2016 Alumni Association Award Recipients

William Feldt ’61 • Exceptional Service

Trustee emeritus Bill Feldt has been called an ‘exceptional servant’ who models the kind of smart, assertive, and forward-thinking leadership necessary to sustain Carleton as a distinguished leader among liberal arts colleges. “There are other super-volunteers among Carleton alumni, but in that pantheon Bill Feldt deserves a prominent place,” says one nominator. Serving on the Alumni Board from 1981 to 1990 (as president from 1986 to 1988) and later as a member of Carleton’s Board of Trustees for nearly two decades, Feldt is credited for his conviction that tightening the link between alumni and the college would prove transformative. Fostering alumni stewardship was a goal Feldt shared with former Carleton president Stephen R. Lewis Jr., who, on his arrival at Carleton in 1987, determined that alumni involvement could prove to be a signify cant resource. Feldt had already developed a list of initiatives that would help turn that potential into meaningful engagement. Feldt’s vision for alumni stewardship called for direct engagement with student recruitment, career services, and fundraising, as well as revitalizing Carleton’s reunion program. It ultimately reimagined the relationship between Carleton and its alumni, emphasizing the kind of alumni engagement and giving back that remains a hallmark of Carleton’s culture. Feldt’s enthusiasm and support for Carleton over the years have been magnified by Karen Grove Feldt ’61, his classmate and life mate.Together, the Feldts have been deeply involved in reunion planning efforts (including their 50th), and served on the Seattle club steering committee. Karen was instrumental in shaping Carleton’s Alumni Adventures travel program. As a Carleton trustee, Feldt was recognized among his peers for his thoughtful approach to Board matters. During his 18 year tenure, he served on numerous committees, chaired the Student Life committee from 2011 to 2013, and contributed to Carleton’s 2012 strategic planning efforts. Feldt was named trustee emeritus in February 2016. An economics major at Carleton, Feldt received an MBA from Harvard in 1970. He and Karen live in Federal Way, Washington, and are parents of Kimberly Feldt ’87. Beyond Carleton, the Feldts are highly engaged volunteers in a number of organizations, in particular Rotary International, where they have led service trips. Feldt is also vice chair of Rotarian Malaria partners and was named 2002 Big Brother of the Year though Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Seattle/King County.

Judith Sosted ’61 • Exceptional Service

Participation matters—and Judy Sosted ’61 exemplifies that. As one of Carleton’s most active and effective volunteers, she is recognized as a major positive force in her class. Her efforts in rallying classmates have moved 1961 into a consistent leadership position in Alumni Annual Fund participation. Last year, 91 percent of classmates made an AAF gift. “Achieving that level of participation is an absolutely remarkable achievement, even in a Carleton context, and Judy helped build it with sheer determination,” says one nominator. Sosted’s work ethic, her listening ear, and her ability to bring people together in support of Carleton— year after year, one classmate at a time—are keys to her success. “Judy knows her class as if they were members of her family. Because in most cases, I think she sees them as such,” says a classmate. Sosted’s involvement with the college goes beyond her class connections. “What I think is truly special about Judy’s engagement is how she motivates and inspires Carls across generations to become more deeply involved with the college,” says a nominator. She regularly invites local alumni to campus events and engages them in volunteer opportunities that connect alumni with students. She has enriched the Carleton archives, gathering oral histories from faculty members and alumni. And she continues to serve as a lead organizer of Carleton’s Cannon Valley Club. In 2003 Sosted established a scholarship to support female students participating in off-campus studies programs, and from the beginning she has met personally with recipients. She consistently shares her positive and enthusiastic support for Carleton everywhere she goes, and students, recent graduates, faculty members, and alumni of all ages frequently remark on her passion for Carleton. The city of Northfield has also benefited from Sosted’s energy and service. Since settling permanently in North field in 1997, she’s volunteered with the Nortfield Historical Society and the Norwegian-American Historical Society. She has also been an active member of AAUW (American Association of University Women) in Northfield as well as in Greater Minnesota and California. At Carleton, Sosted majored in psychology. She received a master’s degree from the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration in 1963.

