2017 Bradley Centurions Announced

In 1982, during the University’s 85^th anniversary celebration, the Board of Trustees formed the Centurion Society as a way to honor exceptional Bradley alumni.  Today, Bradley has more than 65,000 living alumni, but only a select few have received this prestigious honor.  These individuals are inspiring, accomplished and dedicated to their profession, their communities and their Alma Mater.    

Deidre D. Lhamon.

Ms. Lhamon is not only a Centurion, she will also soon be recognized as the 2017 Distinguished Alumna Award recipient.

Deidre is a 1985 graduate of Bradley and the Founder and Executive Director of The Covering House.

The Covering House is a non-profit organization that is focused on raising awareness about the issue of child sex-trafficking in the United States. Starting the Covering House was certainly no easy task. Deidre spent over a year researching the impact of sex-trafficking and speaking to families. Through this research, she discovered the girls being affected came from diverse backgrounds with an average age of 13 and that the industry was a scary $9 billion in the U.S. alone. All her work led Deidre to realize there were too few resources available to support these children, and she had to do something.

It was clear during her time at Bradley, Deidre was capable of doing something special. Coming to Bradley from Southeastern Illinois College in her hometown of Harrisburg, where she has also been named a Distinguished Alumna, Deidre earned her bachelor’s degree from Bradley and was a member of the nation’s best Forensic Team. She was certainly one of Bradley’s best, being named a national champion in both Persuasive Speaking and Communication Analysis and being asked to represent the state of Illinois in the Interstate Oratory Contest in 1984 and 1985. She also married her fellow speech team member and Bradley alumnus Greg.

Deidre started out teaching speech communications at the collegiate level but after learning about the child sex trafficking issue in the U.S., her focus changed. The Covering House was incorporated in 2009. In 2013, it started seeing clients through an out-client program, and in 2014, The Covering House opened a residential home to help girls, many with no financial support whatsoever. The Covering House now provides residential care, counseling and education to minor girls who are survivors of sex-trafficking and exploitation. And she is making a difference, Deidre’s work has been recognized by NBC, CBS, Fox and CNN. She has also partnered with the St. Louis Cardinals wives to raise support for children and the Covering House.

Deidre is not only a successful professional and a proud alumna, but she is a humanitarian to be emulated for her work on protecting children, and Bradley University is proud to recognize her as a 2017 Bradley Centurion.

Gwenne Henricks.

As Bradley University breaks ground on its new facility for the Foster College of Business and the Caterpillar College of Engineering and Technology with a commitment to education featuring innovation through collaboration, it seems only fitting to recognize an alumna who is also groundbreaking, collaborative and innovative. 

Gwenne Henricks is a 1979 and 1981 graduate of Bradley University. She came to Bradley to study Physics, and similarly to our groundbreaking founder Lydia Moss Bradley, Gwenne didn’t look like the rest of her colleagues. Gwenne was the only female student in her Physics class and if that wasn’t enough, she decided to go on and complete a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, where she was again, the only female student in the program.

Gwenne’s abilities and confidence led her to Caterpillar were she held numerous managerial positions. Part of this success was certainly driven by Gwenne’s understanding of the need to work collaboratively with a diverse set a professionals. This knowledge was demonstrated in her interest in receiving a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Illinois and again serving as a trend setter by being a part of the inaugural Cohort of Bradley’s Management for the 90’s program. For those keeping track, Gwenne has three different academic degrees or certifications from three different colleges at Bradley. She also adds to her academic portfolio the Managing Engineering Design and Development Program at the Carnegie Bosch Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Gwenne’s appreciation of her team members’ work, needs and opportunities led to her being named a Caterpillar Vice President with responsibility for the Electronics and Connected Worksite Division in 2007, then vice president with responsibility for the Industrial Power Systems Division. This leadership ability and well-rounded educational and professional experience allowed for Gwenne’s true strength of developing innovative teams to shine and ultimately the Board of Directors at Caterpillar named Gwenne to lead the company’s R&D as Chief Technology Officer in 2012.

Gwenne’s work doesn’t stop at CAT. She has taken her willingness to step forward and see opportunities were others may not and used it to help others, serving as the Board President of the Court Appointed Special Advocates in Peoria assisting in providing for the best interest of abused and neglected children. Also, she has continued to encourage young women in the career paths of science and engineering, specifically through her involvement in the Society of Women Engineers. She also promotes innovative thinking in grade school and high school students through FIRST Lego and Robotics League that promotes the idea that tomorrow’s innovators must practice imaginative thinking and teamwork. And finally, she serves her alma mater as a member of the Caterpillar College of Engineering and Technology’s Executive Advisory Board.

