The Auburn University College of Human Sciences will host the 25th annual International Quality of Life Awards on Monday, Dec. 3, 2018, at the United Nations in New York. This year’s honorees include Lionel Richie, legendary musical artist, record producer and philanthropist, and Judy Woodruff, a pioneer in broadcast journalism and women’s advocate.
The International Quality of Life Awards was created in 1994 to recognize people and partnerships representing all sectors of society that have made significant and lasting contributions to individual, family and community well-being both locally and around the world.
Past honorees include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Noble Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug, Apple CEO Tim Cook, U.S. Congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis and NBA legend Charles Barkley.
The 2018 IQLA Lifetime Achievement Award will be awarded to Richie, a native of Tuskegee. This award is a special honor reserved for individuals whose character, professional achievements and humanitarian outreach have brought distinguished recognition to Auburn University, the state of Alabama and beyond.
Richie’s other awards include four Grammys, an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. He has sold over 100 million records worldwide, beginning in the late 1960s, and was a founding member of “the Commodores.”
Richie composed songs such as the No. 1 hit song “Lady” for Kenny Rogers and recorded the mega hit, “Endless Love,” with Diana Ross early in his career. He then embarked on a solo career.
His first solo album, “Lionel Richie,” was a hit. His next album, “Can’t Slow Down,” is a two-time Grammy-winning album featuring the No. 1 hit “All Night Long.”
Richie had become an international superstar, in fact he was asked to perform at the closing ceremony of the XXIII Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984.
Richie put his career on hold in the late 1980s so he could rest and take care of his father. In the early 1990s, Richie made his return to the studio and stage.
One of Richie’s most recent albums is “Coming Home” with the hit single “I Call It Love” and “Tuskegee.” The album features duets with country music stars such as Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton and Willie Nelson. Richie is currently serving as a judge on ABC’s “American Idol.”
Richie is known throughout the music industry as one of the kindest and most philanthropic artists. He has supported causes related to breast cancer research, HIV and AIDS, human rights, famine and poverty. He is also a generous supporter of the United Negro College Fund.
Richie is also the recipient of the 2016 MusiCares Person of the Year Award and the 2017 inaugural Recording Artists Inspiration Award. In December 2017 he was one of the five distinguished recipients of the 40th Annual Kennedy Center Honors.
Richie’s most recent honor was to have his handprints encased in history in the famous forecourt of the TLC Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.
“As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of IQLA, we are proud to honor and celebrate the achievements of a native son of Alabama who has used his musical genius and compassionate spirit to bring joy and hope to millions of people at home and abroad,” said June Henton, dean of the College of Human Sciences.
Judy Woodruff, the 2018 IQLA Honoree, is the anchor and managing editor of the “PBS NewsHour.”
Woodruff began her career in 1970 as a reporter for CBS-affiliate WAGA-TV in Atlanta. She joined NBC News in 1975 and began covering Jimmy Carter’s 1976 presidential campaign.
In 1977, she was named NBC White House correspondent, thanks to the national exposure she gained for her insightful reporting on the Carter campaign. She held the position until 1982 when she moved to the Today Show to become its Washington correspondent.
Then in 1983, she joined the newly-formed “MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour” on PBS as its chief Washington correspondent and was the host of “Frontline” on PBS.
In 1993, Woodruff joined CNN as a senior correspondent and anchor of the weekday program “Inside Politics.” She held the position for 12 years until she left in 2005 to teach, write and produce documentaries.
During her time away from the news desk, Woodruff served as a visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy as well as a visiting professor at Duke University’s Terry Sanford School of Public Policy. She also joined Bloomberg Television to host the monthly program “Conversations with Judy Woodruff.”
Woodruff has received wide acclaim for her extensive work on the documentary “Generation Next: Speak Up. Be Heard.” In partnership with PBS, NPR, Yahoo! and “USA Today,” it is a multi-platform project which examined the characteristics, values and unique perspectives of the millennial generation. She also made contributions to the PBS documentary, “Nancy Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime.”
In 2013, Woodruff and Gwen Ifill were named co-anchors and managing editors of the “PBS NewsHour,” a milestone for women in broadcast journalism. The two remained partners and close friends until Ifill’s death in 2016, after which Woodruff assumed the role of solo anchor and managing editor.
Woodruff is a founding co-chair of the International Women’s Media Foundation, a foundation dedicated to promoting and celebrating women in communications throughout the world.
She also serves on the board for the Freedom Forum, The Duke Endowment, Public Radio International and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and is a trustee emerita of Duke University, her alma mater, and the Urban Institute.
Woodruff is the author of “This Is Judy Woodruff at the White House.” She has also received honors such as the Poynter Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism, the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award in Broadcast Journalism/Television, the Arizona State University Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Gaylord Prize for Excellence in Journalism and Mass Communications from the University of Oklahoma, the Al Neuharth University of South Dakota Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Radcliffe Medal and a Duke University Distinguished Alumni Award.
"Acknowledging the critical role a free press contributes to quality of life in a democratic society," Henton said. “Judy Woodruff is a standard bearer for intellectual rigor, truthfulness and ethics in writing and reporting the news. She is a trusted source whom we can always look to for a fair and accurate portrayal of events in an increasingly complex and often perplexing world.”
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