Slain FBI agent from Scottdale to get UPJ alumni award

Slain FBI Special Agent Samuel Hicks, who grew up in Scottdale, will be posthumously honored April 7 during the annual Alumni Gala on the Pitt-Johnstown campus.

Hicks is among five distinguished alumni who will be recognized at the 6 p.m. dinner and ceremony in Heritage Hall, at the campus' Living Learning Center.

Hicks, who graduated from the university in 1999 with a biology degree, will receive the Alumni Memorial Award, which remembers those who demonstrated “qualities of leadership and excellence through their life.”

Hicks joined the FBI in 2007, after serving as a police officer in Maryland. He was one of 11 agents from throughout the country chosen to participate in a special training program in Amman, Jordan.

Hicks, 33, was shot and killed in the line of duty Nov. 19, 2008, while serving a federal warrant at a home in Indiana Township, Allegheny County, in the culmination of a year-long investigation into a large-scale drug ring.

The FBI named its Baltimore field office the Sam Hicks Building to honor the fallen agent. His name was added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.

In 2009, his family established the Samuel S. Hicks Memorial Fund to support outstanding students in Pitt-Johnstown's Justice Administration and Criminology program as well as local youth programs and other families who have lost a loved one in the line of duty.

Proceeds from the gala will benefit student scholarships. Tickets cost $75. Visit upj.pitt.edu/alumnigala for more information.

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6622, jhimler@tribweb.com or via Twitter @jhimler_news.