Johns Hopkins Gazette: March 27, 1995

Maryland House Call Is Surprisingly 
Awarding Visit for Richardson


     University president William C. Richardson got quite a
surprise Wednesday when he went calling on the speaker 
of the Maryland House of Delegates.

     Before he could even get comfortable in the office of
Speaker Cass Taylor, Dr. Richardson was escorted into the House
chambers and presented with the first-ever Speaker's Medallion.

     The award was created to recognize Maryland citizens who
have made a significant contribution to the state. The speaker
presented the medallion to Dr. Richardson for his "many fine
contributions...both as citizen of this state and as head of our
largest and most renowned private research university."

     "I was very surprised and honored by the Maryland House of
Delegates," Dr. Richardson said. "The medallion has special
meaning because of the friendships with members I have developed
over the last five years and because I consider the Maryland
House of Delegates to be one of the best legislatures in the
country," he said.  

     The medallion depicts the House of Delegates mace, backed by
the Mary-land flag on one side and the 1794 Great Seal of
Maryland on the other. The side with the mace is inscribed
"Speaker's Medallion, Maryland House of Delegates." The other
side is encircled with the motto "Industry the Means, and Plenty
the Result."

     Maryland archivist Edward C. Papenfuse told the delegates
that the mace was selected for the Speaker's award because 
it is the oldest and most venerable object in the House's
possession. It has been present at every session of the House of 
Delegates for nearly 300 years.

     "More than any other symbol, it stands for the orderly,
deliberative process of representative government of the people,
by the people and for the people," he said.

     For Taylor, making this presentation had strong personal
significance.

     "As important as I consider the great contributions made by
the public Bill Richardson to our state, I am no less thankful
for the opportunity I have been afforded to know him as an
individual, a man of hard work and ready good humor, a man any
one of us would be proud to call a friend.

     "All of us are the richer for having the wisdom of your
counsel and the pleasure of your company over the years."

     Dr. Richardson received the First Citizen Award in February
from the Maryland Senate.

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