The Rev. Sherman Hicks, a member of the Wartburg Board of Regents since 2009, will give the address at Wartburg College’s Opening Convocation Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Hicks’ speech, “Getting Even or Getting Results,” will address themes presented in “The Other Wes Moore,” a required reading for all first-year students. The annual academic year kickoff begins at 10:15 a.m. in Levick Arena in the Wartburg-Waverly Sports and Wellness Center.  

Hicks has held a number of positions at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Chicago headquarters. Prior to his retirement in 2014, he was director for ethnic specific and multicultural ministries. He also served churches in Washington, D.C., New Jersey and New York.

The convocation also will include the presentation of the Wartburg Medal to William Waltmann, a 1956 Wartburg College graduate and professor emeritus of mathematics. During Waltmann’s 40-year Wartburg tenure, he served as a department chair, added computer science and physics to his department’s offerings and grew the faculty from two to 10.

He also was instrumental in establishing the college’s Kappa Mu Epsilon chapter, an internship program for math and computer science students and cooperative five-year bachelor’s degree programs in engineering with Washington and Iowa State universities.

Waltmann and his wife, Carol, have established three endowed scholarships for students majoring in mathematics and computer science. Their three children — Karen Kleckner, Ronald Waltmann and Diane Grossman — also are Wartburg graduates.

Waltmann continues to serve the college as a member of the Transforming Tomorrow campaign’s national committee. He is a member of the Greater Waverly Kiwanis Club, served on the Waverly Municipal Hospital Board (now Waverly Health Center) and was a charter member of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Waverly.

The Board of Regents established the Wartburg Medal in 2000 to recognize alumni, friends and retired faculty and staff who have provided significant service to the college over a sustained period of time and demonstrated a personal commitment to Wartburg’s mission, quality and character.