Larry Siedentop, a 1957 graduate from Oxford, England, is a political philosopher and historian of political thought retired from the faculty of Keble College at the University of Oxford and among other distinctions is the author of the book "Democracy in Europe," acclaimed internationally for informing discussion of the unification of Europe.  He will receive the Doctor of Laws (LL.D.). 

Daryl Siedentop, a 1960 graduate from Westerville, Ohio, is retired from the Sport and Exercise Science faculty of The Ohio State University and has played a leadership role nationally and abroad in his research, writing and leadership focused on understanding and improving teacher effectiveness.  He will receive the Doctor of Letters (Litt.D.). 

Each will present a public address on Thursday, Sept. 22, in Winants Auditorium of Graves Hall.  Daryl Siedentop will speak at 11 a.m., and Larry Siedentop will speak at 4 p.m. 

The public is invited to both lectures.  Admission is free. 

They will receive their honorary degrees during a banquet later in the day.  Attendance at the banquet is by invitation only. 

Larry Siedentop retired in 2003 after three decades as an Official Fellow of Keble College and The Faculty Lecturer in Political Thought at the University of Oxford. 

He graduated from Hope with a history major and went on to complete a master's at Harvard, where he won the Bowdoin Prize. He subsequently received a Marshall Scholarship, through which he pursued his D.Phil. at Oxford. 

His publications include multiple books and numerous essays.  His particular scholarly interest is European liberalism, which he approaches from both conceptual and historical angles.  He has written books about Alexis de Tocqueville and Francois Guizot, as well as essays about the differences between French and British Liberalism.  He has also been interested in the Counter-Enlightenment, which has in turn led him to write about the relationship between Christianity and liberalism. 

His range of interests helped to shape the arguments about citizenship, integration and the European Union in "Democracy in Europe," published in 2000.  Influential in constitutional debate across Europe, the book has been translated into more than a dozen languages, and has led to him speaking across the continent.  Reviewer Jonathan Freedland of the "Guardian" called the book "Required reading in the chancelleries of Europe," while Mark Mazower of the "Financial Times" praised it as "A first-rate political analysis." 

He has also been active in discussions on secularism, religion and challenges raised by Muslim integration in Europe.  An article that he wrote about secularism and religion that was initially published in Italy was subsequently printed in most leading European newspapers, a progression that ultimately led him--"rather to my amazement as a Dutch protestant by background," he noted--to speak at the Vatican on the subject. 

In the mid-1990s, he was a member of a small delegation from the European Union to Moscow to discuss with Russian ministers and members of the Duma subjects such as the rule of law, civil liberty and secularism.  His particular assignment was discussing religious liberty, at a time, he said, when the Russian Orthodox Church was concerned about American missionary activity in Russia. 

Among other honors within the past decade, following his retirement he was invited to be the Visiting Fellow (the Rector's Guest) at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in Wassenaar; while there in the autumn of 2003 he was invited by the Dutch Foreign Ministry to take part in discussions about Turkish membership in the European Union. He was subsequently elected as The Queen Victoria Eugenia Professor at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain, for the first six months of 2004, and spent the autumn of 2004 as a Visiting Fellow in the Philosophy and Public Affairs program at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. 

In November 2004, he was invested with a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth at BuckinghamPalace for services to political thought and higher education. He has delivered invited lectures around the world, including at Princeton, Columbia and the University of Texas at Austin in the U.S.; the prestigious Bilderburg Meeting; and during the German Reunification Day ceremonies in Berlin. In April 2007 he was featured as an invited guest of honor at The Hague during a symposium on the European citizen, hosted by the Amsterdam Royal Palace Foundation, whose participants included Queen Beatrix.  He received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Hope in May 2007. 

Daryl Siedentop is Emeritus Professor of Sport and Exercise Science in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. 

After graduating from Hope, he stayed at the college for 10 years coaching basketball and baseball and teaching physical education.  During that time he completed a master's degree from Western Michigan University and a doctorate in physical education from Indiana University. 

In 1970 he accepted a position in the School of HPER at The Ohio State University, where he eventually became a professor, senior associate dean and then interim dean of the College of Education.  In 2001, he retired and assumed initial leadership of OSU's new P-12 Project, a university-wide outreach initiative to support urban school improvement in Ohio.  His research focus for 25 years was understanding and improving teacher effectiveness.  In 2005, he accepted a one-year appointment as Research Professor and Director for the Teacher Quality Partnership, a consortium of 50 colleges and universities in Ohio. 

Daryl Siedentop has held visiting professor positions at the University of Massachusetts, University of Georgia, Instituto Nacional d'Education Fisica in Granada, Spain, Edith Cowan University in Australia, and Beijing Normal University in China. 

He has published 12 books several of which have been translated into Japanese, Korean, French, and Spanish.  His book "The Complete Guide to Sport Education" was first published in 2004, with a second edition in 2010.  The eighth edition of his "Introduction to Physical Education, Fitness, and Sport" will be published in 2011. 

Daryl Siedentop has published six edited monographs and 80 refereed articles in JOPER, Quest, JTPE, and the European Physical Education review among other outlets. 

His honors have included the Visiting Scholar Award from Virginia Polytechnic University, election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education, The International Olympic Committee President's Prize, National Association of Sport and Physical Education Curriculum & Instruction Academy Honor Award, American Association of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Alliance Scholar Award, Research Consortium McCloy Award, The NASPE Curriculum & Instruction Emeritus Award, the OSU Obertueffer Award, and the American Association of Kinesiology and Physical Education Hetherington Award. 

In 2006, he was inducted into the National Association for Sport and Physical Education Hall of Fame.  In 2007, he was inducted into the College of Education and Human Ecology Hall of Fame at the OhioStateUniversity.  In 2009, he wrote the White Paper for the Education Sector for the National Plan for Physical Activity. 

In 2010, at the annual AAHPERD national convention he was awarded the Luther Halsey Gulick Medal, the highest honor awarded by the Alliance in recognition of long and distinguished service to the Alliance.  He also received the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Association for Teacher Educators. 

Daryl Siedentop has Distinguished Alumni Awards from Hope College, Western Michigan University, and the Indiana University School of HPER.  Among other visits to Hope through the years, last fall he made a variety of presentations to the campus community, including as a guest speaker in classes. 

Graves Hall is located at 263 College Ave., between 10th and 12th streets. 

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