Bruce Gebhardt, deputy director the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI); C. Robert Leininger, former superintendent of education for the state of Illinois; John Blackburn, CEO of COUNTRY Insurance and Financial Services, Bloomington, IL; and Dot Richardson, Olympic gold medalist and orthopedic surgeon; will be honored and will speak at Western Illinois University's May 10 Commencement Exercises.
Gebhardt, who is receiving a Distinguished Alumni Award; and Leininger, who is receiving an Honorary Doctorate, will speak at the 9 a.m. ceremony. Blackburn, who is receiving a Distinguished Alumni Award, will speak at the 1 p.m. ceremony; and Richardson, who is receiving an Honorary Doctorate, will speak at the 5 p.m. ceremony.
A 1970 WIU sociology graduate and member of the Leathernecks football team, Gebhardt has been the recipient of several FBI commendations and also received the FBI Medal of Valor. He became a special agent with the FBI in 1974; conducted criminal investigations through the Denver FBI office; worked in organized crime matters in San Francisco; supervised a drug squad in Los Angeles; and supervised the criminal investigative division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Gebhardt, who has held membership in numerous law enforcement organizations, currently serves on the executive board of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is a graduate of the FBI's National Executive Institute. He is a longtime supporter of Western through gifts to the WIU Foundation in support of the Alumni Association and the Athletics Facilities Project. He has been married to Angie, a former Western Illinois student, for 33 years and has two grown sons.
Leininger, a 1960 WIU graduate and former Western trustee, was superintendent of education for the state of Illinois from August 1988 to March 1994. He was instrumental in developing technology programs as well as distance education programs. He also served on the Illinois State Board of Education as assistant superintendent for governmental and community relations and chief of staff; was the president of the Illinois Association of School Administrators; the chair of the Northwest Region of the Illinois Association of School Administrators; and retired from the Magna Group, Inc. in St. Louis where he was executive vice president of administration. Leininger currently is chair of the Education Funding Advisory Board which has recommended funding reform for Illinois elementary and secondary schools.
Blackburn, a 1970 English and physical education alumnus, was named CEO of COUNTRY Insurance and Financial Services in August 2001. He joined the firm in 1982 as an agent and has served as agency manager, district director of agencies, regional vice president of agency and vice president of agency. Previous to his move to financial services, Blackburn taught and coached at the high school level and became the first Class A boys basketball coach in Illinois to take two different schools to the state finals.
A chartered life underwriter and registered securities principal and securities representative, Blackburn is a member of the board of directors for The National Association of Independent Insurers; a member of the National Association of Financial Advisers, and past president of the Lincolnland chapter. Blackburn and his wife, Barb, a 1971 Western graduate, have been consistent benefactors of Western Illinois.
Richardson is a nationally recognized sports medicine orthopedic surgeon and two-time Olympic gold medal winner. After spending a year at Western the softball standout transferred to UCLA to pursue her dream of a career in medicine. While at UCLA, she was named a five-year collegiate All-American and the NCAA Player of the Decade for the 1980s. She completed her bachelor's degree at UCLA, her master's degree at Adelphi and her medical degree from the University of Louisville.
A two-time Olympic gold medalist (1996, 2000), Richardson hit the first home run, scoring the first run in Olympic softball history for the 1996 team, which she captained. As a member of the Amateur Softball Association, Richardson was a 15-time All-American and seven-time winner of the Erv Lind Award for the best defensive player in the national championship game.
Richardson is the founder of the national Dot Richardson Sports Association (DRSA), an instructional nonprofit organization headquartered in Orlando, FL.
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