Sheila WrightSheila Wright will receive the Ontario Volunteer Service Award for her work with the University of Windsor and its alumni association.

Alumna to receive recognition with Ontario Volunteer Service Award

The University of Windsor Alumni Association has nominated Sheila Wright (BA 1961) as a 2021 recipient of the Ontario Volunteer Service Award in recognition of her long record with the association and the University.

The awards recognize volunteers for providing committed and dedicated service to an organization, with recipients receiving a stylized trillium service pin and a personalized certificate to acknowledge their years of service.

Wright, a former member of the association’s board of directors currently serving on the alumni awards committee and the executive committee of the Alumni Sports Hall of Fame, will be honoured for the milestone of 15 years of service.

She joins previous UWindsor alumni honorees including Bill Wright (BA 1970, LLB 1973), Jean Wright (BA 1971, B.Ed 1972), Audrey Thibert (BA 1962, LLD 2004) and Roger Thibert (BA 1951, DSc 2004).

Sheila Wright retired from a 34-year teaching career focused on history and physical and health education during which she coached basketball, volleyball, track and field, gymnastics, and synchronized swimming.

She began her career as a volunteer on campus in 2002 as a director on the board of the Alumni Association. Her work on a variety of committees until 2008 made her instrumental in key projects including the establishment of the Alumni Wall of Achievement in the Student Centre and helping to establish the Alumni Odyssey Award, which recognizes distinguished alumni in the early years of their career. Wright’s other campus causes include support for the Faculty of Education, Head Start, and Convocation — not to mention Lancer athletics.

“Sheila is the ultimate alumni ambassador and fan of the University of Windsor,” says Alumni Association president Ken Alexander (BPA 1987, LLB 1992). “On behalf of the Alumni Association, we extend Sheila congratulations on this honour and thank her for her ongoing contributions to the entire campus community.”

Wright’s previous honours include the 2009 Clark Award, the 2011 A-Award, and the 2019 Richard Peddie Award. She will join other local recipients of the Ontario Volunteer Service Awards at a conferral ceremony this fall.

For more information about the Alumni Association and its volunteer programs, visit www.uwindsor.ca/alumni.