Pioneers of Progress celebrate modern-day trailblazers

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Six Utahns received Pioneers of Progress awards for their contributions in various fields.
Honorees included Bill Crim, Patricia Jones Horton and Fraser Bullock, among others.
The awards celebrate leadership in education, business, health, science and sportsmanship.

SALT LAKE CITY — Saving the 2002 Winter Olympics, helping children to see, running programs for disadvantaged youth, advocating for women's voices and helping the homeless on an individual basis are some of the accomplishments of six "Pioneers of Progress" honorees this year.

As part of the Days of '47 celebration in Utah — celebrating the arrival of pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847 — the six Utahns were lauded Thursday evening for their work and influence in the community.

"In 1995, the Days of '47 began honoring exceptional individuals who continue Utah's rich pioneer heritage and vision, industry, integrity, sacrifice and courage; and whose work benefits present and future generations," said meteorologist Sterling Poulson, who sits on the Days of '47 committee. The committee honored six people who "are influencing our state through their leadership in business, art, academia, philanthropy, humanitarian service and science," according to the organization's website.

The event on Thursday included dinner, remarks about the pioneers, a youth violin quartet and a presentation of awards. Each recipient's contributions were showcased in a video. Throughout the night, collaboration was a prominent theme.

"Pioneering is a group project. It's not something I think you do alone," said Bill Crim, CEO at United Way and winner of Thursday's Pioneers of Progress education award. "If you think about how the pioneers get to where they are going, it has to be done collectively."

Each of the six recipients has spent decades of their life advocating for a cause, working to make Utah a better place to live and serving their community. Their stories of teamwork, perseverance and hope resembled the pioneer spirit upon which Utah was founded.

"It's important to celebrate pioneers still because we lose track of our heritage really fast. It only takes one generation, and we forget what happened," said Irene Summerhays, who attended Thursday's event. "We have deep connections to the people of the past because we have their furniture, we know their names and their stories."

Patricia Jones Horton, a former Utah senator and this year's Pioneer of Progress in the business and enterprise category, has continued her pioneering legacy by fighting for women's place in leadership.

"Women belong at all kinds of tables. Kitchen tables, yes, but also on boards, in legislature and politics because it's nice to have a voice, but you really have to have a vote," she expressed.

Similar to Horton, each recipient expressed gratitude for being chosen, as well as passion for their field of interest. The awards, many suggested, were not a reflection of their efforts, but rather those of an entire team, behind the scenes, that made their success possible.

The six recipients of this year's Pioneers of Progress are as follows:

Bill Crim, education

Crim has served as president and CEO at United Way of Salt Lake and Utah's Promise for over two decades. His work has helped to develop the United Way community in Utah and provide education for Utah's children in need. Additionally, his work has included influencing public policy and helping to develop the Promise Partnership Utah, a nationally recognized partnership infrastructure for improving cradle-to-career education outcomes. He also created the first "pay for success" transaction in the country for early childhood education, helping make high-quality preschool available to thousands of additional low-income children in Utah.

South Salt Lake Mayor Cherie Wood, education

Mayor Cherie Wood, winner of the Education award, reflects on the strides United Way has made in Utah communities. She received her award on Thursday night at the Grand America Hotel. (Photo: Steve Lundquist, Days of '47)

The education award was a double dose of recognition for Crim and Wood's collaborative efforts at United Way and their contributions to Salt Lake City. Additionally, she launched Promise South Salt Lake. The initiative provides free programs for over 3,000 individuals annually. She loves focusing on family, community and education throughout the Utah community. She has also created the Hser Ner Moo Community Center and earned awards recognizing her service.

Patricia Jones Horton, business and enterprise

Patricia Jones Horton won the Business and Enterprise award on Thursday night at KUTV's Pioneers of Progress at the Grand America Hotel. Her work with women has been instrumental in changing Utah business culture. (Photo: Steve Lundquist, Days of '47)

For nearly her whole life, Horton has advocated for women and their place in leadership positions. As CEO of the Women's Leadership Institute since 2015, her work has helped address Utah's gender disparities. She co-founded and was the former president of Dan Jones and Associates. Horton's research, specializing in qualitative research, has been instrumental in informing businesses and providing data on various topics, such as Utah Transit Authority's TRAX and AI. She also served in the Utah Legislature for 14 years, first as a member of the Utah House of Representatives and later as a member of the Utah Senate.

Wayne L. Niederharuser, health and humanitarian assistance

Niederhauser has been involved with Utah's homeless populations since 2021. Following his time as a state legislator, he was appointed by the governor to serve as Utah homelessness coordinator. His work has contributed to the development of Utah's plan to address homelessness and securing additional funding for homeless housing.

Randall J. Olson, science and technology

As a distinguished professor and chairman at the University of Utah's Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Olson has helped to develop new technologies for cataract surgery and macular degeneration. After his time as a one-person operation at the Department of Surgery at the U., he opened the John A. Moran Eye Center — the largest eye care and vision research center in the Intermountain West — where he helps patients while developing groundbreaking research.

Fraser Bullock, sportsmanship and athletics

Fraser Bullock, winner of the Sportsmanship and Athletics award, saved the 2002 Winter Olympic Games hosted in Salt Lake City. His efforts will continue to help the games thrive in 2034. His speech, given Thursday at KUTV's Pioneers of Progress at the Grand America Hotel, inspired the audience to dream big for the upcoming games. (Photo: Steve Lundquist, Days of '47)

Bullock, of Alpine, has been involved with the Olympics and Paralympic Games since the 2002 events. He is a founding member of Bain Capital and co-founder of Sorenson Capital. Bullock was the chief operating officer and CFO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Olympic Games. He is now the CEO and president of the 2034 Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

"Our purpose for 2034 is to do good. That's it. There are many ways to do it," Bullock said about the upcoming Olympics in Salt Lake City.

The Pioneers of Progress program aims to continue encouraging people to a positive impact in their communities.

Pioneers of Progress awards were presented in partnership with KUTV and DoTerra.

The Days of '47 events will continue for the next week. Visit Daysof47.com for a schedule of events.

Correction: In an earlier version, Bill Crim's name was incorrectly spelled Crum.

Photos

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.