Yale Athletic Department Hosts Blue Leadership Ball
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Yale Athletic Department
hosted its gala Blue Leadership Ball on Friday night at the William
K. Lanman Center inside Payne Whitney Gym. The fifth occurrence of
the biennial event, which brought together over 500 alumni and
friends of Yale Athletics, raised over $70,000 through a
“Once in a Lifetime” Auction and generated an
additional $120,000 in sponsorships.
The highlight of the Blue Leadership Ball was the presentation of
the 2009 George H.W. Bush ’48 Lifetime of Leadership Award.
The class of 2009 Bush Award winners included Kenneth L. Davis,
M.D. ’69, John R. “Jack” Ford ’72, Stephen
D. Greenberg ’70, Carol L. Roberts ’81 and Henry B.
Schacht ’56. In addition, legendary Yale football coach Carm
Cozza received a special Bush award.
“This year's recipients of the George H.W. Bush ’48
leadership awards exemplify true dedication to leadership in both
their professional and personal lives,” said Cynthia Kempner
‘79, chair of the leadership committee. “All have been
very successful in their professional endeavors, but even more so
in giving back, in so many ways, to the communities around them.
They represent role models for all of us to find the time and
resources to help those around us and to make an impact on the
lives of others. Yale takes great pride in honoring these men and
woman.”
Dr. Davis, internationally renowned for his pioneering research on
psychiatric disorders, is the President and CEO of The Mount Sinai
Medical Center. His achievements as an educator, clinician and
administrator have earned him a prominent place among the national
leaders of academic medicine. At Yale, Dr. Davis earned a varsity
letter in track & field in 1968.
Ford, currently an anchor on TruTV, has enjoyed a lengthy career as
a television news personality specializing in legal commentary. He
served as Chief Legal Correspondent at NBC News, reporting on legal
issues for NBC Nightly News, The Today Show and
Dateline, and later became an anchor/correspondent at ABC
for both Good Morning America and 20/20. He also
has hosted The Sports Reporters on ESPN. Ford has won two
Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award for his broadcasting work. In
addition he is the author of the novel Osiris Alliance. At Yale, he
was a three-year letterwinner for the football team. He still has
the fourth longest (77 yards) interception return in school history
and was an NCAA Silver Anniversary Award recipient.
Greenberg, currently the Managing Director of Allen & Company,
is the co-founder of the College Sports Television Networks and the
Classic Sports Network, which became ESPN Classic in 1997. Prior to
that, he spent three years as Deputy Commissioner and Chief
Operating Officer of Major League Baseball. At Yale, Greenberg
captained both the men’s soccer and baseball teams. After
college, he was drafted by the Washington Senators and spent five
years playing for their minor league affiliates.
Roberts is the senior vice president, industrial packaging for
International Paper. She began her career with the company in 1981
as associate engineer at the Mobile, Ala., mill and worked her way
up. In 1993, she was promoted to general manager of Kraft
Packaging, followed by a move to general manager for Kraft Paper
and Packaging in 1996. A year later, she was appointed an officer
of International Paper and promoted to vice president of People
Development in the Human Resources organization. She took on her
current role in 2005 and has responsibility for Containerboard
& Recycling and Container The Americas businesses. At Yale
Roberts was a four-year starter for the field hockey team, earned
All-Ivy honors twice and helped the Bulldogs to an Ivy League title
in 1980. She also was a three-year starter for the softball team
and was a member of the 1980 Ivy League championship squad.
Schacht, a former chairman and CEO of Cummins Diesel (1973-1994)
and CEO of Lucent Technologies, is currently the managing director
and senior advisor of the venture capital firm Warburg Pincus. He
also has been a director for the Johnson & Johnson Corporation,
the New York Times Company and the Aluminum Company of America. At
Yale he was a member of the men’s swimming team.
Cozza, the winningest football coach in Ivy League history, was
Yale’s football coach for 32 seasons (1965-96) and was
inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in December 2002.
His record was 179-119-5, and his teams won 10 Ivy League
championships. At the time he retired, he stood 12th in victories
among active Division I coaches. He now serves as the analyst on
WELI’s radio broadcasts of Yale football.
In addition to speeches from the six honorees, Yale President
Richard Levin ’74 Ph.D, Director of Athletics Tom Beckett and
Kempner all addressed the crowd. Kurt Schmoke ’71, the Dean
of the Howard School of Law, former mayor of Baltimore, and a 2007
Bush award recipient, served as Master of Ceremonies for the Blue
Leadership Ball.
View the 2009
Blue Leadership Ball Photo Gallery
