The University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Institute for Urban Education, known as IUE, honored Jerry Reece with the Hugh J. Zimmer Award for Excellence in Urban Education at the fourth annual Forever IUE celebration.

Reece has been part of the IUE and the program’s mission for more than a decade. Reece was mentored by Hugh Zimmer, and joined the IUE at Zimmer’s request. His involvement helped the IUE grow tremendously in scope and impacted the urban schools they partner with. Reece also has an established endowment scholarship with his wife, Patty Reece, for IUE students.

Reece was previously named a legend of Kansas City by Ingram’s magazine because of all his philanthropic efforts and impact in the community. He is heavily involved with UMKC, being a longtime member of the UMKC Foundation board and the UMKC Trustees.