4 honorees inducted into BGSU Academy of Distinguished Alumni as part of University's 100th Homecoming celebration

Several distinguished BGSU alumni also dedicated time to University community during campus lecture series

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Four extraordinary inductees were welcomed into the Bowling Green State University Academy of Distinguished Alumni on Sept. 15, providing the University community with a reminder of how the potential to achieve and do good in the world is limitless with a BGSU education as a foundation.

The four alumni - Clarence Albert Daniels Jr. ’71, ’73; Brenda J. Hollis ’68, ’14 (Hon.); Beth Macy ’86, and Dr. Anthony “Tony” Rucci ’72, ’76, ’78 - were recognized for their significant contributions to their career fields and their extraordinary accomplishments. The new academy members were introduced as the 2022 class of distinguished alumni during an evening ceremony and dinner.  

Rucci is a professor, former senior corporate officer and current senior advisor to the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission charged with planning the commemoration of the nation's 250th anniversary in 2026. He is also founding president and CEO emeritus of the America 250 Foundation, having served in that role pro bono from 2018 until 2021. In his nearly 30-year business career, Rucci served as a senior corporate officer for three Fortune 50 companies: executive vice president and president of strategic corporate staff, Cardinal Health; chairman of the board, Sears Mexico; executive vice president and chief administrative officer, Sears Roebuck and Co.; and senior vice president of corporate strategy and business development, Baxter International. Rucci has also been on the board of directors of several companies including Sears Canada, Sears Mexico and Grupo Carso in Mexico.

Macy is a Virginia journalist and the author of three New York Times best-selling nonfiction books about outsiders and underdogs. Her 2018 exploration of the opioid crisis, “Dopesick,” won an L.A. Times Book Prize and was adapted by Hulu for a series starring Michael Keaton, with Macy serving as an executive producer and cowriter on the show. “Dopesick” received 14 Emmy Award nominations this year, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, and previously won a Peabody Award. The series also was nominated for multiple Golden Globe and Critic’s Choice Awards.

Hollis is renowned for her career as an international criminal prosecutor and serving as the international co-prosecutor of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) from July 2019 to July 2022. Before her appointment as the ECCC’s international co-prosecutor, Hollis was the prosecutor of both the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone and the Special Court for Sierra Leone from 2010-2019. After serving as a legal consultant to the special court prosecutor in 2002, 2003 and 2006, she became lead prosecutor in the case against former Liberian President Charles Taylor in 2007 and continued to lead the prosecution of that case until the appeal was concluded in 2013.

Daniels is a former CEO of CMS Hospitality, an airport food and beverage concessions company among the fastest-growing in its industry, who continues to mentor small businesses, nonprofit organizations and youth. He built the company from three stores at LAX to over 40 locations in eight major airports. The company was also at the forefront of introducing popular local restaurants in airports to create “a sense of place.” Since the sale of the business in 2016, Daniels has spent his time mentoring small businesses, nonprofit organizations and youth. With his fraternity, he started a mentoring program for 11- to 13-year-old disadvantaged males. He also served as chair and CEO of Concessions Management Services Inc., was a vice president of the Marriott Corp.; vice president of development for Host International, the largest company in the airport concession business; and president of educational dining at Aramark Corp. He started his professional career as a child advocate and civil rights lawyer with the Children’s Defense Fund.

Several of the newly minted alumni honorees furthered their commitment to the BGSU community by conducting a lecture series with Bowling Green State University students, faculty, staff and community members during homecoming weekend, sharing stories from their lives and careers.

Macy, Daniels and Hollis offered lectures and question and answer sessions over two days, meeting with students and community members in both large- and small-group settings. BGSU President Rodney K. Rogers presented opening remarks and comments to the lecture sessions, introducing each honoree.

Kicking off the series on Thursday was Macy, who discussed her career and signed books during the event held in Room 228 of the Bowen-Thompson Student Union.