In honor of his service to The University of Akron and the community, Warren L. Woolford will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. The degree will be conferred at the 10 a.m. commencement exercise on Dec. 15, 2018, at E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall.
Woolford was appointed to the UA Board of Trustees by Gov. Ted Strickland in 2009. He served the Board and the University well, chairing the Presidential Assessment Advisory Committee in 2017 and serving on the Presidential Transition Committee in 2014. He also served as chair of the Academic Issues & Student Success Committee (2012-2018), chair of the Collective Bargaining Committee and the Trusteeship Committee (2010-2011), and as a member of the Educational Policy/Student Affairs Committee (2009-2010) and the External Affairs Committee (2009-2011). During his tenure Woolford also served as a member of the Facilities Committee (2009-2011); the Nominating Committee (2010-2018); the Finance & Administration Committee (2011-2013); the Strategic Issues Committee (2011-2018); the Audit & Compliance Committee (2013-2015 and 2016-2017); and the Rules Committee (2015-2018). His term as a member of the Board of Trustees expired on July 1, 2018.
A notable member of the community, Woolford began a long and distinguished record of public service to the citizens of Akron with his appointment as a student planning intern in the city of Akron Department of Planning and Urban Development. He continued working for the city in a number of planning positions for the next 20 years. He was later appointed to the Mayor’s Cabinet, where he directed several programs focused on capital improvement, planning, land use, zoning, transportation, housing and community development, and property and land development. He retired in 2008 after 36 years of service to the Akron community.
Woolford earned a bachelor’s degree in social science and secondary education from Coppin State University in Baltimore, and a master’s degree in geography from UA. He has been a member of the 1995 Leadership Akron Class, the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, the Mount Cavalry Lodge No. 76, the United Negro College Fund Night Committee, the Akron Development Corporation and Tax Incentive Review Council, and the United Baptist Church and Helping Hand Social Club. He was also named an Outstanding Alumnus of UA and served on the mayor of Akron’s Blue Ribbon Task Force, which fulfilled its commission to issue a comprehensive report on opportunities for improved efficiency of the city’s government operations.
Woolford and his wife, Betty, reside in Akron.
Media contact: Cristine Boyd, 330-972-6476 or cboyd @uakron.edu.