After a four-year hiatus, Thomas More University is set to honor outstanding community members at the 25th Bishop William A. Hughes Awards Dinner on Wednesday, March 29.
Three distinct awards will be presented to individuals who have shown leadership in the community and made a significant impact on Catholic education. Honorees at this year’s dinner include Alan Pickett, executive director of Catholic Charities, Raymond G. Hebert, Ph.D., executive director of the Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III Institute for Religious Liberty (IRL), and Wilbert Ziegler, J.D., honorary chair of the Thomas More University Second Century Campaign Steering Committee.
Alan Pickett will receive the Bishop William A. Hughes Award – for whom the dinner is named. The award was established in 1996 to honor those who have made significant contributions to Catholic higher education.
Pickett joined Catholic Charities in September 2014 as the ninth executive director after 36 years in professional service as a practicing CPA, holding various administrative and leadership roles in several professional service firms. He completed a Master of Arts in lay pastoral ministry from the Athenaeum of Ohio in 2010.
In addition, Pickett has spent much of his adult life actively participating in numerous ministries at his parish and volunteering in a variety of programs in the community including the Diocese of Covington Pro-Life Commission, Tender Mercies, and Exodus Jail Listening Ministry of Northern Kentucky.
While the Bishop Hughes award is designed to honor external community members who have made significant contributions to Catholic education, the newly created Dr. Raymond Hebert Distinguished Service Award honors those who have made a signification contribution within the University. The inaugural award is being presented to Hebert, who has more than 47 years of service to Thomas More University. He currently serves the University as a dean emeritus and executive director of the IRL.
Hebert’s legacy began when he joined Thomas More in 1975 as a faculty member. Since then, he has filled many roles including dean of summer session, chairperson of both history and the expanded history, international students, and political science departments, interim dean of student affairs, vice president of academic affairs/dean of the college, director of James Graham Brown Honors program, director of the dual credit program, as well as coordinator of many study abroad programs.
The Thomas More Medallion, being presented to Will Ziegler, is the highest dedicated service award granted to a member of the Thomas More community, recognizing that individual’s extraordinary service to the University and to the larger community which the University serves.
After graduating from Thomas More, Ziegler went on to have a paramount impact on not only the University, but Catholic education in the region as a whole, He has served on several boards in the community, including as honorary chair of the Second Century Campaign Steering Committee and the Advancement and Outreach committee at TMU. Ziegler has also created several scholarships in support of students at Covington Latin School, Thomas More, and the University of Cincinnati which serve to continue his legacy.
Bishop William A. Hughes began his ministry as a clergy member in 1946. After being appointed to the role of bishop in 1974, he was an active member and served as chairman of various committees within the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the United States Catholic Conference. He was appointed the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Covington in 1979 and served on various boards within the Greater Cincinnati community, also serving as chancellor of Thomas More University.
Hughes retired in July 1995 and passed away on Feb. 7, 2013.
More information about sponsorships, as well as RSVP submission, is available at TMU’s Bishop William A. Hughes Award Dinner page.
For more information about Thomas More University, visit www.thomasmore.edu.
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