Graduates from each of The University of Toledo’s degree-awarding colleges will be recognized Friday, Oct. 14, at the UT Alumni Association’s Homecoming Gala.

The event, which annually draws sellout crowds to the Student Union Auditorium, will begin at 6 p.m.

The program features the recipients of the Alumni Association’s highest honors: the Gold T, the Blue T and the Edward H. Schmidt Outstanding Young Alum.

Dr. Celia Williamson, UT professor of social work and director of the Human Trafficking and Social Justice Institute, is the 2016 recipient of the Gold T, which is presented to a graduate in recognition of outstanding career accomplishment.

Williamson earned an associate’s degree from the UT Community and Technical College in 1983 and a bachelor of arts degree in social work in 1988. In 1993, she founded Second Chance, which provides services to women and youth involved in sex trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation. The Second Chance Program has won the prestigious FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award for its service to women and assistance in securing justice. Chair of the Ohio Attorney General’s Anti-Trafficking Commission, Williamson and her colleagues developed the first international academic journal on human trafficking. She founded and serves as president of the National Research Consortium on Commercial Sexual Exploitation. She also developed one of the first conferences on human trafficking in the nation.

Ted Hahn, a partner in the Trust Co. of Toledo, is the 2016 recipient of the Blue T, which is presented to an Alumni Association member who has made outstanding contributions to the progress and development of the association and the University.

Hahn received his bachelor’s degree from the College of Business and Innovation in 1965 and his MBA from that college in 1967. President of the Alumni Association during the 2004-05 school year, he also has served on the UT Foundation Board of Trustees. Hahn and his wife, Suzi, a 1970 graduate of the Judith Herb College of Education, have endowed a scholarship at the University and have been generous donors to academics, athletics and Alumni Association projects.

Rob Bleile is the 2016 recipient of the Schmidt Award, which is presented to a graduate who is 35 years of age or younger in recognition of outstanding achievement in his or her field of endeavor.

Bleile is president of American Timber and Steel in Norwalk, Ohio, and co-founder of Research Metrics, an international mobile mystery shopping and auditing firm. He has been very active with the Alumni Association. Currently second vice president of the association, he will become president of the organization during the 2018-19 school year. A member of the President’s Club, Bleile is married to Ala, a 2004 College of Business graduate with degrees in international business and accounting.

A limited number of seats remain for the Homecoming Gala. Tickets are $30 per person.

Call the Office of Alumni Relations at 419.530.2585 (ALUM) for more information or to make reservations.

Media Coverage
WTOL 11 (October 9, 2016)

Tags: UT Alumni Association