Lucia R. Briggs Distinguished Achievement Award
Nathan M. Pusey Young Alumni Achievement Award
George B. Walter '36 Service to Society Award
Gertrude Breithaupt Jupp M-D'18 Outstanding Service to Lawrence Award
The Marshall B. Hulbert '26 Young Alumni Service Award
Virginia L. Danielson ’71
The Lucia R. Briggs Distinguished Achievement Award
Virginia Danielson is curator of the Archive of World Music and the Richard F. French Librarian at Harvard's Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library. After earning a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology at the University of Illinois, she began her library career as an archivist in the UI ethnomusicology archives and a cataloging assistant in the music library. Pursuing a scholarly interest in music of the Middle East, she spent three years in the mid-1980s living in Egypt and is the author of an award-winning biography of Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum as well as one of the first biographies of a Middle Eastern woman musician.
Jennifer Baumgardner ’92
Nathan M. Pusey Young Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award
Jennifer Baumgardner is an influential voice in Third Wave feminism, a writer and commentator who began her career as the youngest editor at Ms. magazine. She has co-authored two books, ManifestA: Young women, Feminism , and the Future and Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism; her latest book is Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics. In addition, she has written for magazines and also edited a series of re-issued feminist classics. She has served on the board of the New York Abortion Access Fun, worked with Planned Parenthood, and produced the documentary "I Had an Abortion."
Margarita Thompson Oliver '42
The George B. Walter ’36 Service to Society Award
Peg Oliver founded the coalition of Literary Services, Inc. in Hidalgo County, Texas, and served as its director, lead teacher, and guiding spirit from 1984 until her retirement in 2005. A non-governmental program offering adult basic education, literacy, and public information, CLS is distinctive for its openness and its self-paced curriculum. For many years, Oliver single-handedly taught an estimated 1,000 people per year, often leading as many as ten classes a week. In retirement, she continues to speak out on educational issues, maintain contact with former students, and seek ways to turn "poor communities into educated communities."
Reverend Martin Deppe ’57
The George B. Walter ’36 Service to Society Award
Martin Deppe has played a role in some of the key movements and moments of recent history. A United Methodist pastor who served six Chicago-area congregations between 1961 and his retirement in 1999, Deppe's dedication and his devotion to human rights and civil liberties are evident in his work with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Operation Breadbasket and Clergy and Laity Concerned about the Vietnam War and with individual such as Martin Luther King, Jr., William Sloane Coffin, and Abraham Heschel. His leadership roles in groups organized to seek social and economic justice are, literally, too many to mention.
Nancy J. Rigg '72
The George B. Walter ’36 Service to Society Award
Nancy Rigg has been called “the mother of swiftwater rescue.” With determination and perseverance, she turned a tragic episode in her own life into a pioneering effort on behalf of others. A writer and filmmaker, she used her skills to advocate for a swiftwater rescue program that became a reality in 1992. Today, flood zones in Los Angeles have been mapped, rescue operations are coordinated, and the death toll has been substantially reduced. Thanks to Rigg, individuals who are swept away have a chance to be rescued, and rescue personnel have the training and equipment to coordinate effective rescues and also protect themselves.
Duffie A. Adelson '73
The George B. Walter ’36 Service to Society Award
Duffie Adelson is executive director of the Merit School of Music in Chicago. Founded in 1979, Merit each year brings music education to over 6,500 students of all ages and abilities and is recognized for the quality of its curriculum and its commitment to serving economically disadvantaged students. Selected by Today’s Chicago Woman as one of “100 Women Making a Difference,” Adelson serves on the board of advisors to “Midori and Friends,” a foundation that provides music education to New York City public school children, and also is a trustee of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts
Thomas A. Oreck '73
The George B. Walter ’36 Service to Society Award
Tom Oreck, president and chief executive officer of the Oreck Corporation of New Orleans, was selected for this award because of the manner in which he and his company responded to the human needs of their employees immediately following Hurricane Katrina. When Katrina hit, the Oreck plant in Long Beach, Mississippi, was seriously damaged, and the homes of many of its 600 employees were destroyed. The company provided employees with housing, food, water, generators, fuel, and other supplies and brought in medical trauma specialists and advisors to help with insurance and FEMA claims. “Our first responsibility was to our employees,” Oreck has said. “The business could wait; the people could not.”
Richard K. Weber '57
The Gertrude B. Jupp M-D’18 Outstanding Service Award
Richard Weber took on the important tasks of leading his 40th and 50th reunion gift committees. In 1997, Lawrence’s Sesquicentennial year, the Class of 1957 set what was at that time a 40th Reunion alumni participation record of 69.3 percent. For their 50th reunion gift, Weber and his co-chairs started working at their 45th reunion to organize a campaign of enormous proportions. Throughout these years he has been unceasingly hard-working, methodical, and passionate in his pursuit of a milestone contribution to Lawrence, facilitating innumerable meetings and conference calls, reaching out to classmates, and working tirelessly behind the scenes.
Mary L. Carlson-Mason ’72
The Gertrude B. Jupp M-D’18 Outstanding Service Award
Mary Carlson-Mason has long been a “connector” in the Class of 1972 — a friend of many who connects numerous groups within the early 1970s classes. More officially, she served as steering committee chair and a tireless leader of the past two cluster reunions for the Classes of 1971-1973 — inspiring the highest attendance at any 30th Reunion in 2002. A talented writer, she chaired the Alumni Association’s Communications Committee from 2001 to 2003 and in that capacity helped create and also named Lawrence E-News (LENs) the online alumni newsletter.
Ryan L. Tarpley '93
The Marshall B. Hulbert '26 Young Alumni Service Award
Ryan L. Tarpley is a model young alumni volunteer who has been active in almost every facet of the Lawrence community. He has served as a member of the steering committee for his tenth reunion and the class gift committee for his reunion this year, an admissions volunteer, an Ambassador peer solicitor, a participant in a campaign working group, and a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors and its executive committee. A member of the Los Angeles regional program committee, he has been the host/coordinator for two Los Angeles alumni events.