President G. P. “Bud” Peterson called Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Progress and Service recipient Bill Todd an “extraordinary humanitarian and community leader and a proud Georgia Tech alum.”
Todd, IM 71, president and CEO of the Georgia Cancer Coalition and past chair of the Alumni Association, was presented the award during the Ivan Allen College Founder’s Day luncheon at the Biltmore Hotel on March 15, the birthday of the college and award namesake. Allen, Com 33, mayor of Atlanta during the tumultuous days of the civil rights movement, died in 2003.
“Bill has devoted his career to health care and technology management in Atlanta,” Peterson said, lauding Todd as “a man of great vision.”
Earlier in his career, Todd founded Encina Technology Ventures and was founding president of the Georgia Research Alliance.
“In every challenge we face as people, leadership is the key ingredient in success and the missing element in failure,” Todd said during his acceptance speech.
In September 1966, Todd happened upon an angry mob and witnessed Mayor Allen climb atop a car and calm the protesters with his words of tolerance during the tense era of desegregation.
Todd has been part of the Institute’s strategic planning process, and he took the opportunity at the podium to look ahead.
“In 25 years Georgia Tech will be the institution that develops, nurtures and enables the top leaders in every field and endeavor and every community in which its alumni serve,” he said, acknowledging that he had delivered a bold statement. “The inspirational leadership of Ivan Allen Jr. is the ideal foundation for such an ambitious undertaking.”
Todd was the final recipient of the Prize for Progress and Service, awarded annually since 2001. Interim dean Ken Knoespel announced that beginning next year the college will award the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage to a member of the “global community who has advocated and affected change … [and] demonstrated moral and ethical courage consistent with Allen’s values.”
The award will include a $100,000 stipend, funded in perpetuity by the Wilbur, Com 32, and Hilda Glenn Family Foundation.
Ivan Allen Jr. Legacy Awards also were presented during the Founder’s Day luncheon. Winners were Trey Birch, an economics and international affairs undergraduate student; Cate Powell, an international affairs graduate student; Sarah Kenagy, MS IntA 07, program coordinator for CARE’s Hope for African Children Initiative; and Adam Stulberg, an associate professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs.
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