Citation issued to Paul Critchlow, Ivan Gilreath
The UNO Alumni Association bestowed its Citation for Alumni Achievement award upon UNO graduates Paul Critchlow and Ivan Gilreath during the university’s spring commencement ceremonies May 4 at Baxter Arena.
Critchlow, principal at Black Cat Communications, was recognized at UNO’s 9 a.m. ceremony for three colleges. Gilreath, president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands, was recognized at the 3 p.m. ceremony for UNO’s four other colleges.
Inaugurated in 1949, the Citation is the association’s highest honor. It encompasses career achievement, community service, involvement in business and professional associations, and fidelity to UNO. It now has been issued to 177 graduates. Association President Lee Denker presented the awards to Critchlow and Gilreath.
Paul Critchlow
Paul Critchlow earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from UNO in 1971. His career has encompassed print journalism and government and corporate communications. Today he is principal at Black Cat Communications, advising senior executives at Fortune 100 corporations on strategic communications. Critchlow began the firm after more than 30 years with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, where he was the firm’s senior-most relationship banker with governors, mayors and treasurers around the United States. He worked directly for four CEOs, providing executive counsel and leading brand management.
Critchlow joined Merrill Lynch in 1985 and became director of corporate communications then senior vice president of communications and public affairs responsible for all global internal and external communications. A long-time member of the firm’s executive management committee, he helped lead the company’s responses to the stock market crash of 1987, the collapse of technology stocks in 2000 and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center adjacent to Merrill Lynch headquarters buildings. After retiring from the firm in 2015, Critchlow became the “Senior Intern” in Pfizer’s 2016 class of college interns, an experience featured in an extensive Fast Company story and in other news media.
Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Critchlow from 1978-1984 was press secretary to Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh and the commonwealth’s director of communications. In 1979, he helped direct Pennsylvania’s response to the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. From 1972 to 1977, he was an award-winning political writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
An Omaha native, Critchlow first attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 1964-68 and was a member of the Cornhuskers football team. From 1968-70, he served with the infantry and artillery in the U.S. Army, earning a Bronze Star for Valor and the Purple Heart during a combat tour in Vietnam. He transferred to UNO after the war. He later earned a master’s degree in 1972 from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Long involved in civic affairs, Critchlow currently serves on the boards of the 9/11 Tribute Center in New York and the University of Nebraska Foundation. He also is an active leader in veterans’ advocacy programs. He and his wife, Patty McCormick, an author, have three children and live in New York.
Ivan Gilreath
Ivan Gilreath earned an MBA from UNO in 1989. He is a lifelong Omahan who attended Kellom Elementary, Horace Mann Junior High School and Omaha Central and Omaha Bryan High Schools. Growing up, he also was active in the North Omaha Boys Club.
Gilreath has served as president & CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Midlands (BGCM) since February 2011. The club serves at-risk youth, providing them with results-oriented educational and recreational programs. Gilreath oversees 11 clubs in metropolitan Omaha and southwest Iowa and Camp Nakomis, an outdoor summer camp. The club serves more than 7,000 children and teens, many of whom are minorities, economically disadvantaged and living in single-parent households.
Prior to joining BGCM, Gilreath was president of the employee benefits division at global financial institution ING. That preceded a 20-year career at Mutual of Omaha, where Gilreath held several positions, including senior vice president of three departments. He began his career at Xerox Corporation, where he became district financial control manager. He also was selected for Xerox’ leadership development program and named a top-rated manager.
Gilreath is involved extensively in the community, with current membership on organizations including Nelson Mandela School, Avenue Scholars, Jesuit Academy, Big Brother/Big Sisters, Boys to Men Book Club and the UNO College of Business Administration. He previously served organizations including Susan G. Komen, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the Omaha Chamber of Commerce, Children’s Hospital, the Urban League of Nebraska and others. That includes service on the Omaha Public Schools Desegregation Task Force. Gilreath also is founder of the Midwest Trailblazers, a nonprofit youth development program begun in Omaha in 1990 and focused on academics, sports and mentoring.
Numerous organizations have honored Gilreath for his work and community service. His honors include the Whitey M. Young Leadership Award from the Urban League of Nebraska, the Living the Dream Award from the City of Omaha, and the Distinguished Alum award from UNO’s College of Business Administration.
Gilreath received a BSBA in 1982 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he played one season for the Husker basketball team. He and his wife, Rita, have two adult children.