Awards Program
2006 Recipients
Loyalty Award | Medal of Honor | Mary Lyon Award
Loyalty Award & Young Alumna Loyalty Award Recipients
The Loyalty Award & Young Loyalty Award was presented to each of the following alumnae during the Alumnae Council 2006 awards ceremony.
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L to R: Susan Ham Heldman ’76, Julianne Trabucchi Puckett ’91, Elizabeth M. Margolis ’96, Christine L. Roch ’96, Lori Hiratani Rough ’81, and Mary Dethloff Dryselius ’66. Winners not pictured are Leslie Yun-Ting Fu ’97, Louise Whittemore Hine ’51, and Verity A. Chegar ’00. |
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Verity A. Chegar ’00
Verity, you joined the Northern California Club and immediately took an active role, first as the Young Alumnae Chair and now as the club President. Described by your colleagues as a “godsend” to the Bay Area, you have revitalized a club that serves a large, diverse, and dynamic alumnae population. You also served as an Admissions representative as soon as you graduated and moved to California, working closely with admissions staff on a number of events. Your commitment to the Alumnae Association and Mount Holyoke College serves as an excellent example to the entire alumnae community.
Mary Dethloff Dryselius ’66
Mary, you have been described as a “fundraiser extraordinaire” and a “one-woman nominating committee” who excels at recruiting volunteers. You are a pivotal member of your Houston club, welcoming newcomers over the years, nurturing personal connections among alumnae, and chairing the club auction to raise funds for scholarship students. You are appreciated for your enthusiasm and reliability, regularly attending events from business meetings to social gatherings. One key to your success is your initiative in organizing rides for alumnae to meetings. Your devotion to the club and interest in every member has served as a sustaining energy for the club. You have also volunteered as a Cornerstone representative for over ten years, served on several reunion gift committees, and currently serve as a member, for the second time, of the Campaign Steering Committee. Your commitment to ensuring that the College is a leader among the liberal arts colleges in the country has never wavered.
Leslie Yun-Ting Fu ’97
Leslie, you have served as an active Admissions representative in Hong Kong since 1997. You have initiated new activities—including hosting receptions—to attract and engage prospective students. You have spent hours with candidates for interviews, going above and beyond expectations in making yourself available to young women interested in a Mount Holyoke education. The pool of applicants from Hong Kong, Malaysia and most recently, China, has expanded as a direct result of your volunteer work.
Susan Ham Heldman ’76
Susan, when the Northern California Club experienced a dearth of volunteers, you single-handedly carried the club as president for a full decade. Over the years, you have provided a wealth of innovation and creativity. You invented the Decade Brunch for the 1970’s, which became a popular, well-attended event, and you introduced the Mountain Day Hike, which is now a cherished tradition for your club. Your dedication to Mount Holyoke College additionally includes working consistently as a class agent and holding a number of active positions for your class. You have kept connections alive for your club and class, demonstrating vitality, enthusiasm, and leadership in everything you do.
Louise Whittemore Hine ’51
Louise, you are described by classmates as a “loyal, long-term trooper who fully embodies the Mount Holyoke College spirit.” You have remained actively involved in class activities, even during times of challenge and change. Most recently, you served as co-program chair for your class, helping plan your successful 55th reunion last May. You are highly reliable and exceptionally
dedicated, having held a number of various reunion-related jobs as well as the positions of president, vice-president, and class agent. The Class of 1951 views all your years of service as a true labor of love for your classmates. In fact, your classmates recommended honoring you with six awards.
Elizabeth M. Margolis ’96
Chris and Liz, you started as Development volunteers in 1996 and have never looked back. Chris, you are the powerhouse who started as Reunion Gift Caller for your first reunion. Liz, you joined the effort as class agent in 1998. Together, you have formed a complimentary team that has worked effectively to encourage, support, and promote class giving to the Annual Fund each year. This model of teamwork is one that other classes would be wise to emulate. The Class of 1996 applauds your success as you have been elected as Co-Head Class Agents for another five years.
