2026 Alum Award Winners

GENESIS BERLANGA, CLASS OF 2011, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Mary Lyon Award. This award is presented to an alum who graduated no more than fifteen years ago and who has demonstrated sustained achievements in their life and career consistent with the humane values that Mary Lyon exemplified and inspired in others.

Genesis, you have made groundbreaking contributions to the field of planetary science.

While at Mount Holyoke, you studied astronomy under Professor Darby Dyar. After a formative internship at NASA, you distinguished yourself as an expert in instrumentation programming. You automated Mount Holyoke’s Mars Science Lab’s Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, not only advancing research at Mount Holyoke but also supporting NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory and the ChemCam instrument aboard the Curiosity rover. Your graduate and doctoral research were integral to the development of instruments used on NASA Mars rovers, including the Perseverance rover’s SuperCam. Your expertise has led to expanded knowledge of how to analyze planetary surfaces and search for biosignatures on Mars and is central to NASA’s understanding of whether life has ever existed beyond Earth. Currently a research associate with Blue Marble Space Institute of Science at NASA Ames Research Center, your work developing novel instruments and methods for analyzing Martian geology has positioned you as a rising leader and innovator in your field. Equally inspiring is your commitment to mentorship. You prioritize inclusive, equity-focused approaches in planetary and Earth sciences, celebrating identity building in the classroom and ensuring that students from marginalized backgrounds see themselves in STEM fields. What stands out most is your commitment to ensuring that science is a collective endeavor that uplifts communities as much as it advances knowledge.

In recognition of your exceptional early career achievements and in anticipation of your future contributions to planetary science, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Mary Lyon Award.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

FITSUM ANLEY GELAYE, CLASS OF 2015, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Mary Lyon Award. This award is presented to an alum who graduated no more than fifteen years ago and who has demonstrated sustained achievements in their life and career consistent with the humane values that Mary Lyon exemplified and inspired in others.

Fitsum, you have leveraged an impressive educational background to become a leader in global resiliency and urban planning.

While a student at Mount Holyoke, you served as liaison to the architectural studies department, as a fellow with the Miller Worley Center for the Environment and as a teaching assistant for intermediate environmental design. As a MWCE fellow, you traveled home to Ethiopia to conduct independent research on the feasibility of greywater reuse, research that became central to your senior thesis and was presented on multiple platforms, including Senior Symposium and the Clinton Global Initiative Conference. In 2018 you joined the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities Network, rising to senior manager for programs and engagement and head of city engagement for Africa. Your work has resulted in more than 50 holistic resilience strategies outlining more than 1,800 concrete actions and initiatives and more than 150 collaborations between partners and cities to address challenges. This resulted in $230 million of pledged support and more than $655 million leveraged from national, philanthropic and private sources. Your latest work includes co-leading SAFE4ALL, a platform focused on climate education across Kenya, Ghana and Zimbabwe. This program will offer free educational sessions and materials tailored to local needs that are actionable, inclusive and geared toward real-world decision making.

At a time when our world faces challenges in climate transition, geopolitical unrest and economic inequality, you are poised to make a lasting impact and provide thoughtful leadership on a global stage for years to come.

In recognition of your exceptional early career achievements and in anticipation of your future contributions to global resiliency, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Mary Lyon Award.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

SHERRY QUIRK, CLASS OF 1976, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Achievement Award. This award is presented to alums whose accomplishments and service to society exemplify the values and virtues set forth by the College.

Sherry, in a path-breaking career spanning five decades of leadership in law and public service, you have transformed energy policy and regulatory frameworks and advocated for vulnerable people and communities.

With a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Mount Holyoke, you left your native New England for Washington, D.C., where you earned a Juris Doctor at American University’s Washington College of Law. You began your career doing legislative and regulatory work with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and on Capitol Hill, followed by more than twenty-five years in private practice as a partner with major law firms including Schiff Hardin. There you led the Energy Group, advising utilities, cooperatives and alternative energy developers on complex legal matters. In your next role as executive vice president and general counsel at the Tennessee Valley Authority, you spearheaded a complete overhaul of the legal department, introducing modern compliance practices, strengthening ethics initiatives, introducing diversity and inclusion programs, and fostering a pro bono program providing legal assistance to underserved communities.

