EVANSVILLE — The University of Evansville is celebrating its 158th birthday this week with a series of events, including the dedication of a gallery showcasing the school's Methodist heritage.

The John Wesley Gallery and Methodist Commemorative Collection will be on the lower level of Neu Chapel. Its dedication will be at 9:30 a.m. Sunday.

UE officials say the collection is a gift from R. Wayne Perkins, a professor emeritus of philosophy and religion, and his wife Sally Perkins, a UE master's degree recipient.

It includes paintings, ceramics, plates, silverware, busts and more.

Founders Day is observed annually at UE to mark the incorporation of Moores Hill College, the move to Evansville, the charter as Evansville College, and the official opening of the University of Evansville.

All four of these dates fall between Feb. 10 and 19.

Following the gallery dedication, UE will hold a Founders Day service at 10:30 a.m. in Neu Chapel. It will feature the Edgar M. McKown Lecture, given by storyteller and author Tex Sample.

Sample is a professor emeritus in church and society at St. Paul School of Theology, a United Methodist seminary in Kansas City, where he taught from 1967-1999.

The Founders Day celebration will conclude with the annual Alumni Awards Luncheon at noon in Eykamp Hall. The UE Alumni Association will present three awards:

* Samuel Orr Honorary Alumni Award: Richard and Patrice Schroeder. Both are members of the UE Sponsor-a-Student program and are longtime members of the President's Club. Richard Schroeder is a charter member of the Schroeder Family School of Business Administration Advisory Board and currently serves as chair.

* Distinguished Young Alumnus Award: Craig Bryan, a 2011 graduate. Bryan has established programs to reduce suicidal behaviors among pre-deployment and active duty soldiers. He recently assumed the new role of associate director of the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah, and he has also worked as a consultant for the Air Force, Marine Corps, and Army.

* Distinguished Alumnus Award: Dr. R. Edward Coleman, a 1965 graduate. Coleman is a professor of radiology and vice-chair of the Department of Radiology at Duke University Medical Center. He has worked with PET (positron emission tomography) imaging and its use and evaluation of patients with cancer and dementia.

Coleman is credited as the first physician to demonstrate the potential clinical utility of PET imaging. He served on the UE Alumni Association board of directors from 1988-1994 and received an honorary degree from UE in 2000. Coleman has also been a President's Club member since 2009, sponsors an endowed scholarship, and was the 2009 homecoming speaker.

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UE ready to celebrate school's 158th birthday