Eric Carlson ’66 • Distinguished Achievement

Eric Carlson has been thinking—and acting—globally for more than half a century, using his work in research, product development, and executive management in Silicon Valley to shape the field of social entrepreneurship. In 1999, as he was “stepping back” from a successful 25-year career in business, he “stepped up” at the invitation of Santa Clara University to join their Center for Science,Technology, and Society (now the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship) as a visiting senior fellow. With Carlson’s guidance, the program evolved into a globally recognized catalyst for innovation-based entrepreneurship in service to humanity. Carlson conceived the Global Social Benefit Incubator, an internationally renowned program that helps social entrepreneurs learn to develop financially viable ventures for serving unmet human needs such as safe water, clean energy, and affordable healthcare. “Thanks to the systems design work and executive leadership of Eric Carlson, in its first 12 years the Incubator provided capacity development, educational, technical, and mentoring services to 365 social enterprises around the world,” notes one nominator. The Incubator also sparked innovations on college campuses (including Carleton), changing how schools approach social entrepreneurship in teaching and engaging students. After designing an award-winning social entrepreneurship course for Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business, Carlson was appointed Dean’s Executive Professor, and served from 2006 to 2013. At Carleton, Carlson’s ideas laid the foundation for a new social entrepreneurship internship program named for his mentor, Bob Will ’50, Raymond Plank Professor of Incentive Economics, Emeritus.The program supports students pursuing unpaid internships at organizations that promote social change. Professor Will shares Carlson’s hope that the internships will expose students “to the satisfaction of participating in small-scale activities with a direct and immediate impact.” Carlson’s approach to social entrepreneurship also proved successful in his community of Los Gatos, California. When a devastating earthquake hit in 1989, Carlson helped put together innovative financing that allowed the town to recover within a year. In his 10 years of service on the town council (including two terms as mayor), Carlson was known for his commitment to excellence and civic engagement. “The arc of his contributions . . . reflects selfless dedication to creating a better world,” writes one nominator. An economics major at Carleton, Carlson went on to receive an MS in city and regional planning and a PhD in computer science from the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill. He and his wife, Mimi Garbisch Carlson ’66, have two children, Kari and Colby ’97. Among his many achievements, Carlson is credited with co-founding the Rotblatt Softball League at Carleton.

Thomas Merritt ’66 • Exceptional Service

Tom Merritt is one of those rare individuals who elevates any gathering of Carls. Recognized by classmates as “the glue that keeps our class together,” Merritt’s care and devoted attention to building ties within the Carleton community is truly exceptional. “Tom wears his passion for Carleton proudly on his sleeve, and his dedication to Carleton in both big and small ways over the last 50 years has made a real difference for both the college and his classmates,” says one nominator. Merritt has been a constant and long- standing volunteer for Carleton. He has served most recently as cochair of 1966’s 50th reunion, and has volunteered on nearly every reunion committee for the class. He has been a dedicated class agent or leadership gift solicitor for the Alumni Annual Fund for more than 20 years. Merritt’s classmates directly attribute their close connection to the college and each other to his enthusiasm, outreach, and remarkable skill in communicating. “Tom Merritt, in my mind, has kept the Class of ’66 together by keeping us connected and reminding us about this common experience—the Carleton experience.” From 2007 to 2011, Merritt served as an at-large member of the Alumni Council and for two years chaired the Council’s Awards and Nominations Committee with characteristic attentiveness and diplomacy. “His exceptional warmth and openness drew everyone (current students in particular) into conversation. And without question, this contributed to the tenor and productivity of meetings,” says a former council member. Across the numerous alumni activities with which he has been involved, Merritt is recognized for his incredible ability to bring people together, his thoughtful approach to sensitive decisions, and his consistent willingness to rise to new challenges. Merritt is a regular presence at club events, on Alumni Adventures programs, and at other Carleton educational programs, and he keeps classmates informed about the Carleton of today. “His curiosity about fellow Carls, interest in lifelong learning, and ability to navigate generational differences make him stand out even in a Carleton crowd,” says a nominator. Merritt majored in government and received an MBA from Rutgers in 1974. He notes that “my Carleton experience was clearly life-changing, since I found my life partner in our class. A guy couldn’t be more fortunate than to have had Sharon [Tornes, also ’66] say ‘Yes.’”Tom and Sharon live in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

