Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients
Young Alumni Circle Award

In 1979, The MacDuffie School instituted the tradition of honoring alumni who had distinguished themselves in their careers and or through community service.  Each year the Alumni Board nominated the alumna (or alumnus after 1992), typically from one of the Reunion classes for that year, who actively supports The MacDuffie School, who cares about humanity, has a positive personality, and has achieved recognition on local, state, national or international levels.  The list below of MacDuffie’s Distinguished Alumni Award winners is impressive and reflects the intellectual diversity of the School’s alumni, as well as their singular commitment to making the world a better place.

2009 Distinguished Alumni Award Winner: Kristi Shea ’89

The Alumni Board is delighted to name Kristina Shea ’89 as the 2009 Distinguished Alumna. Kristi has accomplished remarkable things in the mere 20 years since her graduation from MacDuffie. She pursued higher education with a passion, achieving her B.S. with University Honors, M.S. and Ph.D. in the area of advanced CAD and CAE methods for structural design synthesis and optimization from Carnegie Mellon University just eight years out of high school. She completed postdoctoral work in Lausanne, Switzerland, and then in 1999 became University Lecturer (Associate Professor) at Cambridge University (UK) where she led the Design Synthesis Group in the Engineering Design Center (EDC).

From 2002 to 2005 she worked at Arup in their Foresight, Innovation and Incubation group. In November 2005, she moved to the Technological University of Munich to take up the new Professorship for Applications of Virtual Product Development within the Mechanical Engineering Department.

Kristi calls herself a design engineer, applying computer modeling to highly complex projects. As the introduction to a 2007 lecture at TU Munich stated: “Computers continue to change the world of engineering and design; increasing the complexity of what can be designed and built as well as sparking our imaginations. In today’s competitive global market, new ways to use computing within design processes are key to creating and fabricating innovative designs that expand our boundaries.” Her bio at TU Munich lists her current research interests as “computer-aided (CA) methodology and methods with a special focus on methods to support early phases of product development. Specific areas of interest include computational design synthesis, applied artificial intelligence in design, engineering design grammars, Knowledge-Based Engineering (KBE) systems, virtual product modeling and multicriteria design optimization.” Kristi Shea is helping to shape this remarkable emerging field.

Kristi Shea, 2009 Distinguished Alumna

2008 Distinguished Alumni Award Winner: Panjarat Pamela Hongsakul ‘78

After graduating with a degree in Psychology, Pamela Hongsakul spent a number of years as a social worker in Texas helping juvenile delinquents, abused children, and indigent families. At the same time, she also produced public access TV shows. Excerpts from one of her shows was chosen for a Ted Koepel special on ABC. In 1991, she assisted in the establishment of TST Entertainment (the producer of the Miss Universe Pageant in Thailand) and personally managed the Asian Open Snooker 1992, a world-ranking sporting event which aired globally on ESPN. Pamela went on to execute projects for Coca Cola, Honda, Monsanto, and Lucent Technologies and was eventually hired by the latter for their global events team in New Jersey.

Returning to work in Thailand for the second time in 2004, she continued her professional career but also joined the “family business” – government service. The Hongsakul family tree dates back to Chaophraya Chakri (Great Lord) Pao of Ayuthaya in 1728, and every successive generation has yielded leaders in government. Pamela has been quietly supporting the development of a new generation of leaders, beginning with the Bangkok Governor campaign and later with junior and senior level Members of Parliament from several parties. In 2007, she launched Law Magazine, which circulates exclusively to senators, parliamentarians, ministers, foreign embassies and chambers, and international agencies and media organizations in Thailand. It is poised to soft launch its first international edition in 2009.

Other pet projects include the implementation of a special course for outstanding students at Bangkok's prestigious Vajiravudh College, which aired on UBC-TV as “Future Leaders,” and is being developed for select students from Thailand's top universities. Currently, Pamela is completing a book on spirituality, Five Jewels, which will be followed by a textbook on New Generation Leaders.

Head of School Kathryn Gibson states, “We applaud Pamela for her contributions to Thai society and for working towards creating a new generation of leaders. The MacDuffie community looks forward to her future accomplishments.”

