Homecoming Gala to recognize Gold, Blue T, Young Alum award recipients

October 3, 2018 | News, UToday, Advancement, Alumni, Law, Medicine and Life Sciences, Natural Sciences and Mathematics
By Staff



The University of Toledo Alumni Association will honor the winners of its most prestigious honors: the Gold T, Blue T and Edward H. Schmidt Outstanding Young Alum Award.

These three recipients will be recognized — along with distinguished alumni from each UT college — at the Homecoming Gala Friday, Oct. 5, at 6 p.m. in the Thompson Student Union Auditorium.

Tickets for the gala are $30 per person, $10 for children. To make a reservation, visit toledoalumni.org or contact the UT Alumni Office at 419.530.ALUM (2586).

Montgomery

The Gold T is presented to a UT graduate in recognition of outstanding achievement in his or her field of endeavor while providing leadership and noteworthy service to the community.

The 2018 recipient is Betty Montgomery. She received a law degree from the University in 1976 and began blazing trails. In 1995, Montgomery became the first woman to serve as attorney general in the state of Ohio. She served a four-year term and was re-elected to another four-year term. In 2003, she ran for auditor of the state of Ohio. Again she was a trendsetter, becoming the first woman to hold that four-year title in the more than 200-year history of the Buckeye State.

Before that, Montgomery spent seven years as a state senator for District 2, covering Ottawa, Wood and parts of Lucas and Erie counties. She also served as Wood County’s prosecuting attorney for eight years, during which time she was the only woman prosecuting attorney in Ohio.

Wakefield

The Blue T is presented to a UT Alumni Association member and University graduate who has made outstanding contributions to the progress and development of the Alumni Association and his or her alma mater.

Dr. Tom Wakefield is the 2018 recipient. He received an undergraduate degree in premed in 1970 and a medical degree from the former Medical College of Ohio in 1973.

Wakefield is the James C. Stanley Professor of Surgery, section head of vascular surgery and director of the Frankel Cardiovascular Center at the University of Michigan. He has received nearly $26 million in funded grants for vascular research. Wakefield is passionate about his alma mater. He served as president of the Alumni Association during the 2014-15 school year and is a major financial supporter of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences; the Athletics Department; the Alumni Association; and the Catharine S. Eberly Center for Women.

Ladd

The Edward H. Schmidt Outstanding Young Alum Award is presented to a University graduate who is 40 years or younger in recognition of outstanding achievement in her or his field of endeavor, while providing leadership and noteworthy service to the Alumni Association, University or community. This award is named in memory of the 1942 alumnus and a longtime supporter of the University and its Alumni Association.

The 2018 recipient is Dr. Mallory Ladd, who earned a bachelor’s degree from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Jesup Scott Honors College in 2011.
A recent graduate of the University of Tennessee’s PhD program, Ladd has been hired by the federally funded Center for Naval Analysis in Washington, D.C. She is an internationally recognized scientist who has developed mass spectrometry tools to measure the chemistry of soils in the Artic, which is viewed as a tipping-point area for climate change. Ladd also has served as a panelist at the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Germany.

For more information, contact Dan Saevig, UT associate vice president of alumni engagement, at 419.530.4008.

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