Mary Watson ’66 • Exceptional Service

For decades, Mary Watson has demonstrated unflagging dedication to Carleton, especially the Carleton alumni and parent community in Houston. Her enthusiasm for bringing Carls together through regional programming and her commitment to engaging multicultural alumni and prospective students make Watson stand out among the college’s club volunteers. One of the most important links between Carleton and its far-flung alumni is the network of Carleton clubs, extending across the nation and around the world. Organizing activities and engaging alumni requires more effort, at times, in some locales than in others. One city that historically proved challenging was Houston, but Watson’s transformative work and outreach has changed that. Despite the sprawling size of the city and the relatively small number of Carls there, Watson, since becoming club chair in 1994, has devised thoughtful, imaginative solutions to draw in alumni, parents, prospective students, and faculty members. Knowing that increasing the diversity of the student body was a priority at Carleton, she reached out to Carleton faculty and alumni of color and planned or coordinated events featuring them. These events led to more alumni and parents of color volunteering as admissions representatives, including a Carleton parent who later cohosted (with Watson) a recruitment program for the Carleton Liberal Arts Experience (CLAE) during its first year. Of the 44 African American 10th graders who attended, five ultimately attended and graduated from Carleton. Watson’s efforts to engage faculty members in at least one club event per year proved to be especially effective in bolstering attendance. “Her dedication and effort and time spent on these events and any others in Houston is indeed exceptional. Her motivation was always to better Carleton and its mission of outreach . . .The alumni, parents, and friends in the Houston community are absolutely more connected to our alma mater because of Mary Watson,” says a nominator. In addition to her club service, Watson has been active in reunion planning, organizing class events, and cultivating other volunteers. “Mary reconnected me to Carleton and inspired my own small service to Carleton,” writes a classmate. “[She] renewed my appreciation for what I received at Carleton in the ’60s and for the blessings of education, moral focus, and friendship that Carleton still gives me almost 55 years since my first visit as a high school senior in 1961.” At Carleton, Watson majored in history. She holds an MBA and a PhD in psychology. She lives in Houston,Texas.

James Anthony ’71 • Distinguished Achievement

James Anthony is an internationally renowned researcher and scientist in psychiatric epidemiology, specializing in mental and behavioral disorders. “Almost everyone in the fields of drug abuse and psychiatric epidemiology has at one time or another worked with him, or at least has benefited from his work, which has always been at the forefront of scientific rigor and innovation,” writes one nominator. Anthony’s studies and research accomplishments, many of which have been recognized with awards and honors, appear in more than 350 peer-reviewed publications. His contributions to the field have been designated as “highly in influential,” ranking in the top one percent of highly cited papers in the areas of psychology/ psychiatry and general social sciences. His peers refer to his research in the field of psychiatry and substance abuse as “groundbreaking, both substantively and methodologically,” and say “he is the leading researcher in the world on the issue of epidemiology of drug and alcohol dependence.” A National Institutes of Health Senior Scientist awardee, Anthony’s research endeavors have been recognized through the ongoing support of the NIH since the early 1980s. He was founding director of two NIH-funded drug dependence epidemiology training programs, one for U.S. citizens and one for epidemiologists from overseas (now in its 13th year of funding), with a South American base in Lima, Peru. He worked for many years at the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health before he chose to move on to chair the department of epidemiology at Michigan State University from 2003 to 2008. He is currently director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse Dependence Epidemiology Training Program at the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State. Beyond his pioneering research, Anthony’s teaching and mentorship is noted as one of his great career achievements. “Where Jim even more exceptionally stands out is in his support of the next generation of scientists,” notes a nominator.The majority of his career has included the teaching and mentoring of students, and more than a dozen of his trainees have become NIH principal investigators. Anthony has received the Mentorship Award from the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s International Programs Award of Excellence for Mentoring, the National Hispanic Science Network’s National Award for Excellence in Mentorship, and numerous other awards honoring his commitment to developing scientific leaders. Jim and his wife, Patricia Banks Anthony ’72, live in East Lansing, Michigan, and are parents of two Carls, Rebecca ’03 and Jaime Anthony ’06.

