News Release
UDM awards honorary degree to business/community leader Richard A. Abdoo ‘69
UDM will hold its annual Commencement ceremony for undergraduate and graduate students on Saturday, May 9 at 1:30 p.m. in Calihan Hall on the McNichols Campus. More than 800 graduates and their families are expected to attend, as well as "Class of 1959" alumni, who will be honored at the ceremony. Windy Lee Monroe, a liberal arts graduate in the Legal Administration program, will give the valedictory address.
During the ceremony, the University will also award an honorary doctoral degree to Richard A. Abdoo, president of R.A. Abdoo & Co. LLC, an environmental and energy consulting firm, for his strong leadership in the corporate environment and for his community outreach work, both locally and nationally.
Prior to his own business, he was chairman and chief executive officer of Wisconsin Energy Corporation from 1991 until his retirement in 2004. He also served as President from 1991 to April 2003 and joined the company in 1975 as Director of Strategic Planning.
During his administration, Wisconsin Energy Corporation grew to become a Fortune 500 company through a series of mergers and acquisitions. He merged Wisconsin Electric and Wisconsin Natural Gas Company into a single utility in 1996, acquired WICOR, Inc. and its Wisconsin Gas subsidiary in 2000, and later that same year introduced the company's Power the Future plan to meet the future energy needs of southeastern Wisconsin.
In addition, Abdoo has served on the boards of AK Steel Corp., NiSource and Sundstrand Corporation. Throughout his career, he has also been a champion of humanitarian causes. He is currently a member of St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital’s Professional Advisory Board.
Abdoo received a master’s degree in economics in 1969 from University of Detroit and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from University of Dayton in 1965. A registered professional engineer in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, he is also a longtime member of the American Economic Association.
Drawing on his Lebanese heritage, Abdoo has been a tireless proponent of improved living conditions for members of the Arab community and an advocate for stronger U.S-Middle East relations and was honored in 2006 locally, with the prestigious “Arab American of the Year Award” from the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) at their annual dinner in Detroit.
Assuming various leadership roles within the Arab-American community, including immediate past president of the American Task Force for Lebanon, Abdoo serves as a member of the Boards of Directors of AMIDEAST and Advisory Board member of the RAND Corporation Center for Middle East Policy. He has visited refugee camps in Lebanon as part of his desire to help improve living conditions for those affected by war and civil strife.
In 2000, Abdoo was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, presented to Americans of diverse origins for their outstanding contributions to their own ethnic groups and to American society. Honorees typically include U.S. presidents, Nobel Prize winners and leaders of industry.
Abdoo has been married to the former Joan Kallid of Detroit for 42 years. They have two grown children, a son, Mark, and a daughter, Denise.
The McNichols Commencement 2009 ceremony will be broadcast on the Horizon League Network (HLN) for anyone who wishes to view the ceremony or for those who may be unable to attend the ceremony.
Release date: May 06, 2009
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