Gettelfinger, now a resident of Detroit, Mich., is planning to accept the award during IU Southeast’s commencement ceremony, which begins at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, May 10, at the Ogle Amphitheatre at the New Albany campus, located off Grant Line Road north of the Interstate 265 interchange.

Elected UAW president in 2002, Gettelfinger represents more than 600,000 autoworkers nationwide.

In 1976, the Harrison County native graduated from IU Southeast with a bachelor of science degree in business.

A member of UAW Local 862 since 1964, Gettelfinger worked on the chassis repair line at the Ford Motor Co. assembly plant in Louisville. He served on the UAW-Ford’s national negotiating committee in 1987, and was president and chair of his local bargaining committee for the 1984 and 1987 negotiations. Gettelfinger was an international representative for UAW Region 3 and was elected director of Region 3, which represents all UAW members in Indiana and Kentucky. In 1998, he was elected UAW’s vice president and assigned to direct the UAW National Ford Department. In addition, Gettelfinger directed both the UAW Aerospace Department and the chaplaincy program.