Ridgewood's Ali Stroker Recipient Of Prestigious NYU Alumna Award

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — Groundbreaking actress Ali Stroker is the recipient of New York University's Distinguished Young Alumna Award.

Stroker became paralyzed from the waist down when she was 2 following a car accident, but that hasn't stopped her from making history.

She is the first actress in a wheelchair to graduate from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts' drama department, earning a fine arts degree. She is also the first actress to appear on a Broadway stage, which she did for the role of Anna in the 2015 revival of "Spring Awakening."

Stroker also auditioned for the "The Glee Project." She placed second and appeared as a guest star during "Glee's" fourth season.

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Stroker has also performed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and New York City's Town Hall. She received critical acclaim for her role as "Olive" in "The Twenty-Fifth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at Bergen County's Papermill Playhouse, where she trained as an actress. The performed earned her a Barrymore Award nomination.

Most recently she was cast a writer and researcher in Kyra Sedgwick's ABC drama "Ten Days In The Valley."

"It's such a huge breakthrough and getting on board, creating characters that are going to resonate with so many people. I've never had a role with storylines and with relationships and connections," Stroker previously said of the role. "It was so refreshing to learn that the wheelchair is not that important to them."

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Stroker is a founding member of Be More Heroic, anti-bullying campaign that tours the United States.

Stroker also holds theater workshops and classes in South Africa for women and children with HIV and AIDS.

Stroker has never set limits on herself, despite her being confined to a wheelchair.

"I became an expert at flipping negative things into positive things," Stroker previously said. "My parents had a very positive outlook and they looked at what I could do rather than what I couldn't do."

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Photo: Ali Stroker — Courtesy of Sam Morris PR