Nationally recognized for your contributions in law and energy, you are also noted for founding advocacy groups dedicated to improving the lives of abused and neglected children. Among them are One Voice/National Alliance for Abuse Awareness and First Star, on whose board you sat for many years. Your public service continues in retirement, most recently as a member of the Wareham, Massachusetts, Planning Board.

Sherry, for your outstanding accomplishments, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Achievement Award on this, your fiftieth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

PALMA YANNI, CLASS OF 1976, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Achievement Award. This award is presented to alums whose accomplishments and service to society exemplify the values and virtues set forth by the College.

Palma, you are a nationally recognized expert in immigration law, known for your strategic insights and scope of knowledge in highly complex immigration cases.

You graduated magna cum laude from Mount Holyoke and received a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in 1979. Your law career has spanned forty-five years, including running a solo practice before joining Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in Chicago in 2025. You have been admitted to practice law in the U.S. Supreme Court as well as other high courts in the U.S. The passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and the Immigration Act of 1990 inspired your life’s work. In addition to representing clients before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, the U.S. Department of Labor and consular offices of the Department of State, you have testified before Congress on immigration matters.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association has recognized you twice for your volunteer service, including as president and longtime member of the board of governors. In 2008 you received the association’s Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for Excellence in Advancing the Practice of Immigration Law. And in 2023 you were awarded the Susan D. Quarles AILA Service Excellence Award. You were also a founding member of the board of trustees of the American Immigration Law Foundation, now the American Immigration Council.

Palma, for your outstanding accomplishments, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Achievement Award on this, your fiftieth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

BECKY ROM, CLASS OF 1971, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Achievement Award. This award is presented to alums whose accomplishments and service to society exemplify the values and virtues set forth by the College.

Becky, you are recognized for your leadership in environmental law, public policy and citizen advocacy, reinforcing the role of the legal profession in advancing the public good.

After graduating from Mount Holyoke, you earned a law degree from William Mitchell College of Law. You have dedicated your career to protecting the Boundary Waters region in northern Minnesota, serving as national chair of the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters and working tirelessly to protect the network of forests, lakes and rivers along the U.S.-Canada border from the threats of logging, mining and motorized recreation. You got a taste of public advocacy as a seventh grader, debating the merits of the bill that became the Wilderness Act, and you have worked at the forefront of one of the most consequential wilderness conservation efforts in modern U.S. history: protecting the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. You rose to partner at the Minneapolis-based firm Faegre & Benson, practicing real estate and environmental law and overseeing pro bono legal services as chair of the Community Service Committee.

Your work shaping federal wilderness policy and protecting irreplaceable lands has also flowed beyond the Boundary Waters. You served as chair of the governing council of the Wilderness Society, founding president of the Twin Cities Community Land Bank and board member of the Alaska Wilderness League and the North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club. You continue to serve as national chair of the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters and, most recently, launched Kids for the Boundary Waters. For these efforts and more, you were named to AARP Minnesota’s 50 Over 50 list and selected to present at The Hague’s Fifth Annual Water and Peace Seminar in 2023.

Becky, for your outstanding accomplishments, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Achievement Award on this, your fifty-fifth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

SUZANNE A. GEORGE, CLASS OF 1990, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Achievement Award. This award is presented to alums whose accomplishments and service to society exemplify the values and virtues set forth by the College.

Suzanne, you have built a formidable career in international affairs and public policy spanning three presidential administrations and, in between, running a worldwide anti-poverty organization.

