The lute may not be as popular as the guitar, but that doesn't bother Ellen Adelson. She's still determined to learn this quaint, Renaissance-era instrument.
"That's the next thing I'm going to learn," says Adelson. "My husband (Dr. Steven Adelson) bought me one and I'm going to take lessons."
For Adelson, the learning never stops. In fact, learning, combined with an almost reverent appreciation of the power of education, have been central values in her life, gently drummed into her by parents and grandparents.
"It's so much a part of my heritage," says Adelson, who earned a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and a master's degree from the University of Oklahoma. "It goes back to my grandparents who were immigrants - who prized education above all and who weren't able to go to college here. They really sacrificed to send my mother, an only child, to school. Education was a means of opening up the world."
Adelson's parents and grandparents also instilled in her the responsibility of giving back, something that has become her forte, especially on behalf of The University of Tulsa. She has served as a trustee since 1994 and took the reins to establish key University programs such as the TURC Fellows Advisory Board and the McFarlin Fellows.
For her efforts, Adelson, a mother of four grown sons, is being honored with the J. Paschal Twyman Award, established by the TU Alumni Association to recognize outstanding contributions to the University "far and beyond the call of duty."
Adelson says her biggest reward is knowing others are being helped to achieve their potential. "I don't think anybody understands that when we serve, we get back a hundred-fold," she says. "I'm a little uncomfortable being honored because for me, the reward comes in seeing how things change and grow." Adelson knew from childhood that service to others was her ambition.
"From as early as I can remember, I wanted to get married, have four kids and be a social worker," she comments. "I'm just trying to make a contribution to make things better in a small way. It really is simplistic and maybe naïve, but that is what I believe."
Passionate about her family, reading, music, amateur ornithology and her private practice counseling, in addition to her support of TU and other community causes, Adelson is seemingly tireless.
"I wish I were better organized," she admits. "But I take joy in the things I do. I love to learn new things."
Even the lute.