In 1986 Chancellor Jack E. Reese devised a program for recognition of faculty who had made outstanding long-term contributions to the intellectual life of the institution. The program involved nomination of retired faculty by members of the university community and review by a campus-wide committee under the leadership of the Office of the Provost to select individuals who would be honored by having a plaque giving their name and dates of service to the university installed on the door of one of the two hundred faculty studies in the John C. Hodges Library. Announcement of the first such faculty member honored, Dr. Luke Ebersole, was made by Chancellor Reese at the retirement reception for Ebersole in 1984. The first group of honorees was named in 1986.