Budget administrator to receive President’s Lifetime Achievement Award

  • Published
  • By Amy Rollins
  • Skywrighter Staff

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AOR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- A wizard he is, and for his work as one, he will soon be recognized by the president of the United States.

Richard Strode, budget administrator for Strategic Plans and Programs Office, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, is slated to receive the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for contributing more than 4,000 hours of service, most often with the Educational Outreach Office. The award is an initiative of the Corporation for National and Community Service and is administered by Points of Light.

Strode consistently supports Wright-Patterson AFB shadow programs, “STEM-ulate Your Mind” teacher workshops, Tech-Fest and countless Boy Scout events, said Krista Gerhardt, EO Wizards of Wright program manager and STEM-ulate Your Mind facilitator.

“Richard is best known for his active involvement with the Wizards of Wright. With many years of volunteering as a ‘wave wizard,’ he has expanded his reach to include such topics as magnets and motors, electricity and magnetism, aluminum can motor and glide right.

“Richard’s ease, questioning style and humor make him a natural in the classroom,” Gerhardt said. “Many new wizards are sent to shadow Richard to see how to engage and interact with students of all grade levels.”

“All of our dedicated Wright-Patterson Air Force Base volunteers, like Richard Strode, have uplifted the Educational Outreach Office to become one of the premier K-12 STEM outreach offices in the Department of Defense and the Air Force,” said Daniel Andrews II, K-12 STEM team lead and EO director. “Our volunteers are the most important resource we have and that shows in the classroom and events. Richard has volunteered for more than 60,000 hours – that is what he has counted – but I’m sure there are many more hours!”

Strode said his award is an amazing honor and he is humbled by it.

“I think we have an obligation to pay back. People did things for us when we were growing up and still do kind things for others,” he said. “I think we owe it to others.”

In his volunteer work, Strode draws from his varied educational background.

“I never knew what I wanted to be when I grew up,” he said.

He went to college part-time for 12 years to earn his bachelor’s degree. He originally studied to be an engineer at Wright State University, then transferred to Sinclair Community College and earned associate degrees in purchasing and material management, plus culinary science. He finally earned a bachelor’s degree in logistics from Park College, then a master’s degree from Antioch University.

“I enjoy the educational environment,” Strode said. “I enjoy working with kids.”

Before coming to work at Wright-Patterson AFB in 1988, he was a math and science substitute teacher.

Once on base, he worked for his current organization’s predecessor, then as a finance officer for munitions. He also worked as the chief financial officer for the last round of Defense Base Realignment and Closure process at Wright-Patterson AFB.

As a volunteer, he has focused on the WOW! program, teaching grades 4 through 6, plus in the summer Wright State University’s science, technology and engineering preparatory program for high school students. Strode also gives presentations at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

“The greatest satisfaction in (volunteering) is when the light comes on and the kids suddenly understand something they had never thought about before,” he said. “You get that look of enlightenment and kind of that gasp.”

Strode has received many thank-you notes from students and their teachers for his help.

“I keep a lot of those. They’re cute and candid,” he said. “If I’m having a really tough day, occasionally I’ll pull them out and look at them. It’s a nice reminder that maybe, in some small way, we’ve done something good.”

Strode occasionally runs into former students who recognize him and is always thrilled when he learns they are studying science or are in an engineering program.

“That’s a neat feeling,” he said.

Strode said he is naturally inclined to volunteer as he watched how his father Ross Strode, a retired lieutenant colonel who ran the retiree affairs office on base for many years, donated his time in the service of others.

“There are lots of good causes and they need volunteers,” he said. “If something is important to you, you have to be the one to support it.”

Along with a congratulatory letter from the president, Strode will receive a personalized certificate, an official pin, medallion or coin.