ALUMNI NEWS

Ten alumni honored

"I'LL NEVER FORGET THE PROFESSORS WHO SERVED AS MENTORS AND THE CLASSMATES WHO TAUGHT ME THAT I COULD TAKE MY WORK SERIOUSLY, BUT I SHOULD NEVER TAKE MYSELF TOO SERIOUSLY.”


At Reunion 2010, the alumni board celebrated these outstanding graduates:

Distinguished Achievement Award 

Nelle Nugent '60 is one of the top independent Broadway producers of our time. As she recalls, "It was extremely rare in 1960 for a woman to be a stage manager." But she worked her way up through summer stock and Off-Broadway. As an executive at Theatre Now, she produced touring editions of hit musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof and Cabaret. By 1976, she and a partner launched McCann & Nugent Productions, the most successful female partnership in Broadway history, producing scores of award-winning hits. Nugent also teaches a postgraduate course in the business of film at New York University. At the awards ceremony, Nugent credited influential Skidmore professors Carolyn Anderson in theater, Phyllis Roth in English, James Kettlewell in art history, and even the "miraculous and terrifying" Miriam Benkovitz, "who taught me how to read plays."

Creative Thought Matters Award 

Noted entrepreneur Sharon Pfau Whiteley '70 has a knack for recognizing emerging markets. Her Whiteley-Works, a consumer insight and product-develop-ment company focused on aging midlife audiences, is widely regarded as a pioneer in strategic life-stage marketing. Founding Peacock Papers stationery featuring "positive aging" messages, she ended up as chief creative officer of a $50 million gifts business. She was also CEO of an e-recruiting firm that matches college grads with employers and an online media company helping marketers engage with midlife consumers. A founding partner of 8Wings Ventures, investing in early-stage enterprises, she is coauthor of the book The Old Girls' Network: Insider Advice for Women Building Businesses in a Man's World. She called Skidmore "a foundational and formative experience" that sparked her interest in women's enterprise.

Palamountain Award for Young Alumni Achievement 

Widely honored attorney Jeremiah Frei-Pearson '00 works to fix broken fostercare systems and provide legal services for the young, poor, mentally ill, and incarcerated. A psychology major with a minor in law and society, he interned at a local psychiatric hospital, helped lawyers seeking clemency for a death-row prisoner, and worked with US Senator Ted Kennedy on health-care issues. After earning his JD at Stanford, he was hired by the firm of John Howley '80 and was honored for his pro bono work. In 2006 he joined Children's Rights, helping reform foster care from New Jersey to Oklahoma. He's also active in local community groups tackling issues from unfair utility bills to marriage inequality to hate crimes. He's now running for a seat in the New York State Legislature. He told the Reunion crowd, "I'll never forget the Skidmore professors who served as mentors and the classmates who taught me that I could take my work seriously, but I should never take myself too seriously."

Porter Award for Young Alumni Volunteerism

Craig Hyland '05 has always been an advocate and organizer for social justice. A particularly active leader of Skidmore's Pride Alliance, he also founded Skidmore's LGBT Alumni Association. He has served as class agent, president, secretary, and reunion chair, among other roles. Citing Skidmore's strong educa-

[photograph] 
PHIL SCALIA
Ceramic gifts, created by Prof. Regis Brodie, await the alumni awardees.

30 SCOPE FALL 2010