News Item
Pace University’s 54th Annual Spirit of Pace Awards Dinner Honors President Stephen J. Friedman with the 2017 Leaders in Management Award on Wed., June 14
Pace University’s 54th Annual Spirit of Pace Awards Dinner Honors President Stephen J. Friedman with the 2017 Leaders in Management Award on Wed., June 14
Faculty award honoree is William Offutt, Professor of History and Faculty Adviser of the Pforzheimer Honors College at Pace
Young Alumnae Emcee: Ashley Scott ’17, BFA Acting Major, Pace School of Performing Arts
New York, NY – June 15, 2017 – At its Spirit of Pace Awards Dinner last night, Pace University recognized President Stephen J. Friedman as the honoree of the 2017 Leaders in Management Award, and this year's Homer and Charles Pace Faculty Award recipient, William Offutt, JD, PhD. The event was held at the American Museum of Natural History.
“President Friedman has overseen a period of tremendous accomplishment and growth, one that has set the stage for Pace to reach new heights in the coming years,” said Mark M. Besca ’81, Chairman, Pace Board of Trustees. “Thanks to his vision and commitment, Pace leads the way in educating the next generation of thinking professionals who will take the reins of the 21st century economy and form the executive, entrepreneurial, and innovator class of tomorrow.”
Friedman is the seventh President of Pace University. President Friedman has presided over an increase in enrollment, and advocated for the value of combining education in liberal arts and professional preparation, all for the purpose of creating opportunity for students and improving the nation’s global competitiveness.
Under his leadership, Pace has established new academic and study abroad programs, launched significant renovations of the New York and Pleasantville campuses, and built a solid financial foundation for advancing Pace’s mission.
Prior to his presidency, he served as Dean of Pace’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law and is a former Senior Partner of Debevoise & Plimpton LLC. He served as a Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury and law clerk to Justice William Brennan at the Supreme Court of the United States. He also has an extensive background as a leader of nonprofit organizations.
The 2017 faculty award honoree is William Offutt, Professor of History and Faculty Adviser of the Pforzheimer Honors College at Pace’s New York City Campus. He has been a Pace faculty member since 1990. He has taught classes on colonial and revolutionary America, the Civil War, Constitutional history, and American women’s history. An accomplished scholar, his book, Patriots, Loyalists, and Revolution in New York City, 1775-1776, is part of a simulation game in the “Reacting to the Past” series, which has been adopted by dozens of colleges around the world. He was director of Pace’s New York City Honors Program (2001-07), which in 2003 became the Pforzheimer Honors College. He has advised hundreds of Honors College students and graduates.
The Spirit of Pace Awards Dinner began in 1962 as the Leaders in Management Award Dinner to highlight the support and encouragement the University receives from the corporate community. Pace's signature fundraising event celebrates the University's continued advancement and honors distinguished individuals with remarkable entrepreneurial and visionary talents. This gala embraces the University's identity as a leader in higher education. Proceeds from the dinner directly support student scholarships and special projects, including the New York City Masterplan—making a critical difference in the lives of Pace students and their educational futures.
Pace University is shaped by its enduring traditions of opportunity and innovation. More than 100 years after its founding, Pace continues its commitment to providing access to a diverse population while innovating to meet the needs of the global economy. A January 2017 study ranked Pace first in New York and second in the nation at catapulting students from the bottom fifth of income distribution into the top fifth. The Equality of Opportunity Project study found that Pace graduates are out-earning their parents and peers, bucking a nationwide trend for millennials.
About Pace University: Since 1906, Pace has educated thinking professionals by providing high quality education for the professions on a firm base of liberal learning amid the advantages of the New York metropolitan area. A private university, Pace has campuses in Lower Manhattan and Westchester County, NY, enrolling nearly 13,000 students in bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in its College of Health Professions, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Lubin School of Business, School of Education, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. www.pace.edu.
Media contact: Cara Cea, 914-906-9680, ccea@pace.edu