Julianne Trabucchi Puckett ’91
Julianne, your class has greatly benefited from your volunteer work since you graduated. You have shown your loyalty in an exceptional variety of roles, serving as class scribe for twelve years, reunion web site coordinator, reunion booklet chair, and now, reunion co-chair. Your classmates especially note your enthusiasm for class work, happily reporting that you are “on top of everything.” Beyond the demands of class work, you also found time to volunteer as Admissions representative while in New Orleans, Huntsville, Baltimore, and Orange County. Additionally, you served as club president while in Alabama, and as vice-president for the Greater Baltimore Club.
Christine L. Roch ’96
Chris and Liz, you started as Development volunteers in 1996 and have never looked back. Chris, you are the powerhouse who started as Reunion Gift Caller for your first reunion. Liz, you joined the effort as class agent in 1998. Together, you have formed a complimentary team that has worked effectively to encourage, support, and promote class giving to the Annual Fund each year. This model of teamwork is one that other classes would be wise to emulate. The Class of 1996 applauds your success as you have been elected as Co-Head Class Agents for another five years.
Lori Hiratani Rough ’81
Lori, you have represented Admissions in Northern California, Arkansas, and most recently, the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas, where you have been active for nearly fifteen years. You are responsible for a very large geographic area and take on the vast majority of the work. Your outreach is truly inspiring: you have been effective at college fairs; you host beautiful events in your home, complete with food and flowers; and you manage all these efforts with grace and a delightful sense of humor. You are noted for your willingness and reliability, consistently doing more than your part to bring a little bit of Mount Holyoke College to Texas.
Medal of Honor Recipients
The Alumnae Association’s prestigious medal of honor was presented to each of the following alumnae during the Reunion 2006 weekends.
JUDITH SHEPHERD DEBRANDT, class of 1966, you have been a credit to the College and the Alumnae Association for thirty years. During your three decades as one of Mount Holyoke’s most dedicated alumnae, you have served as director on the Alumnae Association Board, as president of the Westchester club, and as reunion program chair for your class. You have contributed to the College’s stability and success by volunteering for key fundraising positions over the years, including class agent, reunion gift chair, and Cornerstone representative.
You have also recently served as Program Committee chair and Ad Hoc Committee member for the Alumnae Association, assisting with a successful relaunch and lending your wisdom and expertise to committee members. Your leadership and dedication has made you an integral member of our alumnae community—a role model, a loyal friend, and an inspiration to us all.
For this, and your countless contributions over the years, the Alumnae Association is deeply proud to honor you with the Alumnae Medal of Honor.
SUZANNE P. FRANCHETTI, class of 1991, you chose Mount Holyoke, in part, because you were attracted to the mutual lifelong commitment of the College to alumnae and alumnae to the College. In your first year, you spent January term working on the phone bank for the Sesquicentennial and found you enjoyed talking to alumnae. This marked the beginning of your interest in and success at fundraising.
In the 15 years since you graduated you have served as a class agent for your second reunion, and head class agent and reunion gift chair for your 5th and 10th reunions. You were an admissions representative for the Long Island clubs and a Program Committee member of the New York club. In recognition of your leadership in fundraising, you were asked to serve on the Alumnae Development Committee, and then to chair the Annual Funds Committee. Currently you are a member of the Steering Committee, Campaign 2011.
In your various leadership roles, you have encouraged young alumnae to explore ways to stay connected to Mount Holyoke through participation as volunteers for the Alumnae Association and for the College. In a purposeful way you have worked to fulfill the vision of service to the College that you had as an applicant.
For this, and your many contributions, the Alumnae Association is proud to honor you with the Alumnae Medal of Honor.
