Aerial view of campus

President's Medallion Recipients

Honoring Community Excellence

The University established in 2002 the President’s Medallion Award, bestowed upon those who have distinguished themselves in a particular field or in service to an important cause that has benefited society locally, regionally, nationally or internationally. The President’s Medallion also recognizes men and women in a variety of fields who are role models worthy of emulation by all, particularly by our students at Western New England University.

Past Honorees

Colonel Timothy P. Alben G'01 - Massachusetts State Police Superintendent, August 23, 2014, Alumnus of the Year and Graduate Commencement

Michael J. Ashe Jr. - Sheriff for Hampden County, May 18, 2003, Off-Campus Programs Commencement

Lisa Bachmann - Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising and Operating Officer, Big Lots, Inc., May 22, 2016, Doctoral, Law, Pharmacy, and Master's Degree Commencement

William M. Bennett - District Attorney for Hampden County, May 18, 2003, Off-Campus Programs Commencement

Diane Bosse - Chair of the New York Board of Law Examiners and Chair of the ABA Accreditation Committee of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, August 21, 2012, School of Law Convocation

Lucia Giuggio Carvalho - Director of Case Management at Jewish Geriatric Services, Longmeadow, MA, May 17, 2008, Undergraduate Commencement

Maryse Condé - Novelist, Playwright, and Critic, October 20, 2004, French Department, Humanities Department, and Diversity Task Force event

Ron Copes - Vice President for Community Relations at MassMutual Financial Group, Hartford, CT and Springfield, MA, May 20, 2006, Undergraduate Commencement

Stephen M. Daley - Founder and Executive Director of RadKIDS, May 6, 2004, Benefit for RadKIDS

John DiFava - Chief of MIT Campus Police, May 19, 2002, Graduate and Off-Campus Programs Commencement

Arthur William "Red" Downes - Head Coach of the Golden Bears men's golf program, May 19, 2018, Undergraduate Commencement

J. Robert Flores - Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, May 29, 2008, Possibilities Symposium

Dr. Paul Friedmann - Retired Executive Director at the Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute, May 20, 2018, Graduate Commencement

Mamie Duncan Gibbs - Broadway Actress, April 24, 2003, "Voices from the Inside" Poetry Reading

Richard A. Grabiec - Assistant Dean of the College of Engineering and Professor of Industrial Engineering, May 19, 2018, Undergraduate Commencement

John Greaney - Associate Justice, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, May 17, 2003, School of Law Commencement

Michael S. Greco - President of the American Bar Association, August 16, 2005, Law Convocation

Mary Anne Herron - Director of Special Projects for the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation, May 8, 2010, Master's Degrees Celebration

Anita Hill - Civil Rights Leader, February 25, 2002, Clason Speaker Series

Roderick Jackson - Former girls' basketball coach at Ensley H.S. Birmingham, AL, Jackson vs. Birmingham Board of Education, October 5, 2006, Women in Sports Panel Discussion

Christine James-Brown - President and CEO, Child Welfare League of America, May 19, 2011, On the Road to Educational Equality Campaign

Tracy Kidder - Pulitzer prize winning author, October 22, 2003, Athenaeum Series

Harold Hongju Koh - Dean of Yale Law School, September 9, 2008, School of Law Convocation

Ron Laney - Associate Administrator in the Child Protection Division of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, June 4, 2009, Possibilities Symposium

Paul Loeb - Author, March 6, 2002, Lecture Day

Dr. Donna Lopiano - President and Founder of Sports Management Resources and former CEO of the Women’s Sports Foundation, April 22, 2009, Center for International Sport Business Speaker Series

York Mayo - Executive Director for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Springfield, May 7, 2011, Master's Degrees Celebration

Roland Merullo - Author, May 21, 2016, Undergraduate Commencement

Dr. Mwelwa Musambachime - Zambia's Ambassador to the U.N., April 10, 2003, April Colloquium

Chris Nowinski - CEO and Cofounder of Sports Legacy Institute, February 22, 2011, 2011 Leadership Forum

Rod Pease '77/G'82 - Director of Student Administrative Services, Western New England University, May 21, 2016, Undergraduate Commencement

Ellen Ash Peters - Chief Justice (retired) of the Connecticut Supreme Court, August 31, 2006, Law Convocation

Dick Pound - Chair of World Anti-Doping Agency, October 16, 2007, Center for Intern

Thomas Reilly - Massachusetts Attorney General, May 23, 2004, Nontraditional Undergraduate/Graduate Commencement

Maria Reyes - Freedom Writer from Erin Gruwell's English class at Woodrow Wilson High School, Long Beach, CA, September 25, 2007, Freshman Focus

Ilana Kara Diamond Rovner - First woman appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, May 20, 2018, Graduate Commencement

Travis Roy - Hockey player and author, October 5, 2004, Freshman Focus

David S. Sharken - Executive Director of The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, Inc., May 20, 2006, Undergraduate Commencement

Robert B. Stein Jr. '79 - President and CEO of Kalibrate Technologies, May 20, 2017 Undergraduate Commencement

Scott T. Stevens '77 - Founder of Stageless Players Club at Western New England University, May 19, 2018, Undergraduate Commencement

Kathrine Switzer - First female runner in Boston Marathon, April 4, 2006

Henry M. Thomas III L'83 - Attorney, Activist, and Ally for Western Massachusetts, May 17, 2003, School of Law Commencement

Dean '82 & Denise '84 Vanech - Founder, Chair, and CEO of Olympus Holdings, LLC & philantropist, May 19, 2019, Graduate Commencement

Paul Weilerstein - former Executive Director of the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, September 1, 2009, kickoff event for "Product Development and Innovation" course

Sally Wittenberg - Executive Director of Volunteer Programs, Springfield (MA) School Volunteers, May 20, 2006, Undergraduate Commencement

Past Group Honorees

City of Springfield Firefighters, accepted by Chief of Springfield Fire Department Gary C. Cassanelli - May 18, 2002, Undergraduate Commencement

City of Springfield Police Officers, accepted by Chief of Springfield Police Department Paula Meara - May 18, 2002, Undergraduate Commencement

Men and Women of the U.S. Armed Forces, accepted by ROTC Major Jeffery T. Adams - May 18, 2002, Undergraduate Commencement