Reunion Convocation
Saturday, June 1, 2013 - Sidney J. Watson Arena
Join your classmates and other Bowdoin alumni as we celebrate our ties to the College and to each other at Reunion Convocation. This year we will award an honorary degree to actor and philanthropist Patrick Dempsey, who will give remarks. Convocation will also include remarks by President Barry Mills ’72 and the presentation of Bowdoin’s most prestigious alumni recognition awards (see award recipients below). Experience Bowdoin’s spectacular Watson Arena as you enjoy the ceremony on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
Patrick Dempsey - Honorary Degree Recipient
Patrick Dempsey is perhaps best known as a film and television actor, but the Lewiston native is held in high regard in Maine for his philanthropic work and for establishing the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing at the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston.
Following his mother’s diagnosis and treatments for cancer, Mr. Dempsey established the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing at the Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston in 2008. To raise awareness of cancer treatments and to raise funds to support the work of the Dempsey Center, he introduced the Dempsey Challenge for running, walking, and cycling. It has become an annual event and ensures that the Center can offer free support services to anyone impacted by cancer.
Mr. Dempsey will receive an honorary degree, a Doctor of Humane Letters, at Saturday’s Reunion Convocation ceremony.
Shelley Hearne ’83 - 2013 Common Good Award Recipient
An extraordinary public servant, Shelley has a long-standing record of important work at those critical junctures where science and public policy intersect. Shelley is a visiting professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and founding executive director of Trust for America’s Health, a national organization dedicated to the prevention of epidemics. The Common Good Award honors the alumnus or alumna who has demonstrated an extraordinary, profound, and sustained commitment to the common good, in the interest and for the benefit of society, with conspicuous disregard for personal gain in wealth or status. It is awarded by the Board of Trustees.
Robert Lakin ’68 - 2013 Alumni Service Award Recipient
It would be difficult to find an area of campus that Bob has not touched in his impressive history of volunteer roles. Bob has served as a director of the Alumni Fund and member of the Alumni Council, Bowdoin’s Campaign Steering Committee, and Presidential Search Committee. Bob continues his service to Bowdoin as a longtime class agent and member of the Bowdoin Alumni Schools and Interviewing Committee (BASIC), where he has brought Bowdoin to new generations of students. Bob is also the 2012 recipient of the Robert M. Cross Award. The Alumni Service Award recognizes a record of exemplary service to the College, rather than a single act, and is the highest honor given by the Alumni Council.
Jane Foley Fried ’83 - 2013 Distinguished Educator Award Recipient
A dedicated educator with more than twenty-seven years of experience in independent schools, Jane was named head of school at The Brearley School on Manhattan’s Upper East Side in December 2011. Jane previously served as dean of admission and assistant head for enrollment, research, and planning at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Jane has a proven dedication to performance of underrepresented students of color and girls in math and science, the impact of independent school education on the lives of alumni, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Given by the Alumni Council, the Distinguished Educator Award honors outstanding achievement in education (teaching or administration) by a Bowdoin alumnus or alumna in any field and at any level of education.