Plymouth State University

PLYMOUTH, N.H.-
A beloved mathematics professor at Plymouth State University and outstanding member of the Plymouth community has been selected to receive the Madie W. Barrett Award. Ed Wixson of Plymouth received the University honor at PSU’s Spring Honors Dinner.

PSU President Sara Jayne Steen presents Ed Wixson with a clock honoring him as the Madie Barrett Award winner.

“Ed Wixson has made a difference with every position he has held on campus or in the community,” said PSU President Sara Jayne Steen. “To everything he does, he brings genuine vision and an ability to see how to accomplish goals for the betterment of all.”

Wixson has a long history of service to PSU, his profession and the community. He began his 40-year teaching career at PSU in 1966. He was a member of the Mathematics faculty, chair of the department, and interim provost. He has served on the Boards of Directors of the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative and of the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation. He has been a board chair for Speare Memorial Hospital and led its capital campaign; he was named Outstanding Trustee by the NH Hospital Association. He has served on the boards of the Community Guaranty Bank and the Capital Regional Development Council, which developed the Mid-State Health Center building at Boulder Point.

Wixson is a member of the PSU President’s Council, working to advance the University, and with his wife, Marilyn, generously created the Wixson Endowed Professorship of Mathematics. In 2010 he received from the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce the James C. Hobart Award for Exemplary Service to the Greater Plymouth Business Community.

PSU Vice Provost Daniel Moore, a member of the Madie Barrett Award selection committee, said Wixson was an easy choice. “The committee viewed him to be a natural for the award, as his whole career here at the University reflected a commitment to advancing PSU,” Moore said.

Wixson said he is pleased to be honored with the Madie Barrett Award.

“I’m honored to receive an award dedicated to her memory,” Wixson said. “ She was an outstanding faculty person, and she was a woman who demonstrated that women could serve as top administrators at Plymouth State.”

Madie Ward Barrett was a teacher, scholar and benefactor. She created the University’s Foreign Language Department in 1956, and for 25 years guided the department while teaching French, Spanish, linguistics and pedagogy. In 1981, she became dean of the college and later served as interim president. She was widely honored. She was noted for her dedication to students and to serving the community.

For more information about this release, contact Bruce Lyndes, PSU Media Relations Mgr., (603) 535-2775 or blyndes@plymouth.edu.