Brigham Young University's Alumni Association is honoring five individuals with awards during Homecoming Week.
Reed H. Bradford, a professor of 43 years at BYU, will receive the Distinguished Service Award for his teaching and involvement at BYU. Known as a great citizen of the university, Bradford is a former chairman of the BYU department of sociology and acting dean of the former BYU College of Humanities an Sociology.He is a recipient of the Professor of the Year Award in 1959 and the Karl G. Maeser Award for Career Teaching Excellence in 1967. Bradford helped establish the Timpanogos Mental Health facility and served on the advisory board for 20 years.
Ella Hull Farnsworth is the second recipient of the Distinguished Service Award. Her life has been filled with 45 years of service as an auxiliary president and missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She has trained numerous teachers to strengthen the organizations of the church.
"She has the gift of being able to connect," according to her son. Farnsworth recently returned from serving with her husband in the Puerto Rico San Juan Mission, where he was the mission president. She now serves on the Advisory Committee to the Dean of Education at Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz.
AnnEtta Cope Merrill, mother of 14 and foster mother of 40, has received the Service to Family Award. Merrill provides temporary care for newborn infants under the LDS Social Services' birth parent and adoption program. She is the birth parent outreach coordinator for LDS Social Services in addition to being a sales consultant from her home.
The Merrills have also had foster children in their home. When her husband, David, died of a heart attack in 1987, the family had just accepted two new foster children. She cared for the children nonetheless.
Leon W. "Pete" Harman is a recipient of the Honorary Alumni Award. He is chairman of Harman Management Corp., which is in partnership with managers of nearly 250 Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in four states.
In 1951, Harman met "The Colonel," Harland Sanders, at a National Restaurant Association convention, struck up a franchise deal, and the 7,000 unit, worldwide Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises system was established.
Harman donated the Caroline Hemenway Harman building for the School of Continuing Education on the BYU campus. He also contributed to a new art wing of the BYU art museum that will be called the Arline Harman Gallery for his wife, Arline.
Menlo F. Smith has also received the Honorary Alumni Award. Smith serves as president and chief executive officer of Sunmark Capital Corp. in St. Louis, Mo. He is the former chairman of The Sunmark Cos., a large confectionery manufacturing and marketing firm. He is also a member of the board of several organizations, including the Land-mark Legal Foundations, the National Right to Work Committee and the International Enterprise Development Foundation.