Ronald Henkoff ’76 • Distinguished Achievement

As the Executive Editor of Bloomberg Markets financial magazine from 1999 to 2015, Ron Henkoff served at the apex of financial journalism for more than 15 years. During his tenure, the monthly magazine became a showcase for in-depth reporting on global business, finance, economics, and public affairs. “No one has done more to help us reach that standard of excellence than Ron Henkoff,” notes a Bloomberg colleague. Henkoff’s passion for journalism can be traced to his student days in Northfield, where he served as editor of the Carletonian. After attending Columbia Journalism School, he held reporting and editorial roles in Houston, London, Chicago, and New York for Newsweek and Fortune magazines. He has reported widely in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. During his years at the helm of Bloomberg Markets, the magazine received some of the most prestigious awards in journalism, including George Polk, Gerald Loeb, Scripps Howard, Robert F. Kennedy, Overseas Press Club, Foreign Press Association of the U.K., and the Society of Publishers in Asia. In 2006, Henkoff won the Minard Editor Award, given annually to an outstanding editor by the Loeb Awards, the most esteemed prizes in business journalism. His work has twice been recognized by the Overseas Press Club, once for reporting on nuclear disarmament talks and the other for coverage of global oil and commodities markets. Perhaps his most prominent story was an exclusive interview with an Archers Daniels Midland executive who was exposing an  international price fixing scheme while serving as an FBI mole. (The story was made into the movie The Informant starring Matt Damon.) “Ron is remarkable because he understands the urgency of publishing breaking financial news through Bloomberg’s wire service in a matter of minutes—and he has the patience and leadership skills to allow reporters to dig for a year to do in-depth, investigative reporting. What distinguishes Ron from most financial editors is the clarity of focus he demands in every story—  whether it’s a 500-word news article or a 10,000-word investigative project. Ron sees the big picture and the smallest detail of every sentence. He requires the highest journalism standard I’ve ever seen,” writes a former Bloomberg editor. Henkoff is married to Yvonne Senturia and lives in Westport, Connecticut. They have two grown sons.

Diane Redleaf ’76 • Distinguished Achievement

Diane Redleaf is one of the premier child welfare lawyers in the United States and is founder and executive director of the Family Defense Center in Chicago, an innovative legal advocacy organization that has become a national model and leader in establishing the civil rights of families in the child welfare system. After graduating from Stanford Law School in 1979, Redleaf moved to Chicago and joined the Legal Assistance Foundation (LAF). There, she helped lead numerous initiatives, serving as staff attorney of LAF’s Women’s Law Project and launching the Children’s Rights Project in 1984. In 1996, she formed her own public interest law firm. Seeing the need to provide legal assistance and advocate for families in the child welfare system, Redleaf founded the Family Defense Center in 2005. In 2009, through the Family Defense Center, she established the Mothers’ Defense Project to focus attention on the role of poverty, prejudice, and perception in decisions made by child welfare authorities. In 2011, she led efforts to develop the Illinois Parent Attorney Network, which has trained and supported hundreds of Illinois parent attorneys and led court reform and policy advocacy efforts related to their work. “At the center of Diane’s work has always been the willingness to represent those whom others cast to the margins and who are often vilified,” observes one nominator. Heads of Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services have called her “the conscience of the child welfare system,” and said, “we have a better, fairer child welfare system in Illinois because of her advocacy.” Redleaf has received numerous awards for her work, including the Chicago Bar Foundation Alliance for Women’s Founders’ Award in 2014 and a KLEO “Angel” Award in 2013. She was honored by the Department of Children and Family Services for her drafting of the Family Preservation Act and received LAF’s Equal Justice Award twice. “Diane Redleaf is the most passionate, inspiring, tireless, and effective [child welfare advocate] and the one who most exemplifies humility and willingness to serve. Her impact on attorneys, students, and, most importantly, children and families in Chicago and across the nation is extraordinary,” says a colleague. Redleaf and her husband, mathematics professor Anatoly Libgober, have two sons and are longtime residents of Oak Park, Illinois.

