The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation Annual Dinner was held in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol on May 3, 2011 following the Gerald R. Ford Statue Dedication in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. The Annual Dinner brought together Ford Family members, Foundation Trustees, Ford Administration Alumni and ‘Friends of Ford’ from throughout the country.
The Foundation presented former Transportation Secretary William T. Coleman with the 2011 Gerald R. Ford Medal for Distinguished Public Service. They also presented the 32nd Annual Gerald R. Ford Journalism Awards for Distinguished Reporting in 2018.
William T. Coleman, Jr.'s career of distinguished public service spans sixty years. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and attended Harvard Law School, where he was a member of the Harvard Law Review and the first African- American to serve on the Law Review's board of editors. He interrupted his law studies during World War II to serve in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Returning to Harvard Law School, he graduated magna cum laude in 1946.
Mr. Coleman clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, becoming the first African-American to serve as a Supreme Court law clerk. He then entered private law practice, but remained very active in public service and ill:Q bono legal activities.
His years of work with Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund became a cornerstone of the civil rights movement and led directly to the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Mr. Coleman thereafter served as senior counsel to the Warren Commission's investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In 1969, he was a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. In 1975, he was appointed as President Ford's Secretary of Transportation and served with distinction in that position for the remainder of President Ford's presidency.
Special guest remarks were provided by Speaker of the House John Boehner, U.S. Representative Fred Upton (Michigan), and Michigan Governor Rick Synder.
Foundation Trustee Carla A. Hills, former United States Trade Representative for Presdient George H.W. Bush and former Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development for Presdient Gerald R. Ford, gave remarks reflecting on the extraordinary public service and life of William T. Coleman.
Ambassador Hills and Red Cavaney, Foundation Trustee, presented the 2011 Gerald R. Ford Medal for Distinguished Public Service to William T. Coleman.
Photos of the Event
When
May 3, 2011
Program Supporters
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum
