The International Adult and Continuing Education (IACE) Hall of Fame was founded in 1996 "to honor leaders in the fields of continuing education and adult learning and to serve as a record and inspiration for the next generation of continuing education leaders". Annually, adult and continuing education leaders from around the world are selected for induction into the IACE Hall of Fame.
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History
The story of the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame officially began in the early 1990s with the desire to provide a mechanism to honor and document contributions of the past to better build the future. Dr. Thurman J. White, a pioneer in the field of continuing education for adult and nontraditional students, contributor to the theoretical base of adult education and initiator of the Oklahoma College of Continuing Education at University of Oklahoma, initiated this idea in cooperation with current leaders and officers of several associations and organizations in the USA (University Continuing Education Association, American Society for Training and Development, AAACE/American Association of Adult and Continuing Education, ECOP/National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges).
The Hall was incorporated in the state of Oklahoma on September 20, 1995, as a nonprofit corporation. The Hall of Fame, in the beginning focused mostly to the USA, more and more inducted members from other countries. In 2006 the first induction ceremony took place out of the USA (Bamberg, Germany). Logo of the society:
Structure
The Hall of Fame operates with a small central staff in the Office of the Vice President for Outreach at the University of Oklahoma. Inducted members elect a Board of Directors, which manages the induction process and organizes symposia and other Hall activities.
Hall of Fame Members
Scholars, practitioners, and policy makers reflect the diversity of adult and continuing education practice and scholarship and the increasingly global leadership community that constitutes the IACE Hall of Fame. Anyone may nominate a candidate for induction into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame. A Selection Committee reviews nominations and makes recommendations to the Board of Directors, which selects the final group to be inducted every year. The Nomination Instructions claim: "To be eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame, a person must be eminently distinguished in the profession, shall have brought honor or distinction, and shall have contributed to the heritage of adult and continuing education."
Since the first induction in 1996, the Hall of Fame has inducted more than 250 members from 27 nations.
Location
The official home for the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame is the University of Oklahoma's Oklahoma Center for Continuing Education (OCCE), Norman, Oklahoma.
Meetings
The IACE Hall of Fame typically holds its annual induction ceremony and symposium in conjunction with the annual conference of a major national/international professional association in the field: for example in 2008 in Budapest in conjunction with the Unesco/Confintea-conference, in 2010 in Guadalajara with CREAD/Inter-American Distance Education Consortium, and 2011 in Toronto with UPCEA/University Professional & Continuing Education Association.