CERISE JALELIAN KEIM, class of 1981, we honor you today, on your 25th Reunion, for your many years of devotion to the College and the Alumnae Association. For so many years a leader in the Boston club, you are legendary for your organizing skills. The Boston club is now widely known as the home of the Christmas Vespers program you founded with choral director and professor of music, Cathy Melhorn, to provide a large New England audience with enjoyment once available only to those in the New York area. When deep snow prevented you from getting to Vespers last December, Boston alumnae were able to carry on by relying on your detailed instructions.
A frequent visitor to campus, you have served a three-year term on the Clubs Committee and are currently director for clubs on the Association Board. This weekend you co-chair the 25th reunion of the Class of 1981.
For these and your other contributions, we are proud to honor you with the Alumnae Medal of Honor.
ELLEN HYDE PACE, class of 1981, your commitment to Mount Holyoke and the Alumnae Association has been admirable. For over 15 years you have been a class leader in fundraising as Cornerstone representative and chair, reunion lead gift chair and head class agent. You served on the New York City Special Committee for the Campaign for Mount Holyoke College: Advancing Our Legacy of Leadership, and with distinction on the Alumnae Development Committee. In addition, you have served on Program and Communications Ad Hoc Committees and as director-at-large on the Alumnae Association Board where your expertise as communication specialist was very important to the success of the board in its task of “relaunching” the Association.
You have been a model for working mothers and an Alumnet participant, living as well as speaking about uncommon women and positioning Mount Holyoke College in today’s world.
For these and other demonstrations of your exceptional loyalty, the Alumnae Association is proud to present you with its Medal of Honor on this, your 25th reunion.
SUNNY PARK SUH, class of 1991, we salute your commitment to Mount Holyoke and your unwavering dedication to its alumnae community. For over a decade, you have served the College in a number of capacities, including many active years of volunteering as an admissions representative. Bringing your expertise in the field of education and your experience as a Mount Holyoke graduate, you have raised awareness of the College in the world and played an important role in bringing talented young women to the campus. As membership chair, vice-president, and president of the New York Club, you have strengthened the alumnae body and helped sustain your club as a key part of the extended Mount Holyoke community.
You have also served the College as a member of the New York City Celebration Committee for the Campaign for Mount Holyoke College: Advancing Our Legacy of Leadership, as a head class agent and, most recently, as a reunion gift chair for your class. Your tireless efforts in support of the College and its vision for the future have contributed to Mount Holyoke’s vitality, and have earned you the gratitude and admiration of many.
For these and your many other expressions of loyalty, the Alumnae Association is proud to recognize you with the Alumnae Medal of Honor.
Mary Lyon Award Recipients
Jennifer L. Rochlis ’94 and Blossom Damania ’92 received the Alumnae Association’s 2005 Mary Lyon Award at a campus ceremony on February 7. The award is given annually to alumnae who graduated fewer than fifteen years ago and who demonstrate promise or sustained achievement in their lives, professions, or communities consistent with the humane values that Mary Lyon exemplified in her life and inspired in others.
Rochlis was recognized for her exceptional achievements in astronautics, especially in human factors engineering and the interface between humans and robots. She is an aerospace engineer in NASA’s Automation, Robotics, and Simulation Division. The citation lauded her for “demonstrating to NASA how a human operator could efficiently and safely control a robot from inside the space station. [Her] work focused on what information the astronaut needed to operate the robot, how to evaluate the human-robot interaction, and how to train astronauts to be teleoperators.”
Damania was honored for her outstanding contributions to the fields of biochemistry, microbiology, and virology. She is an assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The citation praised the work Damania has already done with Kaposi’s sarcoma—a type of cancer that frequently develops in association with HIV—and noted colleague’s beliefs that she is “destined to make important contributions to the understanding of Kaposi’s sarcoma as well as its treatment, thus improving the outlook of patients with HIV and other diseases.”
If you know of a young alumna who should be considered for the Mary Lyon Award, please send her name and résumé, and names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of references to W. Rochelle Calhoun ’83, Alumnae Association of Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA 01075-1486.