John McConnell ’86 • Distinguished Achievement

The words of John McConnell have comforted Americans during some of the darkest days in the nation’s history. As one of the top speechwriters in the United States, McConnell has crafted the words of national leaders, eulogized former presidents, and provided solace in defining moments such as 9/11 and the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia. After graduating summa cum laude in economics from Carleton, McConnell went on to Yale Law School and then clerked for Judge J. Daniel Mahoney of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Following his clerkship, he joined the staff of Vice President Dan Quayle, thus beginning a behind-the-scenes career that would include ten years as a White House speechwriter. McConnell’s exceptional skills earned him a spot on the Bush-Cheney campaign team during the 2000 presidential election. When Bush won the presidency, McConnell returned to the White House, working for President Bush and Vice President Cheney and serving as both deputy assistant to the president and assistant to the vice president. As part of a core team of three speechwriters who cowrote all of President Bush’s major speeches, McConnell directly participated in some of the most important events of the time. He helped write the president and vice president’s speeches memorializing presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald R. Ford, Pope John Paul II, and Chief Justice William Rehnquist. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, McConnell helped craft the messages delivered by President Bush at the National Cathedral on September 14, and before the joint session of Congress on September 20. At the end of the Bush Administration, a Forbes profile of the speech writing team described McConnell as “brilliant, warm, funny, and loyal,” and explained that “he commands the utmost respect of anyone who knows him.” One nominator writes, “John is self-effacing, so he doesn’t market his many accomplishments. He is absolutely one of the major political speechwriters of the last 30 years.” After leaving the White House, McConnell was appointed a resident fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics, in the John F. Kennedy School of Government. A resident of Washington, D.C., he is a frequent public speaker and continues to write for private clients. He is a trustee of Wayland Academy and chairs the selection committee for the Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency.

Regan Gurung ’91 • Distinguished Achievement

Regan Gurung is the Ben J. and Joyce Rosenberg Professor, Human Development and Psychology, at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay (UWGB) and a leading expert in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). “He is an internationally known rock star in the teaching of psychology and the scholarship of teaching and learning, inside and outside of psychology,” one nominator says. Gurung is one of the most prolific published writers in the area of SoTL and has written or cowritten 13 books and hundreds of published peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He’s also given almost 200 keynote speeches and workshops on teaching and pedagogy. He recently published as lead author in the American Psychologist journal on work to improve how Introductory Psychology, which is taken by 1.5 million students across the nation annually, is taught. Regan was named as the founding coeditor of a new American Psychological Association journal, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology—an honor usually reserved for more senior members of the academy. “No one today has the depth and breadth of research generativity and knowledge combined with the incredibly high standards and charismatic nature of Regan’s ability to tell the story why teaching and learning matter,” says a colleague. Gurung is a thoughtful teacher-scholar who is committed to excellence in his own teaching as well as promoting excellence in teaching among his colleagues in the professorate. He is no stranger to teaching awards—in 2009 the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching named him Wisconsin Professor of the Year, in 2011 he received the University of Wisconsin System Regents Teaching Excellence Award, he is a Fellow of the APA, and he has been designated a Master Teacher by the Society for the Teaching of Psychology. Called “one of the truly great teachers on our campus,” colleagues believe that Gurung’s work holds great promise for making even deeper contributions to the science of teaching and learning. “What may be most impressive of all [is] I don’t think that Regan has peaked yet . . . With all that he has already accomplished, I think the best is yet to come.” Gurung majored in psychology at Carleton and received a PhD from the University of Washington. He and his spouse, Martha Ahrendt Gurung ’91, live in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Adil Husain ’91 • Distinguished Achievement