Ms. Pamela Hongsakul-2008 Distinguished Alumna (center) with
Head of School Mrs. Kathryn P. Gibson and Mr. David Gibson

2007 Distinguished Alumni Award Winner: Elizabeth Miller MacDonald '57

Elizabeth MacDonald, a highly praised artist, specializes in innovative and lush tile constructions. Her work involves layering powdered pigments onto thin tiles and mounting the tiles on wood to form a grid. MacDonald’s soothing, naturalistic ceramic paintings can be found in many settings, from hospitals to building exteriors, such as a 78x14 foot mural containing 11,000 tiles on a Chicago building and a tile construction for the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Hong Kong. She has also created pieces for residential settings, most memorably an 18-foot tile fireplace constructed around a swimming pool. Her work has been shown in exhibits around the country. Throughout her career, MacDonald has published a variety of articles in national publications such as Ceramics Monthly, American Craft, and the New York Times. A recipient of numerous awards and grants, MacDonald received the Governor’s Award (CT) for Visual Art in 1999.

Head of School Kathryn Gibson states, “Elizabeth MacDonald epitomizes the characteristics we seek in honoring a distinguished MacDuffie graduate each year. She is acclaimed in her field – nationally and internationally, extremely thoughtful in her approach to her art, and has always been willing to help the School’s fundraising events with exquisite donations.”

2006 Distinguished Alumni Award Winner: Elizabeth Kramer Helsinger '61

Through her work as teacher, scholar, and chair of the English Department at the University of Chicago, Elizabeth "Beth" Helsinger has given generations of students and scholars a greater understanding and respect for the Victorian literary tradition. A noted scholar and the University of Chicago's Matthews Manly Distinguished Service Professor, Beth is the author of three books and scores of journal articles. Throughout her career, she has explored the interplay between literature and the visual and material arts, focusing on art criticism and the role of poets, particularly Baudelaire, Rossetti, and Yeats, in articulating aesthetic and poetic ideas in their criticism and embodying these ideas in their poetry. Her most recent research focuses on Pre-Raphaelite poet-artists, William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, as a way of reconsidering questions of history, poetics, and the material cultures of late nineteenth-century Britain. Beth has taught across genres and periods, from Victorian poetry, prose, and painting to social history and literary production of 19th-century women and the relations between historiography and historical and realist fiction.

She serves as co-editor of Critical Inquiry and is on the Editorial Boards of Nineteenth-Century Prose, Nineteenth-Century Literature, Nineteenth-Century Studies, and Victorian Studies. In 1997-98, she held fellowships from both the National Humanities Center and the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). She is currently on the Governing Board of the University of Chicago's Smart Museum of Art.

After graduating from MacDuffie in 1961, Beth earned a B.A. from Harvard University, an M.A. from Columbia University and went on to receive her Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1973.

We are proud to recognize Beth for her distinguished career.

2005 Distinguished Alumni Award Winner: Nedra Schwarz Mirkin '65

Nedra Schwarz Mirkin '65 is an alumna who has achieved outstanding results in her chosen field of volunteerism, giving unselfishly of her time and energy.  Nedra has created her life as a volunteer. Her volunteerism goes well beyond the MacDuffie community and eloquently represents the qualities in the MacDuffie circle. As a volunteer for Rachel's Table, an organization that has provided meals and shelter to the homeless of Springfield since 1993, Nedra has been a "constant." Since the organization's first year of operation, Nedra has volunteered in various ways.  Whether in her role as Treasurer or Food Dispatcher, Nedra is someone who takes new ideas and makes them happen. This remains true for any organization Nedra has worked with. Nedra gives her time and energy quietly and without fanfare; she sees the need and has the desire to reach out to people. She acts on that impulse in a genuine and selfless way.

In addition to her twenty-two years of service to Rachel's Table, Nedra has held a number of leadership positions and committee memberships in the greater Springfield community, including the Springfield Council of Jewish Women Scholarship Committee. Nedra has a full-time job for which no one pays her a salary. She has followed a distinguished path as an outstanding volunteer. We applaud Nedra's long-standing commitment to The MacDuffie School as a board member and as an active advisor and supporter. We are pleased to recognize her as the recipient of The MacDuffie School 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award.

