History Center Announces Honorees for 31st Annual History Makers Award Dinner
The Senator John Heinz History Center – the Smithsonian’s home in Pittsburgh – will recognize distinguished Pittsburghers for their exceptional contributions to the history of Western Pennsylvania, the nation, and the world at the 31st Annual History Makers Award Dinner on Thursday, May 16, at 6:30 p.m., at The Westin Pittsburgh.
Presented by BNY Mellon and Citizens, the annual black-tie benefit dinner will be co-chaired by Eric Boughner, chairman, BNY Mellon Pennsylvania, and Daniel K. Fitzpatrick, president of Citizens Mid-Atlantic Region.
The event honors exceptional individuals whose remarkable achievements, while rooted in Western Pennsylvania, extend far beyond the Golden Triangle.
The 2024 History Makers Award Dinner honorees are:
Charlie Batch and Latasha Wilson–Batch (Community) – founder and executive director, Best of the Batch Foundation
Diane P. Holder (Leadership) – executive vice president, UPMC; president and CEO, UPMC Health Plan
William Pietragallo, II (Law) – founding partner, Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP
Manny Sanguillén (Sports) – 1971 and 1979 World Series Champion; Pittsburgh Pirates catcher
Velma Scantlebury–White, MD (Healthcare) – co-founder and CMO, Delaware Health Equity Coalition, Inc.; adjunct professor, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College
“This year’s History Makers are extraordinary community leaders and barrier breakers who have made an immense impact here in Pittsburgh and beyond,” said Andy Masich, president and CEO of the History Center. “It is fitting they will be recognized at the History Center’s History Makers Award Dinner, which has honored the region’s most influential and inspiring individuals for three decades.”
Since its inception in 1992, the History Makers Award Dinner has raised $10 million to support the History Center’s educational programs and exhibitions.
The History Center has honored more than 135 History Makers during the past 30 years, including Fred Rogers, Nadine Bognar, Thomas Starzl, Teresa Heinz, Jerome Bettis, George Romero, August Wilson, Franco Harris, Carol Semple Thompson, Alma Speed Fox, David McCullough, Mario Lemieux, and Michael Keaton.
Since 1879, the History Center – Western Pennsylvania’s oldest cultural institution – has been educating, engaging, and inspiring future generations by preserving and presenting American history with a Western Pennsylvania connection.