 The Ad Lucem Award is presented by the President of La Roche College and its Board of Trustees to individuals whose vision, leadership and determination transformed their dreams into reality. Known as founders or inventors, the recipients of this award epitomize the meaning of the Latin words “ad Lucem” (to light). Their dedication and efforts illuminate new paths and make positive and lasting contributions to society, the community and the professions. Recipients of the Ad Lucem Award exemplify the mission of La Roche College to educate future leaders and to promote peace and justice in a changing global society. They also serve as role models for the power of education and the dissemination of knowledge.
WILLIAM E. STRICKLAND, JR – This year’s Founders Gala – “A Man of Vision - Celebrating Hope” honors the life’s work of Bill Strickland, who for more than four decades has been devoted to addressing community needs and developing an enlightened and harmonious society through education.
Raised in the inner-city neighborhood of Manchester, Bill was inspired by his high school art teacher and a potter’s wheel. From that inspiration evolved his vision for an after-school arts and mentorship program, which took form as the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild in a donated North Side row house he secured while attending college. Several years later, at a time of widespread unemployment in the Pittsburgh region, Bill was asked to assume the leadership of Bidwell Training Center, where he guided the transition and responsiveness of its job training programs to benefit the region’s people and emerging markets.
Since 1972, the organization Bill leads has attracted national attention for its innovative career-oriented training and literacy and remedial education. Because of Bill’s success and inspiring stories of the students whose lives he has touched, Bill will appear in the upcoming documentary film “Waiting for Superman,” which examines the challenges of the American education system. Bill is one of 25 appointees to President Obama’s White House Council for Community Solutions. He is the recipient of the 2011 Goi Peace Award, the 2012 Pursuer of Peace Award, the Mac Arthur “Genius” Award and numerous other awards for his contribution to the arts and the community.
"A successful life is not something you simply pursue, it is something you create, moment by moment.”
– Bill Strickland
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