Adil Husain is recognized as one of the most accomplished young pediatric cardiovascular surgeons in the country. Furthermore, he is “one of the five best surgeons in the world for repairing congenital heart defects in children, including newborns,” says a nominator. “There are no superlative adjectives that could not be used in association with him.” Husain, who is surgeon-in-chief for pediatric services at University Health Systems, is also a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center–San Antonio. In addition, he holds the William Randolph Hearst Chair in Congenital Heart Disease and is associate program director for the Cardiotharoacic Surgical Fellowship Training Program. On a national level, he is an editorial board member of the Annals of Thoracic Surgery and a member of the prestigious Congenital Heart Surgeon’s Society. In describing his most signify cant professional accomplishment, Husain said, “I am most humbly proud of my work with narrowing the global disparity found in the treatment of congenital heart disease. More than 90 percent of the children worldwide who are in need of surgery for congenital heart disease have no access to care.” During the past 10 years he has been involved with several international organizations that provide surgical assistance to underserved communities. Through HeartGift, 43 children from 12 countries were brought to San Antonio for corrective heart surgery. Husain is also involved with the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, an organization focused on providing care to children in Palestine and Israel. Over the years, he has made seven trips and performed surgical procedures on 83 children through the program. Another area of continuing interest for Husain is to better understand and reduce wound infection complications associated with pediatric heart surgery. While strict protocols exist for adults having heart surgery, no such standards exist for pediatric patients. Husain led a prospective multi-institutional trial to analyze and devise a “best practices” plan, and based on this work he is now looking to implement national guidelines for the prevention of pediatric sternal wound infections. Such collaborative efforts to improve quality require “vision, commitment, [and] humility,” a nominator said. “Above all it requires leadership, a trait Husain embodies.” Husain majored in chemistry at Carleton and received an MD from the University of North Dakota. He and his wife, Rebecca, have two children and live in San Antonio, Texas.

Martin Kaste ’91 • Distinguished Achievement

Martin Kaste is a widely respected correspondent on National Public Radio’s National Desk. Kaste’s foray into journalism dates back to late nights at Carleton working on newscasts for KRLX and putting out the Carletonian. While dogged pursuit of a particular career is not unusual for a Carleton grad, what separates Kaste from others is his unwavering commitment to the field of journalism and how it can educate and encourage people to examine the complexities of various issues, “to think harder, to go deeper, and to learn more,” says a colleague. After majoring in English and graduating magna cum laude, Kaste started his radio career at Minnesota Public Radio and was later tapped by National Public Radio to reestablish NPR’s dormant South American bureau in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He spent five years hopscotching around the continent covering drug wars in Colombia, financial meltdown in Argentina and political upheaval in Peru and Bolivia. He was the first American journalist to cover anti-democratic abuses by the government of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. He also reported on the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the uprising in Libya in 2011. Returning to Seattle as a national correspondent, Kaste became an expert on the interwoven topics of technology and privacy and raised questions about the issue before it gained the nation’s attention. A series he reported in 2009, The End of Privacy, became a footnote in a subsequent U.S. Supreme Court opinion concerning police use of GPS tracking devices. As NPR’s law enforcement correspondent, he began posing questions about police use of cameras well before this topic became a national conversation. As one colleague said, Kaste reports “stories that step back to give listeners a deeper understanding of the larger forces behind the current crisis in policing.” “Martin’s work is special,” another nominator writes. “His work, in all of its forms, represents the best that can come of a great liberal arts education. His stories are the product of a hungry mind. Martin uses his love of learning in the best way possible. He uses it to share knowledge and understanding, to strengthen our democracy and make our world a better place.” Martin and his spouse, Amy Radil, have two daughters and live in Seattle, Washington.

