Students Sarah Finn, of Ebensburg, and Megan Coffey, of Erie, were selected as the winners of the 2009 Provost’s Fall Common Freshman Reader essay assignment.
The 2009 Common Freshman Reader is Make the Impossible Possible by Pittsburgh native Bill Strickland.
As a result of this honor, Finn and Coffey will introduce Strickland for his presentation at IUP on November 17, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. in the IUP Performing Arts Center’s Fisher Auditorium.
The lecture is free and open to the community, and a reception and book-signing session will follow.
Now in its fourth year, the Common Freshman Reader program was established by Dr. Tony Atwater, IUP president, to set the tone for academic excellence by encouraging new students to read the same book. Each new student receives a copy of the chosen book and is invited to read it before the start of the school year.
The provost’s essay assignment is part of the Common Freshman Reader programming, which also includes films, classroom projects, and discussions. More than thirty faculty members have incorporated Strickland’s book into classroom discussions and activities.
Of the 250 students who submitted essays, eight were selected for special recognition. In addition to the first-place winners, other recognized essay authors were Robert Gearhart, of Finleyville, and Stephanie Pelch, of Pittsburgh, second place, and Grey Berrier, of Pulaski; Courtney Roth, of Lebanon; Catie Shontz, of James Creek; and Lauren Young, of Indiana, meritorious distinction.
All students who submitted essays will be recognized at Strickland’s lecture on November 17.
Strickland will also visit several IUP classrooms and tour facilities in the College of Fine Arts while at IUP.
In his book, Strickland uses his own life experiences and those of others to demonstrate how people can overcome their circumstances and build on their passions and strengths to achieve success and help mentor and inspire others.
Strickland is president and CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation—a jobs training center and community arts program—and its subsidiaries, Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and Bidwell Training Center in Pittsburgh. In 2009, Atwater presented Strickland with the Presidential Legacy Award for Civic Service at the annual Legacy Gala.
Strickland recently completed the development of a new 40,000-square-foot production greenhouse, created for horticultural training; a 70,000-square-foot medical technology complex; and a 62,000-square-foot facility as a mortgage-free asset for both Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and Bidwell Training Center. The facilities also serve as a demonstration site for Hewlett Packard and Steelcase products.
Strickland was born in Pittsburgh in 1947 and graduated from David B. Oliver High School in 1965. In 1969, he graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in American history and foreign relations from the University of Pittsburgh. He founded the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild while still a student at the university.
Throughout his career, Strickland has been honored with awards for his contributions to the arts and the community. In 1999, he received the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Arts Leadership and Service Award. In 1998, he received the Kilby Award and Coming Up Taller Award, presented in a White House ceremony by first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.
In 1996, he received the MacArthur Genius Award for leadership and integrity in the arts. Strickland was honored by Pittsburgh Magazine as the 2007 Pittsburgher of the Year and by Ernst & Young in 2007 as the Entrepreneur of the Year in Arts and Education.
He has served as chairman of the Expansion Arts Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C., and served a six-year presidential appointment as a council member. He has served on the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Pennsylvania State Board of Education, as a trustee at the Carnegie Museums, and as a consultant with the British American Arts Association in London.
In 2002, Strickland was sworn in as a member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. He also serves as a consultant, grant evaluator, and mentor in the field of arts and arts education, community development, and workforce development training.
