Two Alums of International Stature
Return to Campus for UC Awards

The skill and service of University of Cincinnati graduates reaches around the globe. Two alumni leaders who helped to reshape business and philanthropy nationally and even internationally will be recognized during the 2001 UC Day Banquet at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 5, in the Russell C. Myers Alumni Center.

International businessman and philanthropist Peter Woo will receive the William Howard Taft Medal for Notable Achievement. Woo earned physics and mathematics degrees from UC in 1970.

Miss America 2000 and fashion design graduate (and current graduate student) Heather French Henry will receive the Jeffrey Hurwitz Young Alumni Association Outstanding Achievement Award.

Two other awards - the Alumni Distinguished Service Award and the Alumni Association Faculty Member of the Year Award - will also be presented; however, the recipients will not be announced until that evening.

Tickets for the event are $65. For tickets or information, call UC Alumni Affairs at (513) 556-4344.

Biographical Information: Peter Woo

Peter Woo was the only Asian when he enrolled at UC in 1964. He excelled academically and as a campus leader, serving as a varsity cheerleader, resident adviser, a member of various service groups, and as senior class president. He continued his record of leadership in banking, shipping and transportation, and communications, before serving as chair of Wheelock and Company Limited of Hong Kong, a leading Asian merchant house which owns businesses in real estate, cable TV, telecommunications, hotels, retailing and distribution, public transport and more.

He resigned his chairmanship in 1996 to pursue public service roles, including service from 1995-2000 as chair of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority overseeing 46 hospitals and chair of the Hong Kong Environment and Conservation Fund Committee.

Woo's philanthropy is extensive, including $250 million in donations for medicine, education, cultural development and environmental protection efforts in Hong Kong and in China from 1991-95. Woo and his wife Bessie gave $120 million in 1995 to establish a cancer center in Hong Kong, and millions toward scholarships in Shanghai.

Miss America 2000 Heather French Henry, a 1997 graduate of UC's fashion design program, serves as a national advocate for homeless veterans. She has testified before Congress and has met with veterans throughout the country.

During her reign, French credited her years at UC for helping to prepare her for the national role she assumed. "UC was a great tool for preparing me...Going through the design program at UC, one of the toughest programs in the country, I didn't sleep a wink," she recalled, adding, "I was a Girl Scout for 12 years and so, learned the value of community service. We have to help others...It's [serving as Miss America] changed my life in that I can have an impact, an influence on Capitol Hill."