With a major in politics from Mount Holyoke and a Juris Doctorate from George Washington University Law School, you stepped onto the path of public service as special assistant and assistant counsel to Madeleine Albright, then the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. When Albright became secretary of state, you served as her deputy chief of staff. You later founded and served as a principal at The Albright Stonebridge Group LLC, a global strategic advisory firm, and were a member of the Operating Committee of Albright Capital Management, a global investment firm. You reentered government service as deputy assistant to the president, executive secretary and chief of staff for the National Security Council, working under National Security Advisor Susan Rice during the Obama administration. From 2018 to 2021, you were chief operating officer for Bono’s ONE Campaign, managing the organization’s $37 million annual operating budget and supporting an international staff of roughly 200. You then joined the Biden-Harris transition team and were named chief of staff at the Department of State in 2021.

In 2002 you received the Alum Association’s Mary Lyon Award. You also have been recognized as a board member of the National Security Education Board, National Security Action and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.

Suzanne, for your outstanding accomplishments, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Achievement Award on this, your thirty-fifth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

YASMEEN HASSAN, CLASS OF 1991, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Achievement Award. This award is presented to alums whose accomplishments and service to society exemplify the values and virtues set forth by the College.

Yasmeen, your career reflects an unwavering commitment to advancing women’s and girls’ rights globally, combining legal expertise with visionary leadership to dismantle discriminatory laws and champion gender equality.

Growing up in Pakistan, you witnessed the dismantling of women’s rights, which compelled you to a lifetime of advocacy for women and girls. After graduating magna cum laude from Mount Holyoke with a degree in political science and critical social thought you earned a law degree from Harvard Law School. As author of the first-ever study of domestic violence in Pakistan, you presented the findings at the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing. You led the U.N. Secretary General’s study of and campaign on violence against women and served on the Council of Foreign Relations’ advisory board on child marriage. For more than a decade you were global executive director at Equality Now, a human rights organization focused on legal equality for women and girls, where you expanded and transformed the organization. You have also served on professional boards including at Musawah, a movement for equality in the Muslim family, Women for Women International, Gucci Chime for Change and Gucci Changemakers.

Your op-eds and commentary are published widely, including at Al Jazeera, CNN, The New York Times and Huffington Post. For your advocacy you have been named to the Forbes 50 Over 50 list, received Stanford Law School’s National Public Service Award, SAKHI’s Gender Justice Award and the Government of Finland’s International Gender Equality Prize.

Yasmeen, for your outstanding accomplishments, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Achievement Award on this, your thirty-fifth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

KATHLEEN HOLLAND HICKS, CLASS OF 1991, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Achievement Award. This award is presented to alums whose accomplishments and service to society exemplify the values and virtues set forth by the College.

Kathleen, you have built a formidable career at the highest levels of national security, demonstrating a sustained commitment to public service and advancing democratic values and global security.

After graduating magna cum laude from Mount Holyoke, you went on to earn a Master of Arts at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Affairs and a Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Your professional accomplishments include leading transformative initiatives that modernized U.S. defense capabilities and strengthened care for service members. You launched the Replicator initiative, accelerating the deployment of autonomous systems to counter emerging threats, drove the Pentagon’s first commercial space integration strategy and championed exploration of artificial intelligence, innovation accelerators and climate resilience. You have served in a presidentially appointed role on the National Commission on the Future of the Army, as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and on the boards of the U.S. Naval Institute and the Truman National Security Project. Breaking historic barriers as the highest-ranking womanat the Department of Defense, you served as Deputy Defense Secretary, led global operations and oversaw a $500 billion budget. Through the Deputy’s Workforce Council, you led efforts to address extremism and diversity and advocated for changes to the military justice system to combat sexual assault and harassment.

You have been honored with distinguished service awards from three secretaries of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, among many other accolades. As a strategic advisor in the private sector, you are a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

Kathleen, for your outstanding accomplishments, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Achievement Award on this, your thirty-fifth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

AYUMI HORIE, CLASS OF 1991, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Achievement Award. This award is presented to alums whose accomplishments and service to society exemplify the values and virtues set forth by the College.

Ayumi, through your artistic practice, teaching, leadership and social justice initiatives, you are widely recognized as a leading figure in contemporary ceramics.

