(Posted April 19, 2001)

Juniata College will honor two longtime faculty members, a film industry executive and a Mifflintown educator by awarding them honorary doctorate of humane letters degrees May 13 at 2 p.m. during Juniata's 122nd commencement ceremony.

Bruce Davis, executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will deliver the commencement address.

Esther Doyle, professor emerita of English at Juniata College; Earl Kaylor Jr., Charles A. Dana professor emeritus of history at Juniata; Bruce Davis, former Juniata faculty member and executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; and Samuel Metz, retired assistant school superintendent for the Juniata County School District, all will receive their degrees from Juniata President Thomas Kepple during the ceremony.

Doyle, a native of Boston, Mass., joined the Juniata faculty in 1944 as an instructor in English and taught theatre, speech and English for 30 years until her retirement in 1975.

Dr. Doyle earned a bachelor's degree in literary interpretation from Emerson College in 1935. She earned a master's degree in English literature from Boston University in 1940, returning to the university every summer while working as a teacher. In 1964, she earned a doctorate degree from Northwestern University.

Dr. Doyle was intricately involved in nurturing the arts at Juniata. She oversaw Juniata's dramatic productions every academic year and sponsored the Masquers theater club until 1958. She also worked in professional theaters in Skowhegan, Maine and Cambridge, Mass. in 1941 and 1942 respectively. In 1965, she spent a summer directing plays at a professional theater in Raton, N.M.

Dr. Doyle received the Beachley Distinguished Teaching Award in 1973. In 1972, she co-edited a book on the oral interpretation of literature, "Studies of Interpretation."

Bruce Davis, executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a 1965 graduate of Juniata College, started his career as an instructor at Juniata in 1968. At Juniata, he helped redesign the college's curriculum and became a specialist in "interdisciplinary" courses that involved students and faculty from a wide spectrum of academic departments.

In 1981, he was hired as executive administrator of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, an organization of theatrical filmmakers best known for presenting the yearly Academy Awards Oscar telecast.

He became executive director of the Academy in 1989.

Davis, a native of Washington, D.C., earned a bachelor's degree in English from Juniata College in 1965 and earned a master's degree in English from the University of Maryland in 1968.

Davis received the Juniata Alumni Achievement Award in 1990.

Dr. Earl Kaylor, author of Juniata's official history, "Uncommon Vision, Uncommon Loyalty" and "M.G. Brumbaugh," a biography of Juniata's third and fifth president, taught at Juniata for 33 years, retiring as full professor in 1991.

He joined the faculty in 1958. In the 1960s and 1970s, he served as the director of summer sessions and as adviser to the Student Senate. During his career, Kaylor served as chairman of the departments of history and religion, as well as the humanities program. His book, "Uncommon Vision, Uncommon Loyalty," has been updated and republished this year.

Kaylor earned a bachelor's degree from Juniata College in 1946 and earned a bachelor's of divinity degree from Bethany Theological Seminary in 1949. He went on to earn a master's degree in history from the University of Notre Dame in 1951 and a doctorate in history from Penn State University in 1963.

A native of Greensburg, he wrote another book, "Out of the Wilderness," a history of the Church of the Brethren in Pennsylvania. He received the Beachley Distinguished Teaching Award in 1972.

Samuel Metz, retired assistant school superintendent for the Juniata County School District, earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Juniata College in 1939. He earned a master's degree in education from Bucknell University in 1951.

He owned and operated the Metz Acres dairy farm in Juniata County from 1958 to 1999. He also was state director of the Pennsylvania Holstein Association from 1981 to 1991.

A native of Philadelphia, Metz was hired as a teacher of social studies and biology at the Juniata Joint High School in Mifflintown, Pa. in 1945. In 1951, he was promoted to supervising principal for the Thompsontown-Delaware Township School District. In 1952, he was named supervising principal for the East Juniata School District. In 1966, the school districts in Juniata County were combined and he was elected assistant school superintendent, a title he held until his retirement in 1972.

Metz has served as the chairman of the board of the First National Bank of Mifflintown since 1989. He has been a member of the bank's board of directors since 1959. He is a member of the Juniata County Educational Association and served as its president from 1957 to 1958. He also is a member of the Juniata County Pennsylvania School of Retirees.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.