Frances Spangler ’91 • Exceptional Service

Frances Spangler is the very best kind of Carleton volunteer:Those who know her describe her as conscientious, loyal, thoughtful, strategic, and tireless. In the past 25 years, she has stepped up in almost every way possible to help advance Carleton’s mission and has held every volunteer role available to her— rising to lead in each case. “Francie is in many ways the Carleton utility in elder: She has done just about every possible alumni activity for the benefit of Carleton,” says one classmate. Her contributions include serving as an Alumni Annual Fund assistant agent, reunion gift and program committee member, and class agent. Spangler has also been an Alumni Admissions Representative, career guide, volunteer for the New York Business Scholars Program, New York Club steering committee member, club chair, and clubs advisory group member. After serving as an at-large member of the Alumni Council, she was council president from 2012 to 2014, and during her tenure, she also served on the external relations vice presidential search committee. “This list would be longer if it were possible for her to serve on multiple boards simultaneously,” says one nominator. In every instance in which Sprangler has volunteered, she has made Carleton stronger, more nimble, and mission- focused. She is known for asking the right questions and bringing out the best in her fellow volunteers. “Francie has also been very involved in creating plentiful and lifelong bonds among the post-Carleton community,” says a nominator. “Her passion for connecting Carls after Carleton has made the fabric of our alumni connections that much richer.” Spangler was an economics major at Carleton and received an MBA from Boston University in 1992. After 10 years in public accounting with Arthur Andersen and 13 years in magazine publishing at Time Inc., where she served as vice president of finance, Spangler recently embarked on a new adventure. She is working in the wine industry at Sugarloaf Crush in California with the husband of fellow Carl Elena Darden ’91. She and her ‘honorary Carl’ spouse, Alan, are dividing their time between their old home in Brooklyn, New York, and their new home in Petaluma, California. She is an avid runner and has completed seven New York City Marathons.

Jimmy Chin ’96 • Distinguished Achievement

Chin is an internationally known photographer, documentary filmmaker, and professional mountaineer who makes some of the highest mountain peaks in the world his workplace. Recognized as “one of the world’s most accomplished adventure photographer- filmmakers,” his work has been honored by Photo District News, Communication Arts, the American Society of Magazine Editors, the Lowell Thomas Journalism Awards, and most recently the Sundance Film Festival. Chin started climbing before he came to Carleton and sold his first photograph three years after graduating with an Asian studies major in 1996. In the years since, he has filmed, photographed, climbed, and collaborated with some of the world’s top athletes and explorers. Chin’s climbing feats include notable first ascents in the Karakoram, traversing the Chang Tang Plateau in Tibet on foot, skiing first descents in the Himalayas, and making 15 one-day ascents of El Capitan. He is one of a very few athletes to ski Mount Everest from the summit. Chin shoots for a wide variety of commercial and editorial clients. His breathtaking photographs of his adventures—from the Ennedi Desert in Chad to Mount Everest to Yosemite National Park—have been published in National Geographic, Adventure, Outside, Men’s Journal, ESPN Magazine, The North Face, and Patagonia. Chin’s athleticism, paired with his artistic sensibilities and creativity, has made him a much-sought-after documentarian. He has shot and directed numerous documentaries, television, and commercial projects, and his most recent film Meru earned honors at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, receiving the Audience Choice Award. Chin was recently featured in Esquire (“Jimmy Chin Just Can’t Stop Climbing”). The article observes that, “the acclaim isn’t all that surprising. Chin has long been a revered photographer. In 2011, his National Geographic cover photo of climber Alex Honnold standing on a ledge of Yosemite’s Half Dome [is] considered among climbers to be one of the sport’s most iconic images.” Chin is already working on his next documentary, a project he’s not yet ready to disclose. Chin divides his time between New York City and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with his codirector and wife, Chai Vasarhelyi, and their daughter Marina.