Growing up in an old Maine mill town, your early childhood was spent exploring nearby forests, and attics stuffed with antiques — pursuits that fostered a respect for material knowledge and informed your later work. After graduating from Mount Holyoke, you received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in ceramics from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University and a Master of Fine Arts in ceramics from the University of Washington. Working as a full-time studio potter in Portland, Maine, you create functional pottery that combines refined craftmanship with hand-drawn imagery, infused with an understanding of how ordinary objects can carry cultural meaning, memory and connection. Your pieces have been exhibited nationally and internationally and are part of numerous public and private collections, including at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City.

You have also led numerous initiatives that center craft as a medium of civic dialogue, accountability and action. Among them: Obamaware, Handmade in Japan, Pots in Action, Sexism in Ceramics, the Democratic Cup and Portland Brick. In 2022, you launched the Craft Archive Fellowship to support research from perspectives that have historically been marginalized in craft history and practice. For your contributions to the field, you’ve been honored with the Maine Craft Artist Award and as an Honorary Member of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts, among other accolades.

Ayumi, for your outstanding accomplishments, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Achievement Award on this, your thirty-fifth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

NAOMI M. BARRY-PÉREZ, CLASS OF 1996, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Achievement Award. This award is presented to alums whose accomplishments and service to society exemplify the values and virtues set forth by the College.

Naomi, for nearly three decades you have been at the forefront of shaping national policy that protects American workers and advances civil rights.

You graduated from Mount Holyoke cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in politics then earned a master’s degree in public administration at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School and a Juris Doctor at Georgetown Law. You have spent the bulk of your career at the U.S. Department of Labor, taking the helm as director of civil rights in 2012 and serving under three administrations, Democratic and Republican. Overseeing a staff of forty, a $7 million budget and enterprise-wide contracts, you have directed enforcement and compliance programs under landmark civil rights statutes, advised Cabinet-level leadership on equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination, and implemented programs and practices ensuring equal access and opportunity across a multitude of measures.

You have served as a fellow with the National Academy of Public Administration and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, chair of the board for Good Shepherd Ministries Inc., board member for Americans for the Arts and an alum leader with the Mount Holyoke Legacy of Diversity Committee. You have been honored with the Harry S. Truman Scholarship for Public Service, a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, the inaugural Federal Employee Leadership Award from the National Farmworker Conference, and the Women Who Mind the Gap Leadership Award from the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.

Naomi, for your outstanding accomplishments, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Achievement Award on this, your thirtieth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

SOWMYA SUBRAMANIAN, CLASS OF 1996, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Achievement Award. This award is presented to alums whose accomplishments and service to society exemplify the values and virtues set forth by the College.

Sowmya, for twenty-five years you have forged a path developing the technology behind products and platforms used by millions every day while preparing and positioning the next generation of women leaders in the field.

You graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Mount Holyoke and then earned a master’s in computer science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. You rocketed through the ranks at Oracle, moving from database development to a small team that built the platform on which the company’s entire customer relationship management ran. Your next stop was Google, where you were instrumental in developing Google Search, YouTube Live, YouTube Kids, YouTube Music and the subscription service YouTube Premiere, among many other products. After several years as executive vice president of engineering at Warner Bros. Discovery, you were named chief technology officer at Quizlet, one of the top-twenty U.S. websites and education apps with more than sixty million active users.

At every step you have sought to empower girls and women in the field, co-leading the Google North America group Women@ and launching the initiative Bridging the Gender Gap to identify and address shortcomings in products, algorithms, designs and marketing. You have served on the boards of PBS Kids Ready-to-Learn and ITVS Women and Girls Lead Global, and on the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Computer Sciences Board of Visitors. In addition to speaking often at Mount Holyoke, you are a member of the Alum Association Board of Directors.

Sowmya, for your outstanding accomplishments, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Achievement Award on this, your thirtieth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

DEBORAH HARKNESS, CLASS OF 1986, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Elizabeth Topham Kennan Award. This award is presented to alums whose accomplishments in the field of education exemplify the values set forth by the College.

