President and Chairman of the Board, Packard Motor Company
1952
Citation:
From time to time it is proper for the University of Detroit to single out individual men and women whose lives illustrate what is meant by the achievement of an ideal. Tonight on the occasion of its 75th anniversary year, the University has chosen to be especially bountiful not only in the number of those whom it presents for emulation and for honor, but also in the wide diversity of the vocations in which they have made their dreams come true. I present, Very Reverend President, for the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws. Hugh Joseph Ferry, financier, industrialist, musician, sportsman, outstanding citizen, whose courage, resourcefulness, frankness and integrity made him a tower of strength for Detroit in the dark days of 1933, and since have elevated him to executive eminence among industrial leaders as President and as Chairman of the Board of the Packard Motor Company, and marked him among his fellow Americans as an exemplar of the authentic American way of life. Commencement, University of Detroit, June 11, 1952.