On the move: UM-Dearborn winter commencement to be held at Crisler Center

The move to Crisler Center, located in Ann Arbor, was made in order to better accommodate a growing number of winter graduates and their families.

“Crisler Center is a grand setting for commencement and provides our students with the opportunity to give significantly more tickets to friends and family,” said Ray Metz, vice chancellor for enrollment management and student life, who noted that the graduating class for winter commencement has outgrown current facilities, causing administrators to reduce the number of guest tickets available to graduates. “I think the move will magnify the overall experience for students.”

Graduates now are eligible to receive up to 10 guest tickets. All guests, including children over the age of two, need a ticket to attend. Additional commencement information is available on UM-Dearborn’s website.

Richard Haddrill, executive vice chairman of Scientific Games, will serve as keynote speaker and Michael Brown, CEO and co-founder of City Year, will receive the honorary Doctor of Laws degree during the ceremony.

Student Bradley Pischea, alumnus Richard Dyer and Associate Professor of Psychology Robert W. Hymes also will give remarks. Additional speakers include UM-Dearborn Chancellor Daniel Little and Provost Kate Davy.

Richard Haddrill

Richard Haddrill served for ten years as chairman or CEO of Bally Technologies, a leader in supplying technology to the gaming industry. In 2014, Bally was purchased by Scientific Games for $5.5 billion--by far the highest value in the company's 83-year history. Over the years, Bally owned Bally Fitness centers, Bally casinos and Six Flags theme parks, among other ventures.

As CEO, Haddrill focused the company on technology and was able to drive significant growth and value. Richard now serves as executive vice chairman of scientific games, where he works alongside legendary Wall Street billionaire Ronald Perelman. Prior to joining Bally in 2004, Haddrill was CEO of two other very successful publicly traded technology companies—Powerhouse Technologies and Manhattan Associates.

Haddrill grew up in Detroit and graduated from University of Michigan-Dearborn in 1974 with a BSA degree. He began his career at Ernst & Young, where he attained the level of regional managing partner and national director of entrepreneurial services before beginning his career as a technology company CEO. Haddrill has served on the boards of nine different public and private corporations, and is an active investor in young companies. He has lived in Detroit; Atlanta, Ga.; Paris, France; Bozeman Mont.; and Las Vegas, Nev.; and he has traveled to 35 countries.

Haddrill's interests go beyond business. He is chairman of the Board of Corrective Education Corporation, a company pioneering restorative justice for first-time criminals to help them avoid a life of crime. His charitable passions are youth, education and the arts, and he has served on the boards of Junior Achievement, the Boys Scouts, the highly acclaimed Smith Center for The Performing Arts, the Atlanta Arts Alliance and the Council for a Better Nevada.

Haddrill has remained connected to UM-Dearborn, volunteering on the College of Business Board of Advisors. He was named a 2013 Alumnus Difference Maker and Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. He established an endowed scholarship for College of Business students in honor of Cedric Fricke, professor emeritus in the Department of Accounting and Finance.

His personal passions are history, reading, travel and fitness, and he loves spending time with his two teenage sons, Griffin and Cooper.

Michael Brown

Michael Brown is CEO and co-founder of City Year, an education-focused nonprofit organization that mobilizes idealistic young people for a year of service in high-need schools and promotes the concept of voluntary national service as means of building a stronger democracy.

This year 3,000 City Year AmeriCorps members are helping to address the nation's high school dropout crisis and turn around low-performing schools by serving as full-time tutors, mentors and role models in high-need schools in 27 U.S. cities. City Year also has affiliates in South Africa and the UK. Through its national initiative, "In School and On Track: A National Challenge," City Year aims to significantly increase the urban graduation pipeline in America.

City Year served as an inspiration for AmeriCorps, the federal initiative through which more than 900,000 Americans have served their country. City Year has more than 22,500 alumni who have contributed more than 33.5 million hours of service and earned access to more than $71 million in college scholarships through the AmeriCorps National Service Trust.

For his work developing City Year and advancing the national service movement, Brown has been awarded the Reebok Human Rights Award and the Independent Sector’s John H. Gardner Leadership Award. He has been named one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report and as an Executive of the Year and member of The Power and Influence Top 50 by The NonProfit Times.

Brown is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, where he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He currently serves on Harvard’s Board of Overseers. Prior to co-founding City Year, Brown served as a legislative assistant to then-Congressman Leon Panetta and as a clerk for Federal Judge Stephen Breyer.

Brown will be awarded the honorary Doctor of Laws degree during the ceremony.