Alumni Award Winners

photo by Sabin Gratz

2005 Distinguished Service Award
Mary Tanner '40
SERVICE: For the past 15 years, Mary Tanner has been a consummate messenger for the Class of 1940. In her role as class secretary, she has faithfully collected, sought out, and delivered the Vermont Quarterly Class Notes that help keep the graduates of 1940 a close-knit bunch. That work is just one part of her loyal service to the University through the years. She has also been a dedicated advocate for the importance of alumni financial support for the University, often encouraging gifts for class reunions, Green and Gold celebrations, and bolstering the Class of 1940 Scholarship Fund.
UVM DAYS: A history major, Mary Tanner credits Professor Paul Evans as being a great influence on her academic pursuits, particularly through his class on European history. (She went on to earn a doctorate in history at Radcliffe before her career in teaching.) Other campus memories include student newspaper work on the Vermont Cynic and those brisk walks to the women's residence hall at Redstone Campus.
IN HER WORDS: “I follow the future of the University of Vermont with a good deal of interest and enthusiasm and with a renewed appreciation for all that UVM has meant in my life.”

photo by Sabin Gratz

2005 Distinguished Service Award
Phil '63 and Crea Sopher Lintilhac G'78
SERVICE: Phil and Crea Lintilhac's support of UVM is long-standing and has had a profound impact on Vermont's intellectual life and natural environment. Through Phil's many years as a botany professor and Crea's service on the Board of Advisors for the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, the couple are directly involved in the teaching and research mission of the University. Through the Lintilhac Foundation they continue to help advance UVM's future. Most recently, they established the Lintilhac Foundation Scholarship Challenge - a $1 million grant to spur scholarship endowments at the University of Vermont.
UVM DAYS: Phil Lintilhac credits UVM professors - including Fred Taylor, Jim Marvin, and Tom Sproston - for sparking his interest in plant biology through classes he took as an undergraduate. Crea Lintilhac's UVM educational experience was focused on graduate work, as she earned her teaching master's degree with a focus on geology.
IN THEIR WORDS: “Quite simply, broadening the base of scholarship assistance enables us to offer support to outstanding students who might otherwise go elsewhere.” (Phil Lintilhac on the $1 million challenge gift he and Crea recently made to The Campaign for the University of Vermont.)

photo by Martha Stewart

2005 Alumni Distinguished Service Award
Pamela Gillman McDermott '73
SERVICE: The Greater Boston area is one of UVM's most active alumni bases and a great deal of the credit for that goes to Pam McDermott, a founding member of the Boston Regional Board and the current co-chair of The Campaign for the University of Vermont's Boston Regional Committee. Her work on behalf of UVM extends far beyond Boston, though, and has included promoting fundraising efforts, volunteering for admissions events, and serving on the Board of Advisors for the School of Business. McDermott's six years on the UVM Board of Trustees, 1998-2004, included leadership of the Advancement Committee, where she brought her expertise as one of Boston's top public relations executives to the work of improving the University's marketing and communications.
UVM DAYS: UVM Winter Carnival's Kakewalk was a hot issue during Pam (Gillman) McDermott's first year at the University and she quickly got involved with the effort to find a more positive celebration, an early test of her community relations skills. She has credited her time in Burlington with giving her a strong sense of the importance of leading a balanced life.
IN HER WORDS: “Education is the single most important gift we can give to the next generation. To the extent that we provide the appropriate and proper educational environment, I think that we are actually dictating where the country is going to go.”

photo by Sabin Gratz

Alumni Achievement Award
Richard Erdman '75
ACHIEVEMENT: Over his three-decade career, Richard Erdman has established himself as an internationally acclaimed sculptor. His monumental work “Passage,” a 45-ton sculpture of Roman travertine marble, sits at the entrance to the world famous sculpture gardens at PepsiCo headquarters in Purchase, N.Y. Erdman's other major commissions include a project for the EastWest Institute to produce a centerpiece for the organization's headquarters and annual awards that have been presented to world leaders, including President Bush. His works is on display at Princeton University, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Four Seasons Park in Singapore, and numerous public and private collections worldwide.
UVM DAYS: Erdman competed for Coach Chip LaCasse's Catamount ski team during his undergraduate years and credits the athletic lessons of discipline, focus, and personal challenge for helping him develop as an artist. After a post-graduation trip to study stone carving in Italy, Erdman worked intensively to hone his skill in the Williams Hall sculpture studio, where Professor Paul Aschenbach was a key mentor and friend.
IN HIS WORDS: “I believe in movement, that's what life is all about. I like to work quickly; I love having a mess when I create. Something will tumble on the floor and I'll see a shape or an idea that inspires me and I'll pick it up. You have to allow chance.”

2005 Alumni Achievement Award
Charlene Begley '88
ACHIEVEMENT: After graduating magna cum laude from UVM's School of Business Administration, Charlene Begley went to work for General Electric and soon began a meteoric rise through the ranks of the corporate structure. By 1997, Begley had become GE Transportation's chief financial officer and two years later was promoted to vice president of the corporate audit staff. At age 32, she became GE's youngest-ever corporate officer. When Begley was named president and CEO of GE Transportation Systems in 2003, she became the first woman to run a major GE unit.
UVM DAYS: The intellectual power and interpersonal skills at the foundation of Begley's career were readily apparent during her undergraduate years, according to one of the professors who knew her best. Lauck Parke, UVM's vice president for undergraduate education and a longtime professor in the School of Business, recalls her work on a group project in his Principals in Management class. “Charlene was the kind of student who is at the center of keeping it all together,” Parke says. “The natural leadership talents to be both a social manager and a task manager were there from an early age.”
IN HER WORDS: “For you who really want to think big, is it possible to imagine a culture where 'the best possible return' is more a measure of the overall health of a business, its employees, and its community; where issues like work-family balance, community involvement and environmental preservation are given more than lip-service treatment, but rather play a prominent role in how we define and reward successful companies?” (From her 2004 commencement address to the UVM School of Business Administration graduates.)

photo by Sabin Gratz

Young Alumni Award
Andreana “Andi” Lemmon '95
SERVICE: Andi Lemmon has devoted countless hours and brought considerable energy to her work keeping young alumni connected to UVM and fostering their financial support of the University. She joined the Young Alumni Committee immediately after graduation and rose to the role of co-chair in 2003. Lemmon has also served as the Class of 1995's Reunion fundraising chair for both the fifth reunion and this summer's tenth reunion. The time and effort she has devoted to this work have been key to building the Class of 1995's strong financial support of the University.
UVM DAYS: After attending a small, all-girls high school, Lemmon says she relished meeting many people and the diversity of the UVM community. The history and American literature major spent freshman year in Buckham Hall and lived in Simpson as a sophomore before moving off-campus as a junior and senior. “I loved each of those different residential experiences and I developed a lot of close, lasting friendships,” she says.
IN HER WORDS: “Usually young alums have a lot on their plates, but I certainly don't want any of them to forget about UVM, and I hope that if they can't give now that someday they will.”