Five Honored With 2015-16 Dartmouth Alumni Awards

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Read the full story by Rachel Hastings, published by Dartmouth Alumni News.

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Five Dartmouth alumni have been chosen by the Alumni Council to receive 2015–16 alumni awards.

Three will receive the Dartmouth Alumni Award, established in 1954 to recognize long-standing and meritorious service to the College, career achievement, and other community service. Alumni are eligible for this award after their 25th class reunion.

Two will receive the Dartmouth Young Alumni Distinguished Service Award. This award was established in 1990, and recognizes breadth, depth, and length of volunteer involvement. Alumni are eligible in the first 15 years after graduation.

The five honorees will receive their awards at the annual Alumni Awards Gala, which will be celebrated during the 211th meeting of the Dartmouth Alumni Council on October 23, 2015, in Hanover.

Dartmouth Alumni Award Recipients

Patricia Berry ’81

Berry majored in English and began her writing career working for The Dartmouth and Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. She was a member of Sigma Kappa sorority (now Sigma Delta), the Cobra senior society, and the first women’s rugby team. She also participated in Outward Bound. After Dartmouth, her career led to the world of magazine publishing, starting at Children’s Television Workshop. She later spent eight years at Time Inc., where she was a founding editor of Sports Illustrated for Kids. While raising her family, she switched to freelance writing and editing, and in 2012 received an MFA in creative nonfiction writing from Columbia University. She currently runs a communications consultancy in Montclair, N.J., where she lives with her husband, Mitch Heisler. They have three daughters: Meg ’14; Alex, a junior at Colby College; and Cate, a high-school junior.

Elizabeth Mahoney Loughlin ’89

Loughlin earned an AB in psychology and was a member of Delta Delta Delta, where she held leadership positions, including social chair. Immediately after college she went to work for Bear Stearns, and later earned a master’s degree in elementary education from Lesley University. She earned a second master’s degree in education from Harvard University in 2006, focusing on counseling. She has worked in admissions at Buckingham Browne & Nichols since 2007. While raising her children she became very involved in volunteering for Dartmouth, Harvard Graduate School of Education, local school boards, and the National Pancreas Foundation. Ellie lives in Cambridge, Mass., with her husband Phil Loughlin ’89. They have two children, both current Dartmouth students: Christopher ’17 and Katie ’18.

Ellis Rowe ’74

Rowe earned an AB in mathematics, played football, and was a member of The Tabard and of Casque and Gauntlet senior society. He was active in the Tucker Foundation and enjoyed the political engagement of campus in the 1970s. Immediately after Dartmouth, he moved to Los Angeles to work for Exxon/Mobil Oil, thanks to a connection with a Dartmouth alumnus who at that time was regional general manager of the company’s Western region. He then moved on to work for a cosmetics company, followed by Mars Incorporated, where he spent the bulk of his career. While working at Mars, he received his MBA from West Coast University. His career with Mars spanned a variety of segments and led to a number of moves around the country. Now retired, he stays involved in business development and consulting. He enjoys traveling and playing golf, as well as spending time with his family. He lives in Jacksonville, Fla. with his wife, Antoinette, and has three sons: Marcus ’02, Ryan, and Nicholas, as well as five grandchildren.

Dartmouth Young Alumni Distinguished Service Award Recipients

S. Caroline Kerr ’05

Kerr earned an AB in sociology modified with women’s and gender studies, with a minor in education and human development. “Amazingly, I use all of those things in my work today,” she says. She was a member of Palaeopitus, the women’s crew team, and the Rainbow Alliance, and was a First-Year Trip leader trainer. As a student, she worked in the Admissions office and helped to run Dimensions weekend.  After graduation, she stayed in the Admissions office as assistant director, and later associate director, spending a total of five years in the office with an interim year spent as a college counselor for high-school students. In 2012, she earned a master’s in higher education from Harvard. She is now the CEO of the Joyce Ivy Foundation, which works to help high-achieving, low-income students from the Midwest apply to highly ranked colleges. She is currently preparing to move from Cambridge, Mass., to Coral Gables, Florida, with her wife, Darcy A. Kerr, Geisel ’10. They enjoy travel and spending time outdoors, and are expecting their first child in June.

Michael Vidmar ’03

Vidmar was a member of the varsity soccer team and of Alpha Delta, and earned an AB in economics with a minor in religion. He also worked all four years for Roberts Flowers in Hanover, a job he was offered when the owner discovered that he and Mike had grown up in the same town. After college, he started his career at Jones Lang LaSalle, which he left to build a real-estate development company with a fellow Dartmouth alumnus from the Class of ’83. He earned an MBA in 2014 from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and is now an associate director at Fitch Ratings. Outside of work, Vidmar enjoys racquet sports and plays the upright bass in a polka band. He lives in Chicago’s West Loop.

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