Patricia Lamb, Professor of Physical Education, Athletics and Recreation, Emerita • Exceptional Service

Pat Lamb, professor of physical education, athletics, and recreation, emerita, has spent her life in service to Carleton and its students. Lamb is recognized as a pioneering champion for women’s physical education and an influential leader in the early development of increased sport opportunities for women, not only at Carleton, but also at the state, regional, and national levels. Lamb came to Carleton in 1962 as a physical education instructor and became Carleton’s first athletic director for women in 1970, a position she held for 15 years. During that time, she supervised the development of 12 varsity athletic programs, coaching many of them herself. Because of her advocacy, and that of her life partner Ele Hansen, Carleton became an early model for providing wide-ranging physical education instruction, classes, and resources for women. Lamb’s enthusiasm, presence, and love of sport and teaching were infectious and made lasting impressions on her student-athletes. “We felt the joy she brought to her work. Carleton’s academics have always come first, but she and Ele Hansen knew that the atmosphere of learning could only be enhanced and promoted by opportunities to be physically active,” says a nominator. Called “the mother of gymnastics in Minnesota,” Lamb traveled the state and eventually the nation teaching strategies and techniques and organizing a grassroots movement to promote gymnastics. She served in many leadership positions in state and national organizations, including the U.S.Tennis Association, the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport, and the NCAA. Her many honors include being named the NCAA Division III Tennis Coach of the Year, induction into the Minnesota Tennis Hall of Fame, and receiving the University of Minnesota’s Eloise M. Jaeger Physical Education Award. At Carleton, Lamb was inducted into the ‘C’ Club Hall of Fame in 1993. The Pat Lamb Award is given annually to an outstanding Carleton senior woman athlete and scholar. “Starting with us, Pat Lamb worked steadily for 30 years to develop the extensive athletic programs we have now,” say her nominators. “We would like to recognize not only what she did for us, but what she accomplished for all Carleton women since then.” Lamb lives seasonally in homes in Arizona and Northfield, Minnesota.

Stephen R. Lewis, Jr., President Emeritus • Exceptional Service

Steve Lewis served as president of Carleton for 15 years, leading the college to a place among the ranks of the top liberal arts schools in the country and transforming the way alumni think about their alma mater, giving rise to unprecedented levels of alumni stewardship and engagement. Lewis arrived at Carleton in 1987 and from his first days encouraged, supported, and championed a broad range of alumni engagement initiatives that have significantly increased alumni involvement by providing substantive ways to engage volunteers and donors. On Lewis’s watch, the Annual Fund became the alumni- and volunteer-driven Alumni Annual Fund, with subsequent striking growth in participation and dollars. A new focus on Reunion provided the impetus for founding the 50th reunion program and the Joseph Lee Heywood Society, and provided support for an annual planning workshop that combined planning and AAF volunteers and encouraged young alumni involvement.The Multicultural Alumni Network and Out After Carleton were founded to support and engage alumni and students who had not had a uniformly positive Carleton experience. The Alumni Admissions Board was founded to provide direction and support for a renewed alumni volunteer effort in admissions.The number of active Carleton clubs quadrupled, with resources added to promote faculty travel to clubs. And, in 2001–2002, the Alumni Board transitioned into an Alumni Council model with representatives from each of these areas, to reflect the vast gains in alumni involvement and volunteer ownership of these programs. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it represents the most significant accomplishments in fostering alumni stewardship during Lewis’s tenure. As one nominator wrote, “We believe Steve merits deep appreciation and recognition from the Alumni Association. Where would Carleton be today without the nation-leading alumni engagement he fostered and nurtured?” Upon his retirement from Carleton in 2002, Lewis shared a story that reflects another of his lasting impacts on Carleton’s culture: “ . . . I wrote to former president Larry Gould my first year and said, ‘I would like to resurrect “You are a part of Carleton and Carleton is a part of you.” Is that okay with you?’ And so that became part of the campus mantra,” said Lewis. Among other honors, Lewis has received a Carleton honorary degree and the William Carleton medal, and the Class of ’52 established The Stephen R. Lewis Jr. Endowed Professorship in the Liberal Arts. Lewis and his wife, Judy, live in St. Paul.