It's All About the Students
On Tuesday, May 3, the Grand Valley community gathered to honor Dr. William F. Pickard. He received the Enrichment Award, which recognizes philanthropic efforts and a commitment to the Grand Valley community.
Dr. Pickard’s generosity is rooted in a deep appreciation for Grand Valley. He entered the GVSU community in 1977 when he began his 11-year tenure on the Board of Trustees. Prior to that role, Dr. Pickard knew nothing about Grand Valley, but he quickly fell in love with the community and values of the university.
“Dr. Pickard loves Grand Valley. He talks from the heart about how the experience influenced his life and he wants to bring that to other young people, particularly young people from diverse backgrounds who he knows will enrich Grand Valley State University,” explains President Philomena Mantella.
Although his degrees were received elsewhere, Dr. Pickard insists he received his education from Grand Valley. He commends the university for the opportunities that it provides to all students, saying “this great place of learning is expanding and creating new opportunities for our traditional students and some innovative, market-driven opportunities for our non-traditional students.”
It is this commitment to inclusion and opportunity that has compelled Dr. Pickard to support Grand Valley’s business students, first generation students, and students of color. In 2016, he established the Dr. William F. Pickard Business Scholarship to aid underrepresented students at the start of their education in business. His most recent gift in January 2022 created the Dr. William F. Pickard Pathway to Education Fund and the Lubbers and Pickard Endowment. These gifts provide short- and long-term support for students who are part of the HBCU/HSI Pipeline Consortium and students from Genesee, Kent, Oakland and Wayne counties.
Dr. Pickard was essential in helping Grand Valley collaborate with HBCUs when GVSU established the pipeline consortium in 2021. Now that the program has grown, the HBCU/HSI Pipeline Consortium creates greater opportunities for students from minoritized populations to find real, meaningful positions while simultaneously expanding talent pipelines in West Michigan. Dr. Pickard’s gifts help to expand the reach of the program and benefit more students.
Like the students he supports, Dr. Pickard was also the first in his family to earn a four-year degree and relied on support from others to fund the first years of college. He often speaks of his struggles in education, recalling that there were very few people who believed he could be successful. Now a leader in business, Dr. Pickard inspires students and is eager to support their academic endeavors.
“This is a full-circle moment for me, where I can now pay it forward for students and help them in the same way I was helped,” Dr. Pickard reflects.