The Honorable Jeffrey B. Ford (BS '73; JD '76) was presented with the Joanne Blair Award by Marti Belluschi from the Illinois Traffic Safety Leaders on September 30, 2010. The Joanne Blair Award was created to honor the selfless leadership and dedication of Joanne Blair to improving highway safety for citizens of Illinois. It is awarded annually to an outstanding individual and/or organization in Illinois Highway safety.
The Honorable Jeffrey B. Ford is a Circuit Judge in the Sixth Judicial Circuit located in Champaign County. He is an adjunct instructor at the University of Illinois Police Training Institute; member of the Illinois Department of Transportation DUI Advisory Council, currently known as the U of I Springfield Advisory Council; Conference of Chief Judges Article V Committee; Board of Directors of the Illinois Association of Drug Court Professionals; initiated Champaign County Drug Court (1999) and remains the presiding judge; awarded State of Illinois 1994 Outstanding Support Person by MADD; developed, organized, and presented assemblies for high schools on the the consequences of driving under the influence; invitee to NHTSA National Sentencing Summit in 2004, one of twenty judges from the U.S., and the only judge from Illinois invited to provide input on the best practices for sentencing DUI cases; current member of the Psychology Department's Alumni Advisory Board; and recipient of the 2011 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Department of Psychology.
Susan G. Weitzman (BS '81; MBA '82) received the UIAA Loyalty Award from Vanessa Faurie, Vice President and Associate Chancellor for Alumni Relations on October 1, 2010 at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center. UIAA has honored outstanding alumni with the University of Illinois Loyalty Award since 1957. The award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated extraordinary loyalty to the University and Alumni Association.
Susan was accompanied by her husband, Dan, an Illinois alumnus, and their son, David, a sophomore here on campus. Their daughter, Lisa, is also an alumnus from the University. Susan and Dan are UI Alumni Association Life Members, and they also support the College of LAS, College of Business, and other campus programs.
Susan served on the UIAA's Campus Advisory Board (CAAB) from 2003-2009. Vaness Faurie, Vice President and Associate Chancellor for Alumni Relations, presented Susan with the award. She stated, "As co-chair of the CAAB Membership Committee, Susan played an instrumental role in restructuring the nomination and selection process for new board members. She focused her efforts on building a broader representation on CAAB. Thanks to her vision and leadership, we have a stronger, more diverse Campus Alumni Advisory Board."
(Pictured) Gary Wszalek introduces the alumni panel members: Dr. James Leonard, Stephen Clingerman, Susan G. Weitzman, and The Honorable Jeffrey Ford.
