The Wade H. McCree, Jr. Award for the Advancement of Social Justice honors individuals or organizations who have made significant contributions to the advancement of social justice. Named in memory and honor of Wade H. McCree, Jr. Judge McCree who was born in Des Moines, IA. The Chapter’s McCree Award for the Advancement of Social Justice is nationally acknowledged as one of the most prestigious awards in recognition of contribution to the community.
Our guest speaker is David P. Gelios, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He most recently served as the chief inspector of the FBI’s Inspection Division, as well as the Inspection Division’s acting deputy assistant director from June 2014 until March 2015. Mr. Gelios has held a host of positions within the FBI throughout his career. He is a native of Ohio with strong roots in Ohio and Michigan. Mr. Gelios is a graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, and a former high school teacher, college coach, and outreach officer for the University of California Office of the President.
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Wade H McCree Jr. received his Bachelor of Arts degree at Fisk University and received his law degree at Harvard Law School, where he finished twelfth in his class. He began his legal career at the Detroit firm of Bledsoe and Taylor in 1948. In 1952, he was appointed by Governor G. Mennen Williams to the Workmen’s Compensation Commission, where he served until 1954, when Governor Williams appointed him to the Wayne County Circuit Court. Judge McCree was then appointed by President John F. Kennedy to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in 1961, and by President Lyndon B. Johnson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 1966. Judge McCree resigned from the Sixth Circuit in March 1977 to accept appointment by President Jimmy Carter as Solicitor General of the United States.
Wade McCree served as Solicitor General until June 1981, when he was appointed the Lewis M. Simes Professor of Law at the University of Michigan, where he taught until his death. While a member of the University of Michigan Law School faculty, Professor McCree was appointed by the United States Supreme Court to hear three cases as a Special Master.
Judge McCree cared deeply about education. A founder of the Higher Education Opportunities Committee at Wayne State University and a founding trustee of Friends School in Detroit, he was a Trustee at Fisk University and a member of the Visiting School Committees of Harvard Law School and Mercer University Law School. He also served as an Overseer of Harvard College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School and on the Visiting Committees of the Law Schools at Wayne State University, the University of Chicago, Case Western Reserve University and the University of Miami.
Judge McCree’s service to the legal profession and the community included active membership on more than 50 committees, councils and boards. He also was a Life Member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and served on the Board of the Detroit Round Table of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, as well as on the boards of numerous charitable and cultural organizations.
The Chapter’s McCree Award for the Advancement of Social Justice is nationally acknowledged as one of the most prestigious awards in recognition of contributions to the community. These contributions may include advancing social justice in areas involving poverty, promoting economic or educational opportunity, or fighting discrimination involving race, gender, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or economic status. The recipient may be selected from any field of endeavor including law, social service, community organization, volunteer activities, journalism, academics or the like.
Past Recipients of the Wade Hampton McCree Jr. Award for the Advancement of Social Justice:
1990 George W. Crockett & Dennis W. Archer
1991 Ernest Goodman
1992 Mildred Jeffrey
1995 Damon J. Keith
1996 George W. Romney
1997 Fr. William Cunningham
1998 William G. Milliken
1999 Maryann Mahaffey
2001 Alternatives for Girls
2002 Saul A. Green
2003 Eleanor M. Josaitis
2004 Friends School of Detroit
2005 Eugene Driker
2006 Freedom House
2007 Father Norman P. Thomas
2008 Jack Kresnak
2009 The “Neal Legal Team”
2010 Mary Sue Coleman
2011 Kathleen Straus
2012 Martin I. Reisig
2013 Florise Neville-Ewell & PBJ Outreach
2014 Dr. Daniel H. Krichbaum
2015 John Van Camp
2016 Former United States Senator Carl Levin