Citizenship, arts, engineering honorees
Four Alumni Receive 2010 Homecoming Awards
Congratulations to the following alumni who were honored in a private ceremony on Friday, Oct. 29, as part of Homecoming Weekend on campus. We encourage you to reach out to the recipients personally (look for their e-mail addresses in B-Link) or feel free to send a note to alumni@bucknell.edu and we will share your note with the recipients.
Bucknell University Distinguished Citizenship
Paul B. Wice '64 (posthumously)
The award is given to an alumnus or supporter who exemplifies the mission of Bucknell's founders, which was "to educate our students to serve the common good and to promote justice in ways sensitive to the moral and ethical dimensions of life."
Dr. Paul Bernard Wice was an award-winning teacher and writer, and an expert in constitutional law, criminal justice and urban studies. Growing up, he lived in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington D.C. until 1957 and his memoir of this time, the forthcoming Washington's Forgotten Revolution: An Eyewitness Account, deals with the tumultuous racial transformation of our nation's capital.
Dr. Wice graduated from Bucknell in 1964 with a bachelor of arts in history. While on campus, he was involved with Theta Chi fraternity and the ROTC program as a Commissioned Officer. He later went on to earn an M.A. from American University in 1966 and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Illinois at Urbana in 1972. Dr. Wice began his teaching career as an assistant professor at Washington and Jefferson College. He was named a visiting fellow at the National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice with the U.S. Department of Justice. In 1978, he moved to New Jersey to join the political science department at Drew University in Madison and later served as a scholar in residence for the New Jersey judicial system. His teaching awards include: the Distinguished Teacher and Scholar Award (Presidential Citation) from Drew University; the Excellence in Teaching Award by the New Jersey Department of Higher Education and the New Jersey Author's Award for his book "Rubin "Hurricane" Carter and the American Justice System." In 1996, he was a visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Law and Society at the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Wice was a gifted writer whose strength in teaching illuminated the complex subject matter of his 11 books. His final book, published in 2008, is "Presidents in Retirement: Alone and Out of Office" (Lexington Books). After struggling with heart disease, Dr. Wice was the recipient of a heart transplant in December of 2007. This life-saving operation gave him the opportunity to witness the successes of his three children: Sara, who graduated from high school and entered Louisiana State University where she is currently a sophomore; Matthew, who completed three years of intensive language study and English-teaching in Japan, and Andrew, who published a novel, "To The Last Drop". After a short fight with melanoma, Dr. Wice died peacefully on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009 at the age of 67.
Bucknell University Distinguished Citizenship Young Alumni Award
Peter A. Kadens '00
This award is given to an alumnus or alumna who has graduated in the last 15 years and whose professional accomplishments, service to alma mater or selfless and caring work has been distinctive.
Pete Kadens is a leader in the American "Green Movement" and is a change agent for several social causes. Pete currently serves as the President of
SoCore Energy, a venture backed solar energy firm that was the first company to pioneer the rental of solar equipment to the masses. SoCore's customers include Walgreens, JC Penney, and Lowes stores. Pete co-founded the company with well-known Bucknell alumnus Glen Tullman, who is currently the CEO of Allscripts, the largest Electronic Medical Record company in the United States. Prior to SoCore, Pete was the founder and CEO of
Acquirent, an outsourced sales company that Pete and his team grew to be ranked the #1 outsourced sales company in the United States according to DataMonitor and The Black Book of Outsourcing. In his years as the founder and CEO of Acquirent, Pete was responsible for developing a client roster that included Staples, Sears, Midas, and Constellation Energy. Pete was elected as the President of the National Association of Sales Outsourcers in 2007 by his peers and served in that capacity until leaving the industry in early 2008. In addition to Acquirent and SoCore Energy, Pete is also an owner of a motivational speaking firm, Success Through Significance, and a venture backed internet recruiting business called Bounty Jobs, based in New York City. Prior to founding Acquirent, Pete spent 3 years at the investment bank of UBS.
Pete has found unique ways to leverage his success to help others less fortunate and has made news headlines all over the world in the process. In 2008, Pete's efforts in the homeless community and personal crusade to save a victim of homelessness inspired one of the largest 48 hour fundraising efforts in US history for a homeless individual, and inspired thousands of people in the process. Pete is the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Streetwise Organization of Chicago, one of the largest homeless aid agencies in the country. He serves as a Director at The Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois, where he was instrumental in raising $45 million to build the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, that opened in 2009. He is the Founder of Chicago Area Business Leaders (CABL), the Founder of the SaveTroy.com Campaign, Founder of the Holocaust Remembrance Board of Illinois, a Director at the US-India Chamber of Commerce and serves on the Bucknell Business Advisory Board.
Pete graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Bucknell, where he served as Interfraternity Council President. He and his wife, Amy, reside in Chicago and have one daughter, Noa.
Association for the Arts Academy of Artistic Achievement Award
Richard A. Humphrey '74
Established in 1990 to recognize Bucknell alumni and friends distinguished in and devoted to the arts
Richard Humphrey has over 30 years experience bridging the performing arts, fine arts and business communities. He has developed innovative and sustainable business strategies for the arts, created partnerships between the for-profit and not-for-profit worlds, lobbied on the federal and state level for the arts and arts education, and facilitated international collaborations. Richard has nurtured and presented original work on Broadway and off-Broadway including as co-producer of a Pulitzer Prize winning play. Over the past four years, he has, as executive producer, built a copyrighted library of over 125 titles including interviews with some of the world's greatest artists, performances and art history documentaries.
As CEO of Arts4All, Ltd. and Redcloud Mobile, Inc., Richard utilized his fluency in digital media and introduced its potential in assuring the future of the arts to some of the world's greatest talents and arts institutions. Richard has produced internationally over 100 real-time videoconference arts events and as a pioneer in mobile applications, he and his collegues introduced Broadway to the potential of the mobile community including as the national mobile media partner for the Tony Awards.
Richard was the founder of Humphrey Fine Art, Ltd., a flagship gallery in New York's Soho and Midtown districts. His gallery exhibited in nine countries and at major art fairs in Paris, Madrid, Tokyo and Seoul.
Richard's volunteerism for Bucknell has spanned many capacities since 1985. He was the President of the Bucknell University Alumni Association and its Board of Directors for two terms (2006-2010) and as a Board and Executive Committee member for three years prior. He was a two-term President and is now on the Emeritus Board of the Bucknell Association for the Arts and served on its Board for eight years. His commitment to the growth of the arts at Bucknell has included as director of the inaugural student production of the Tustin Studio Theatre and as chair of events surrounding its dedication and as a member of the Center (Samek) Art Gallery Board of Directors. For the University's sesquicentennial in 1996, Richard funded, wrote and produced a video entitled "Fragments of a Journey: 150 Years of the Arts at Bucknell." It was distributed through the support of the Bucknell Alumni Association as part of the University's capital campaign.
Richard has mentored generations of Bucknell interns interested in a career in the arts, hosting internships and externships. He has been profiled as a key volunteer leader for Bucknell. He graduated in 1974 with a double major: a B.A. in English with a concentration in theatre and a B.A. in Art History.
Bucknell Engineering Alumni Association (BEAA) Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award
George J. Pierson '84
The award is given to an engineering alumna/us who has distinguished themself through extraordinary commitment to the College and the University, exemplary professional achievement, or noteworthy contributions to society.
George Pierson graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering degree in 1984. He continued his studies as a Graduate Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, earning a Master of Science in Civil Engineering degree in 1985. He undertook further studies and earned a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1990, and later a Master of Business Administration degree from St. Mary’s College of California in 1995. Since his graduation from Bucknell, he has distinguished himself professionally and has provided noteworthy contributions to the University and the College of Engineering.
In 1990, he joined Farella, Braun, & Martel, a San Francisco law firm, where he represented clients in complex construction disputes. In 1992, he joined Kvaerner E & C, a global engineering and construction services company, and was ultimately named Senior Vice President and General Counsel. With Kvaerner he structured and negotiated billions of dollars of construction projects around the world including in the United States, Thailand, the Philippines, Chile, Brazil, India, China, Russia and Australia. From 2003 to 2006, he was Partner and Director of the International Practice Group at Peckar & Abramson, one of the nation’s leading construction law firms. While there, he represented the Government of Turkey on disputes arising out of a $1.3 billion, 1,700 km crude oil pipeline. He was named a leading construction lawyer by Chambers USA.
In 2006 George joined Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) as a Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. Founded in 1885, PB is a global leader in the development of infrastructure to meet the needs of communities around the world. In January 2008 he became the President and Chief Operating Officer of PB’s Americas division and was later elected to the firm’s Board of Directors. In January 2010 he was promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer of PB and is now responsible for overseeing the efforts of more than 14,000 PB employees working on infrastructure projects from more than 150 offices throughout the world. While at PB he was elected as a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers and a member of The Moles. He serves on the national Executive Committee and Board of the ACE Mentor Program of America and was recently featured on the cover of ENR magazine.
The length and depth of his commitment to Bucknell has been extraordinary through his service to our students by returning to Bucknell to speak in the classroom on numerous occasions, his development and presentation of a university-wide seminar on International Business Ethics, his placement of students in internships, and as the driving force to develop the Engineering Success Alliance that provides an academic support structure for diversity students studying engineering.