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3:45 p.m., April 28, 2003--UD alumna Susan Stroman. who's used to winning accolades on Broadway, returned to her home state Saturday, April 26, to receive one of the 2003 Common Wealth Awards of Distinguished Service, which honor individuals who have enriched and advanced humanity through their exceptional lifetime achievements.
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PNC Bank, Delaware, trustee of the awards for 24 years, presented the 2003 awards at the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington.
Stroman, AS ’76, received the $50,000 award for Dramatic Arts, joining a distinguished roster of past recipients that includes Lord Laurence Olivier, Tennessee Williams, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Robbins, August Miller, Edward Albee, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Julie Andrews.
Broadway’s leading director-choreographer, Stroman has won five Tony Awards and has been called “one of the most powerful people in the American theatre.” She is credited with infusing new life into the stage musical, and her recent smash hits include “The Producers,” “Contact” and revivals of “The Music Man” and “Oklahoma.”
Stroman was inducted into UD’s Alumni Wall of Fame in 1993, and she delivered the address at the 1994 Winter Commencement. Last May, UD’s Board of Trustees voted to award her an honorary degree.
Others receiving Common Wealth Awards on April 26 included television journalist Sam Donaldson, former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, author Joyce Carol Oates and inventor Dean Kamen.
Funding for the Common Wealth Awards comes from a trust set up by the late Ralph Hayes, an influential business executive and philanthropist. The awards were first presented in 1979 to reward and encourage the best of human performance. Since than time, 143 individuals of international renown have received more than $2 million in cash prizes conferred by the awards.
Photo by Duane Perry
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