NEW! The Dick Thornburgh Disability Service Award
The Dick Thornburgh Forum for Law and Public Policy is proud to announce The Dick Thornburgh Forum Disability Service Award. This new award is available each year to a University of Pittsburgh student from any campus whose service has made a difference in the lives of children and adults with disabilities.
The Dick Thornburgh Forum Disability Service Award allocates $4000 to the award each year. Candidates may be nominated by a University of Pittsburgh faculty or staff member or may apply themselves. The applicant may or may not have a disability. The winner is selected by a review committee of University of Pittsburgh faculty members and administrators.
This award will be presented on the occasion of the Thornburgh Family Lecture in Disability Law and Policy. Dick and Ginny Thornburgh endowed this lecture series with the proceeds of the $50,000 Henry B. Betts Award presented to them in 2003. The series has been aided additionally with grants and other support from the Office of the Chancellor, the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, the School of Law, and the University Honors College.
No mission pursued by Dick and Ginny Thornburgh is more important than promoting institutional protections, public understanding, and the political voice of people with disabilities. The impact of the Thornburghs’ leadership is well known and far-reaching, for virtually all Americans have been touched with a disability themselves or closely related to someone who is.
Please apply online by October 6, 2017 by using this link.
Message from the Governor
The Forum was established at the late Dick Thornburgh’s Law School alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh. In connection with the Dick Thornburgh Papers held by the University's Hillman Library, the Forum reflects his experiences in public life. It is in intended to foster discourse on issues vital to the preservation of our democratic system and the Rule of Law upon which that system depends.
Special thanks are due to Chancellor Emeritus Mark Nordenberg who serves as the Director of the Dick Thornburgh Forum and has been unstinting in support of this effort since its inception. In addition, many others have provided time, resources and dedication to this undertaking.