Deborah, you have forged a career as an academic and a creative writer whose scholarly works and novels have garnered equal acclaim.

At Mount Holyoke, you were inspired to become a historian during a course on Magic, Knowledge, and Power in Early Europe when the professor asked, ‘How do you know what you think you know?’ You designed your own major in Renaissance studies and went on to earn a Master of Arts in European history from Northwestern University and a Ph.D. in European history from the University of California, Davis. You were an assistant professor at Colgate University from 1994 to 1997 and then moved to the University of California, Davis, and University of Southern California, where you are now a professor emerita of history. Your specialty is the history of science and medicine from antiquity to the present, with a focus on the period of 1400 to 1700.

Your scholarly works include the full-length books “John Dee’s Conversations with Angels: Cabala, Alchemy, and the End of Nature” and “The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution.” You are also the author of the bestselling All Souls trilogy, including the novels “A Discovery of Witches,” “Shadow of Night” and “Book of Life,” which inspired a television series that ran for three seasons with you as executive producer. The series, “A Discovery of Witches,” won or was nominated for a host of national and international awards. Among your many honors, you have received a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, a Fulbright award and the Comic-Con International Inkpot Award.

Deborah, for your outstanding accomplishments, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Elizabeth Topham Kennan Award on this, your fortieth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

CATHERINE ALLGOR, FRANCES PERKINS SCHOLAR 1992, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Elizabeth Topham Kennan Award. This award is presented to alums whose accomplishments in the field of education exemplify the values set forth by the College.Catherine, you have distinguished yourself as an accomplished scholar, educator and leader, shaping the study of women’s political influence in early America.After graduating from Mount Holyoke with a bachelor’s degree in history, you earned two master’s degrees and Ph.D. in history from Yale. Your dissertation won the university’s George Washington Egleston Prize for the Best Dissertation in American History as well as the Organization of American Historians’ Lerner-Scott Prize for Best Dissertation in U.S. Women’s History. You rose to full professor in the Department of History at the University of California, Riverside, where you were also appointed as presidential chair. Next you were named the Nadine and Robert A. Skotheim Director of Education at The Huntington, a world-renowned cultural and educational institution that supports research and promotes public engagement through its expansive library, art and botanical collections in San Marino, California. There you oversaw educational programs, partnerships with major school districts, multimillion-dollar budgets and close to 1,000 volunteers. Holding many teaching positions throughout your career, you also served as fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and were appointed by President Barack Obama to the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation.In 2000 you published your first book, the award-winning “Parlor Politics: In Which the Ladies of Washington Help Build a City and a Government.” Your 2006 political biography, “A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation,” was the basis for a PBS documentary about the first lady, the subject of several subsequent books you authored. Beyond writing, you have contributed to national historical education as a board member for organizations including the National Women’s History Museum, the Organization of American Historians, the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and as president of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Catherine, for your outstanding accomplishments, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Elizabeth Topham Kennan Award.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

SUSAN HAM HELDMAN, CLASS OF 1976, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Medal of Honor. This award is presented to an alum for eminent service in promoting the effectiveness of the Alum Association and/or the College. Significant leadership, specific accomplishments and stellar service have been consistent over an extended period of time and broad-based across multiple areas of involvement, which include classes, clubs, global regions, groups, the Association and the College.

Susan, for decades you have shared your considerable financial expertise and your willingness to tackle projects big and small in service to the Alum Association, the College and your classmates.

Since receiving the Loyalty Award in 2006, you have broadened your contributions to the College by serving on the Alum Association’s Finance Committee, ultimately chairing the committee and serving as Association treasurer. As chair, you led the implementation of a new class treasury system that better supports class officers and the Association. Your leadership of this project was described as “invaluable.” Additionally, you served on the Association’s Nominating Committee and as treasurer for your class for a decade. In 2022, you stepped up to serve as co-head class agent for your fiftieth reunion. Classmates and Association and Development staff are united in praising your work, describing you as thorough, steady, positive and calm.

