SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- An innovative medical school dean, a nationally known historian and author, and two Chinese-born brothers who have carved out a unique position in the art world are among the six Lincoln Academy laureates for 2006.

This year's winners of the state's highest honor were feted Saturday at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

The Lincoln Academy was founded in 1965 to honor Illinois' most distinguished residents and natives. Past laureates include radio commentator Paul Harvey, Chicago Bears star Walter Payton, Chicago newspaperman Mike Royko, former President Ronald Reagan and advice columnist Ann Landers.

One of this year's laureates is Dr. Richard Moy, 75, of Springfield, the founding dean of the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

In 1969, Moy left an administrative post at the University of Chicago Medical School to take the helm of the new SIU facility in Springfield. He served as dean there until his retirement in 1993.

Moy's ideas led SIU to receive national and international acclaim for its hands-on teaching model that focused more on organ systems and holistic care and patient models to help with medical students' diagnostic and listening skills.

"It's a very humbling experience," Moy said after the awards ceremony. "You know, you set out to accomplish something, and you put your heart in it and you take risks. When it finally succeeds and the school gets accredited and starts graduating students, you take a deep breath and go, 'Oh, by golly!' And then the school begins to develop a national reputation and people start coming here to see how we're doing things."

The other 2006 laureates are:

-- Historian and social critic Garry Wills of Evanston, the author of "Saint Augustine," "Papal Sin" and the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Lincoln at Gettysburg." Wills' latest book, "Bush's Fringe Government," looks at the state of American democracy and the influence of the Catholic Church. He is professor of history emeritus at Northwestern University.

--The Rev. Thomas Behrens, who founded The Night Ministry in Chicago, which reaches out to poor, homeless and abused people through a street ministry.

--William Osborn, chairman and chief executive officer and a director of Northern Trust Corporation and its principal subsidiary, The Northern Trust Company of Chicago.

-- Artists ShanZuo and DaHuang Zhou, whose Zhou Brothers Art Foundation in Chicago supports artists from various nations. The Zhou Brothers, who always work collaboratively, have received numerous awards and had paintings, sculpture and performances featured in Asia, Europe, and throughout the United States. In 2004, they opened Chicago's ZhouB Art Center, which focuses on younger artists and experimental work.