Meet Business and Civic Hall of Fame inductees

The Baltimore Sun is pleased to announce the 2021 class of inductees into our Business and Civic Hall of Fame, chosen for their leadership and community focus. We will honor these 13 accomplished women and men and at an awards banquet to be held at The Center Club in Baltimore on Sept. 9 and in a special section published shortly thereafter. This year’s honorees are:

James Piper Bond: The longtime president and CEO of Living Classrooms Foundation, which seeks to disrupt the cycle of poverty through hands-on education and training programs, has led the nonprofit since 1995, though he joined it nearly a decade earlier as its first full-time employee. Under his guidance, Living Classrooms now reaches 25,000 young people annually.

Thomas and Barbara Bozzuto: Thomas Bozzuto, co-founder and chairman of the Bozzuto Group real estate company, is a longtime supporter of the Baltimore community, serving on multiple area boards and helping to set national housing policy. He and his wife, Barbara, who previously chaired the board of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and has spent a career promoting Baltimore, have established several scholarship funds and together support worthy causes through Maryland.

Donald Fry: A former state legislator, Mr. Fry has served as president and CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee for nearly 20 years, advocating for businesses throughout the region, while seeking to address the area’s social and civic challenges. He has given his time to myriad boards, including those of United Way of Central Maryland, Hire One Youth and CollegeBound Foundation.

R. Michael Gill: Now the chairman of Evergreen Advisors LLC, Mr. Gill previously served as a popular commerce secretary under Gov. Larry Hogan. He’s a serial entrepreneur, founding multiple companies, and has served on boards throughout Maryland, including the Baltimore County Economic Development Commission and the Towson University Board of Visitors.

Linda Gooden: As a retired Lockheed Martin executive and the current chair of the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, Ms. Gooden has long championed math, science and technology education. She’s served on multiple business and civic boards and was appointed by President Barack Obama to the National Secure Telecommunications Advisory Council.

Alvin C. Hathaway Sr.: The 10th pastor of Baltimore’s Union Baptist Church has reached beyond church walls to bridge the digital divide in his native city, to change its narrative through a public awareness and engagement initiative and to bring diversity to medical research and to connect underserved residents to lifesaving COVID vaccines, among many other efforts.

Jeanne Hitchcock: A former Baltimore deputy mayor, governor’s office legislative director, and Maryland assistant attorney general, Ms. Hitchcock now serves as a special adviser on local government, community and corporate affairs for Johns Hopkins University and Medicine. She previously held the position of chief operating officer of the NAACP in Baltimore.

Cathy Hughes: The media mogul is the founder and chair of Urban One Inc., formerly Radio One, which reaches 82% of the country’s Black population and employs 1,500 people at its properties, which include TV One, CLEO TV and iOne Digital. She was the first Black woman to chair a publicly held corporation and is credited with revolutionizing Black radio.

Donald Hutchinson: A former legislator and Baltimore County Executive, Mr. Hutchinson is more recently known as the man who transformed the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore over his 12-year tenure as its president and CEO. With Mr. Hutchinson at the helm, the zoo underwent $65 million in renovations, overhauling its penguin, lion, giraffe and elephant habitats, among other areas.

Sabina Kelly: The native Baltimorean and active volunteer plans to retire at the end of the month as greater Maryland market president at Bank of America, where she’s worked for 41 years in a variety of roles, connecting businesses and people with investment teams, and working to build strong communities by confronting social and economic concerns and dispensing aid to multiple nonprofits.

Jay Perman: Taking over as the fifth chancellor of the University System of Maryland in January of last year, just before education as we know it would be turned upside down, the pediatric gastroenterologist and former president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore, has long championed innovation, community connection and affordability in higher education. He has provided stable, steady leadership throughout this unprecedented time.

David K. Wilson: The 10th president of Morgan State University is a tireless promoter of the historically Black university and its students. Under his guidance, Morgan improved its rank among research institutions, its graduation rate and its overall profile, securing a $40 million donation from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott late last year on top of generous alumni donations.