Quincy Sun // Published September 13, 2018 // Quincy Sun Staff

Boston Police Commissioner William G. Gross, Boston first African American Police Commissioner and 2017 Graduate of Quincy College, will be honored at the Quincy College 60th Anniversary Celebration Thursday, Oct. 25 at Granite Links Golf Club.

The Quincy College Trust, a non-profit foundation established to receive charitable donations, scholarship, and endowment funds in support of Quincy College and its mission to provide an affordable and accessible post-secondary education to its students will present the 2018 Quintessential Award to alumnus William G. Gross, Boston’s first African-American Police Commissioner and 2017 graduate of Quincy College.

The Quincy College Trust will present Commissioner Gross with the 2018 Quintessential Award at Quincy College’s 60th Anniversary Celebration on October 25, 2018, at Granite Links Golf Club, 100 Quarry Hill Dr, Quincy, MA.

“As Quincy College celebrates its 60th Anniversary, we shine a light on the College’s greatest achievement, the success of our students. We are pleased and extremely proud to recognize the significant accomplishments of Quincy College Graduate, Boston Police Commissioner William Gross. Quintessential by definition: is to embody or possess the essence of something. Commissioner Gross embodies what it means to serve others for the betterment of self and the community as a whole, a mission that is shared by the faculty and staff of Quincy College, ”Tina Cahill, Director of Institutional Advancement at Quincy College.

William G. Gross is a 2017 Graduate of Quincy College and was conferred an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice.

Commissioner Gross is a 35-year veteran of the Boston Police Department. After joining the department in 1983 as a Boston Police Cadet, he graduated from the Boston Police Academy in 1985. He spent years as a patrol officer, patrolling the many neighborhoods of Boston. He was also assigned to the Youth Violence Strike Force, Drug Control Unit, as well as being an Academy Instructor. He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 2004 and Sergeant-Detective in 2006. The majority of his supervisory years were spent in Dorchester – Boston Police District 11.

He has been awarded numerous Departmental awards for bravery and meritorious service and several Governor’s Citations; the Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award; the United States Attorney’s Boston Offices’ award For Outstanding Dedicated Service to the Survivors of the Boston Marathon Bombing during the Trial of the United States vs. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; the Department of Justice Investigative Achievement Award and was named one of Boston’s 100 Most Influential People of Color.

For more information on the 60th Anniversary Celebration, sponsorship opportunities, or to purchase tickets, visit: https://quincycollege.edu/60years/ or Text QCT18 to 51555. Please direct questions pertaining to the 60th Anniversary Gala to Tina Cahill, Director of Institutional Advancement, Tcahill@quincycollege.edu, 617-405-5942.