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and authored the landmark Telecommunications Act of 1996. In 1980, he drew national attention as the only senator to reject a bribe in the FBI's ABSCAM probe.
After leaving officer, Pressler lectured widely and remained active in public affairs. In 2020, he was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame for his lifetime of public service.
A. Truman Schwartz Ph.D. - Pillar of Enlightenment Award
A. Truman Schwartz, University of South Dakota class of 1956, built a distinguished career in chemical education while championing the integration of science into the liberal arts. A Rhodes Scholar, he studied at Oxford before earning a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from MIT.
Schwartz began his career as a research chemist with Procter & Gamble and in 1966 joined the faculty at Macalester College, where he taught for nearly four decades and retired as DeWitt Wallace Professor of Chemistry. He also served as deputy director of the National Science Foundation’s Teacher Preparation and Enhancement Program and held visiting appointments at leading universities in the United States and abroad.
The author or coauthor of three textbooks for nonscience majors and more than 60 scholarly articles, Schwartz received numerous honors for his teaching and scholarship, including the American Chemical Society’s George C. Pimentel Award, the society’s highest recognition in chemical education.
He and his wife, Beverly Beatty Schwartz ’56, met as classmates at USD.