Alums and staff spoke in glowing terms about your willingness to take on any task for Mount Holyoke. Alum Association staff call you a “voice of reason” and say you bring “elegant simplicity” to all you do, adding, “Her quiet, calm assurance and expertise contribute to a sense of ease for everyone she engages with.” An Alum Association committee member notes that you are highly respected, in part because you “would walk to the end of the earth to keep Mount Holyoke as special as it is.” As a class board member points out, your mantra seems to be: “Sure, I’ll do it!”

Susan, for your eminent service, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Medal of Honor on this, your fiftieth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

CAROLINE CAROSSO GRIEP, CLASS OF 1986, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Medal of Honor. This award is presented to an alum for eminent service in promoting the effectiveness of the Alum Association and/or the College. Significant leadership, specific accomplishments and stellar service have been consistent over an extended period of time and broad-based across multiple areas of involvement, which include classes, clubs, global regions, groups, the Association and the College.

Caroline, you have continually stepped up for your class and the College in ways both formal and informal as the “go-to” alumna for various College and Association departments.

Since receiving a Loyalty Award in 2011, you have continued to go above and beyond on behalf of the Association, the College and your fellow alums. You have served as a development volunteer since your graduation, serving as head class agent for twenty-five years as well as on both The MHF Volunteer Steering Committee and The Mount Holyoke Fund Committee. For the Alum Association, you have been a member of both the Classes and Reunion Committee and the Internal Achievement Awards Committee, which you subsequently chaired for three years, leading initiatives that streamlined and significantly improved its operations. You co-founded the V8s alum affiliate group and organized group reunions that drew alums who had been active in the V8s but had not returned to campus in twenty or thirty years. Most recently, you volunteered with pre-Loyalty classes, serving as their host at Reunion, guiding them throughout the weekend and celebrating their achievements.

Your peers commend your thoughtfulness, noting the handwritten, personal notes you send to acknowledge gifts. One class board member calls you the most committed volunteer in the class, “period, end of story.” Another says you are “the engine” behind all of the annual giving by the class of 1986. Noting how you consistently go above and beyond, a staff member says you are “someone who loves Mount Holyoke — love with all capitals and exclamation points!”

Caroline, for your eminent service, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Medal of Honor on this, your fortieth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

MELISSA ANDERSON RUSSELL, CLASS OF 2001, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Medal of Honor. This award is presented to an alum for eminent service in promoting the effectiveness of the Alum Association and/or the College. Significant leadership, specific accomplishments and stellar service have been consistent over an extended period of time and broad-based across multiple areas of involvement, which include classes, clubs, global regions, groups, the Association and the College.

Melissa, whether you are serving in a formal leadership role or jumping in to fill an unforeseen need, you are a hands-on volunteer with seemingly boundless energy and enthusiasm.

You were recognized with the Young Alum Volunteer Leadership Award in 2016, and since then you have continued to serve Mount Holyoke with the same passion and energy. As an undergraduate you became treasurer of the class of 2001, a position you have held to this day. For decades, you have been dedicated to the Mount Holyoke Club of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, working both behind the scenes and in leadership roles ranging from website coordinator to president. Your skills and diplomatic approach were instrumental in the effort to unify fifteen different communities under one regional banner. You also served as chair of the Alum Association’s Classes and Reunion Committee and on the Association Board of Directors and contributed substantially to the Internal Achievement Awards Committee. During the COVID-19 pandemic, you ran an online trivia group for your class. And when in-person reunions resumed, you jumped at the chance to volunteer to host the sixtieth reunion class, adding golf cart driver to a long list of informal roles you have embraced over the years, including volunteer minute-taker and provider of Atkins’ donuts.

One class board member noted your “positive force” and “grace,” adding that she modeled herself after you. Another called you “a wonderful light of a person.” Staff members describe your patience, “heart and understanding” in engaging with volunteers. And a club member noted the care you take to ensure that everyone feels included in decision-making.

