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The Paul L. Hubbard Conference Room was named for the
past director of economic development for the City of
Toledo, past president of New Detroit and currently a
consultant at Trivium Partners LLC. Hubbard earned his
Master of Social Work from Wayne State in 1971 and serves on
the school’s Board of Visitors.
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The
William H. and Victoria Pickard Lounge was named for Pickard’s parents, who
nurtured and inspired their son’s success. They moved their
family to Flint, introducing their son to the automotive
world. While they worked on the assembly line at General
Motor, Pickard attended school and began what was to become
a long and successful road leading to multiple advanced
degrees, great success in the business world and a lifelong
interest in giving back.
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The Maribodine Robinson Doctoral Research Room
was named for the women’s suffrage and civil rights
activist. In 2015, at the age of 105 and just months before
her passing, Robinson received the Distinguished Warrior
award from the Urban League of Detroit and Southeastern
Michigan. She received a Bachelor of Science and a master’s
degree in chemistry from The Ohio State University, where
Pickard earned his Ph.D.
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The Nick
Scheele and Gary L. White Technology Conference Room and
Research Lab was named for
Scheele and White, both former executives at Ford Motor
Company as well as friends and mentors to Pickard. Sir
Nicholas Scheele, who passed away in 2014, was knighted by
Queen Elizabeth II in 2001 for saving the Jaguar brand. Gary
L. White was director of minority business development at
Ford.
Author of the recently
published “Seven Principles of Entrepreneurship,” Pickard
has owned McDonald’s franchises, established the Global
Automotive Alliance, LLC, invested in Real Times Media and
is a co-managing partner of MGM Grand Casino Detroit and one
of the owners of the Michigan Chronicle.
As chairman and CEO of
both Global Automotive Alliance LLC and Vitec LLC, Pickard
is an industry leader both nationally and internationally
whose entrepreneurial endeavors have focused on innovative
business development and long-term strategic planning.
Pickard was named the first chairman of the African America
Development Foundation by the United States Senate after
receiving a nomination from President Ronald Reagan. Pickard
was honored as Michiganian of the Year for his mentorship of
entrepreneurs and leadership of Global Automotive Alliance
in 2002.
Gary White and Paul Hubbard both expressed their admiration
and respect for Pickard.
“Dr. Bill Pickard has
demonstrated, as an entrepreneur, the true purpose of
America’s corporations’ efforts in setting up a diversified
supplier base and searching for ways to support urban
communities where the minority population has access to
training and good, taxpaying jobs,” White said. “My
associates at Ford Motor Company and I are proud to have
played a role in Bill Pickard’s success and his ‘giving
back’ to the community as demonstrated in his latest
activity at Wayne State University.”
Hubbard called it an honor
to be represented at the university that both “prepared and
propelled” him toward success.
“None of my career
accomplishments would have been possible without the
academic and hands-on training I received at Wayne State,”
Hubbard said. “The profession of social work is more
important now than ever before. Social workers are needed to
solve social problems but also to empower people to solve
them on their own.”
Approximately 100 people
attended the ribbon cutting event including the Rev. Jesse
Jackson.
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