This is not the first time Gwenne’s distinguished career and service has been recognized at Bradley. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Bradley is very proud to say she is their 2016 Distinguished Alumna.

Much like Bradley's college of liberal arts and sciences, the entire university is proud of to call Gwenne an alum.

Larry Richman.

With other 30 years of experience in the banking industry, Mr Richman’s success has come from knowing how to invest in business and in his community.

Mr. Richman is a 1974 graduate of the Foster College of Business at Bradley, and he received his MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

Starting his career with American National Bank & Trust, he then joined Exchange National Bank until its acquisition by LaSalle Bank. At LaSalle, Larry was named CEO and President of LaSalle Bank Midwest. Larry has a well-deserved reputation for building strong relationships in the community and with the members of his team. This approach and a strong commitment to entrepreneurial thinking led to the PrivateBank hiring Larry as CEO and President, becoming the successor to their founder. What once was a bank with about $5 billion in assets has grown by 300% to around $20 million under Larry’s leadership. With the June acquisition of PrivateBank by CIBC, Larry continues to use his strength in business development through meaningful partnerships as he oversees CIBC’s expanding U.S. Region, including middle market commercial banking, wealth management, private banking and retail & digital banking in the U.S, as the company’s Senior Executive Vice President and Group Head of the US Region and continued CEO and President of PrivateBank.

Larry’s success in the boardroom is matched by his success in the community by using his entrepreneurial and relationship skills to be an impact player in the organizations that matter most to he and his family. Larry has given of his time, his talents and his treasures, serving on numerous boards, including the Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the Big Shoulders Fund, Chicago Urban League, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Kelley School of Business Advisory Board and as a former Trustee here at Bradley University. Recognizing his talent to make connections, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel appointed Larry to the Board of World Business Chicago to promote the benefits of doing business in Chicago worldwide.

For his commitment to others and his community, Larry has been honored with the Humanitarian Award from the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center and with the Father of the Year Award from the American Diabetes Association, among numerous other honors.

Larry is also known as a pretty good father. His wife Corky is a Bradley alumna and one of his four children also went to Bradley.

Due to Lary's work building up business and building up community, Bradley also awards him with the title of Bradley Centurion.

John H. Winzeler, Jr.

From GearSolutions February 14, 2014 - “Artistic freedom” isn’t usually a term thrown around in conversations about the gear industry. But like in any industry, every gear company is unique, and John Winzeler, president of Chicago’s Winzeler Gear, has put his perspective to good use in his gear factory.

Mr. Winzeler is a 77-year old 1965 Bradley graduate and Chairman of Winzeler Gear. His third generation family business in Harwood Heights, IL designs and manufactures precision-molded gears for automotive, appliance and office automation.

This isn’t just any gear manufacturing business John runs. John has an art gallery within its factory that promotes student exhibits and even commissions artists from all disciplines to reimagine gears. From the same GearSolutions article, John is quoted as saying, “We want the art to stimulate our customers’ creativity and help them think about gears in a completely different way.”

This artistic interest expands outside John’s corporate office. He is also involved with the Museum of Contemporary Art, and he serves on advisory boards with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His intrigue has led to John being a thoughtful contributor throughout Chicago with a sincere interest in opening new doors and expanding his own way of thinking to stimulate his personal creativity.

That creative mindset has led to Winzeler Gear being anything but your typical company. Their ingenuity has brought about strategic alignment with key materials suppliers like Dupont Performance Polymers and also the machine builder Engel Machinery. These partnerships allow Winzeler to acquire leading-edge technology and expertise that much larger companies cannot match. The goal of Winzeler Gear strategic relationships is 1 + 1 = 3. They collaborate on materials research, dynamic testing of gears and optimization of training team members. When Dupont wants to test their experimental materials, they turn to Winzeler Gear.

John has taken what he has learned and made it a lifetime’s worth of contributions to Bradley University. In 1997, Mr. Winzeler became a charter member of the Caterpillar College of Engineering and Technology’s Mechanical Engineering Alumni Advisory Council. He has provided funding and professional experiences for 20 years’ worth of student projects, including 15 senior design projects, 5 graduate research projects and another 5 undergraduate research projects. Outside of Bradley, he is involved with the Tool and Manufacturing Association or TMA Education Foundation which aims to increase awareness of manufacturing careers in high schools, promote manufacturing careers and encourage manufacturing technology training.

In 2004, he was named Bradley University’s Lydia Moss Bradley award winner for his service to his alma mater. He will be joined by fellow Centurion Kim Armstrong as a small group of individuals who have been bestowed the high honors of both Centurion and Lydia Moss Bradley Award honorees.

Again, John has a lifetime of taking what he has learned and giving back to Bradley.