Melissa, for your eminent service, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Medal of Honor on this, your twenty-fifth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

LYNETTE P. RIZZO, CLASS OF 1996, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Medal of Honor. This award is presented to an alum for eminent service in promoting the effectiveness of the Alum Association and/or the College. Significant leadership, specific accomplishments and stellar service have been consistent over an extended period of time and broad-based across multiple areas of involvement, which include classes, clubs, global regions, groups, the Association and the College.

Lynette, you lead with a combination of wisdom, warmth and humor that not only moves important projects forward but also guarantees that all participants feel valued and heard.

You have been a steadfast volunteer since graduation and received a Loyalty Award in 2016 for your dedicated service to Mount Holyoke and the New York Club. As class scribe, you are adept at following up and encouraging class members to share stories. As president of the Mount Holyoke Club of New York City, you were noted for your exceptional leadership and dedication to inclusivity. Additionally, you launched a signature program that continues to draw a diverse group of alums to attend a biannual Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performance. After your presidency ended, you remained active with the club and as a mentor to new club leaders. You have also served the Alum Association on four committees: Clubs and Groups, Nominating, Communications, and Community and Belonging, the Association’s newest committee. During its inception, you worked to define the Community and Belonging Committee’s focus, purpose and early activities.

Fellow club members note your skill at including alums of all ages and modeling how to stay involved over time. Alum Association committee members say you have a knack for “uncovering insights into uninvolved alums,” improving the volunteer experience and identifying new people for volunteer roles. Many describe you as a quiet leader and collaborator, and, though you are “not the loudest voice in the room,” as one class board member noted, you are the voice people listen to.

Lynette, for your eminent service, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Medal of Honor on this, your thirtieth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

ANNE SCHNEIDER McNULTY, CLASS OF 1976, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Loyalty Award. This award is presented to an alum who has demonstrated exceptional loyalty to the Alum Association and/or the College through consistent effort and active involvement over an extended period of time in at least one area of service. Volunteer effort may be on behalf of classes, clubs, global regions, the Association or the College.

Anne, you have worked tirelessly to strengthen the connections among your class members as both a development volunteer and scribe.

You have held nearly every class development job in the decades since you first signed on as a reunion gift caller in 1990. In 2023 you stepped up to serve as co-head class agent for your fiftieth reunion, subsequently handing the scribe pen to another classmate so you could focus on fundraising. Together you and your co-head class agent have inspired your team — and your class — to increase both the dollars given and participation in every year of your reunion cycle. Your classmates praise you for many years of dedicated and effective fundraising.

Fellow class board members say you are someone who “always made time for Mount Holyoke” despite the demands of your career as an OB-GYN. They describe you as efficient, supportive and gracious, noting that your “hospitality knows no bounds.” One board member sums up your contributions, saying, “She always steps up to the plate.”

Anne, for your exceptional service, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Loyalty Award on this, your fiftieth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

LOUISE W. B. PEACH, CLASS OF 1986, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Loyalty Award. This award is presented to an alum who has demonstrated exceptional loyalty to the Alum Association and/or the College through consistent effort and active involvement over an extended period of time in at least one area of service. Volunteer effort may be on behalf of classes, clubs, global regions, the Association or the College.

Louise, for twenty-five years you have worked steadily and consistently to strengthen your class and the Alum Association. Though your work has often been behind the scenes, its impact is widely felt.

You have served as class treasurer, vice president and twice as reunion chair. More recently, as a member of the Classes and Reunion Committee, you stepped up to help reunion attendees navigate the new Dining Commons. On the External Achievement Awards Committee, you undertook comprehensive research and assisted where needed, bringing a keen sense of detail that was recognized by others. As the daughter and mother of MHC alums, you bring a multitude of perspectives, an advantage that you share in all your volunteer work.

Peers note how you have helped the class develop its identity, paving the way for individuals to deepen their relationships with each other and the class. One class board member used the word “unimpeachable” to describe you, adding that you have a “great sense of optimism.” And, as one College staff member says, “She is very much a volunteer who gets her energy from the other volunteers and the energy around her. She encourages team spirit and collaboration.”

Louise, for your exceptional service, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Loyalty Award on this, your fortieth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

PATRICE BEHNSTEDT, FRANCES PERKINS SCHOLAR 2000, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Loyalty Award. This award is presented to an alum who has demonstrated exceptional loyalty to the Alum Association and/or the College through consistent effort and active involvement over an extended period of time in at least one area of service. Volunteer effort may be on behalf of classes, clubs, global regions, the Association or the College.

Patrice, for twenty-five years you have been a loyal, steadfast supporter of Mount Holyoke College and your class, contributing your ideas, raising funds, volunteering your time and sharing your perspective as a Frances Perkins Scholar.

You have held a variety of class roles, including president, vice president, reunion chair, scribe and website coordinator. Recently, you served on the Alum Association’s Classes and Reunion Committee and as head class agent for Frances Perkins Scholars.

A Development staff member says you “aren’t afraid to jump in and help where it’s needed,” adding that you’ve stepped up to assist with March4MHC and as a crucial volunteer at Reunion. An Alum Association committee member describes you as “an exceptional volunteer who always puts her hand up” and is “someone you always want to have on a committee.” A classmate calls you a “super supporter” of the Frances Perkins program, saying, “I can count on her. She is a very strong and uncommon woman indeed.”

Patrice, for your exceptional service, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Loyalty Award.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

ROBIN SMITH PROUT, CLASS OF 1981, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Loyalty Award. This award is presented to an alum who has demonstrated exceptional loyalty to the Alum Association and/or the College through consistent effort and active involvement over an extended period of time in at least one area of service. Volunteer effort may be on behalf of classes, clubs, global regions, the Association or the College.

Robin, in your nearly forty-five years of service you have made a deep and lasting impact for your class, the Alum Association and the Development Office through a variety of volunteer roles.

Your many titles over time include class artist, class social chair, website and social media coordinator, head class agent, reunion gift caller, cornerstone representative, alum admission representative and book award chair for two clubs in upstate New York. You were also a member of the Alum Association Marketing and Development committees, and past president of the Capital District Club. Most recently, you have served actively on the class of 1981 board, supporting class activities.

Your peers describe you as a steady and strong contributor who is “really supportive, always fun and willing to step up” and who “jumps in to get things done.” They note your tireless efforts tracking down classmates and encouraging them to come to Reunion. Others credit you with lending your artistic talents in visible, lasting ways, including for the class website and class logo, which you designed as a student.

Robin, for your exceptional service, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Loyalty Award on this, your forty-fifth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

NICOLE RATTÉ GUTTORMSEN, CLASS OF 1991, the Alum Association is pleased to honor you with the Loyalty Award. This award is presented to an alum who has demonstrated exceptional loyalty to the Alum Association and/or the College through consistent effort and active involvement over an extended period of time in at least one area of service. Volunteer effort may be on behalf of classes, clubs, global regions, the Association or the College.

Nicole, despite living in Norway for nearly two decades, you remain closely connected to Mount Holyoke, the Alum Association and your classmates.

You have served as a development volunteer for more than three decades, taking on the task of soliciting non-U.S. classmates. You also have been a class scribe since 2010 and are currently a co-scribe. Additionally, you have served as president of the Norway Alum Region and delegate to the European Regional Council twice, from 2007–2010 and since 2018. This year, you stepped up as secretary of the European Regional Council.

A class board member calls you a “cheerleader” for both the class and the College, “active in outreach to alums, students and potential students.” A fellow European alum applauds your efforts to attend in-person events throughout Europe. An Association staff member notes that you “always have something to submit” as class scribe, despite living overseas. And a former European Council president says you are “bubbly and very enthusiastic.”

Nicole, for your exceptional service, the Alum Association is honored to present you with the Loyalty Award on this, your thirty-fifth, reunion.

W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, P’13
President
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College

Trisha Tanner ’00
Executive Director
Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College