2004 Distinguished Alumni Award Winner: Barbara Grugan Frieman '69

Barbara Grugan Frieman '69, the 2004 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, has made her mark in a demanding field – and one that was far from welcoming to women when she entered it.  When she began her career as an orthopedic surgeon, she was part of a minority that was almost too small to count.  “Even today, less than 1 percent of orthopedic surgeons are women,” she says.  “When I opened my practice, there were probably only about 35 women physicians in the country working in that specialty.”

She has not only served her many patients as a skilled practitioner, but has shared her knowledge as a member of the medical faculty at Jefferson Medical Center in Philadelphia, where she is currently Clinical Associate Professor in Orthopedic Surgery.  She has also served as Director of Medical Student Education and is an instructor for orthopedic resident education on shoulder and elbow fractures at the Medical Center.

She was the first female President of the Jefferson University Hospital Volunteer Faculty Association and only the second woman invited to be a member of the American Shoulder and Elbow Society.  From 2001-2003, she was the first woman to serve as President of the medical staff at Thomas Jefferson Hospital.

While in private practice, Barbara was affiliated with a small hospital in one of Philadelphia’s less prosperous areas.  In this setting, she found satisfaction in her ability to meet a community need and contribute to people’s lives – an important value that has guided her professional life.

Barbara'’s experience echoes in the advice she offers to today’s MacDuffie students.  “Be open to all opportunities,” she counsels.  “Though it’s good to have goals for the future, don’t plan too rigidly.  Be ready to take new directions that may open up for you in unpredictable ways.  Educate yourself as broadly as possible – it will all be helpful in some way.”

2003 Distinguished Alumni Award Winner: Betsy J. Bernard '73

Betsy J. Bernard, MacDuffie Class of 1973 was named the Distinguished Alumna for 2003. Betsy retired as president of AT&T in 2003, where she had led AT&T Business, a nearly $27 billion organization serving the needs of more than 4 million business customers, and was responsible for the company's network services group, international ventures and AT&T Labs. From April 2001 to September 2002, Betsy led AT&T Consumer, which provides residential customers with an array of services including long distance, local, local toll and Internet access. The unit serves nearly 60 million consumers and contributed $15 billion to AT&T's normalized revenue on 2001. Betsy has been one of the highest-ranking female executives in the telecommunications industry and was on Fortune Magazine's list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business for much of the 1990s. Betsy began her career at AT&T, where she held a variety of management positions in business sales, marketing and operations over the course of 18 years. Betsy serves on the Board of Directors of the Principal Financial Group. She holds an MS degree in management from Stanford University's Sloan Fellowship Program, an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a BS degree from St. Lawrence University. While at MacDuffie, Betsy served as president of her class, editor-in-chief of the Yearbook, and was a member of MacDuffie Keys, the Photography Club, and the Ski team.

2002 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient: Deborah Berke '71

After graduating from MacDuffie in 1971, Deborah received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1975, her Bachelor of Architecture in 1977 from the Rhode Island School of Design and Master of Urban Planning in Urban Design from The City University of New York in 1984. In 1982, Deborah founded her practice, Deborah Berke & Partners Architects in New York City. Since then, she has built this firm to its current 35 employees who are accomplished in a broad range of residential, commercial and institutional work as well as interior design. Major projects by the firm include the Yale School of Art and New Theatre, the master plan for Temple University's new school of art building, as well as a number of award winning artists' studios and residential projects. Recently, Deborah announced that the firm has formed a partnership with architects Maitland Jones and Marc Leff. This will allow the firm to undertake more comprehensive and ambitious projects.

Throughout her career, Deborah has received many awards. She received two AIA Design Awards for Interior architecture by the AIA New York Chapter; "Record House" by Architectural Record for Excellence in Planning and Design; the Merit Award by the American Wood Council Design Awards Program and the Interior Design magazine 2002 Hall of Fame award. Deborah has been teaching at Yale since 1986 and has been a guest lecturer at many architecture schools. She has held other academic appointments at the Rhode Island School of Design, the University of Maryland, University of Miami and the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies. In addition to her teaching and architectural design work, Deborah also serves as the Chair of the Board of Advisors of the Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia and is a Founding Trustee of the Design Trust for Public Space.

Over the last few years, Deborah has been very generous with her time by offering her design and architectural expertise to MacDuffie. She worked with Kathryn Gibson, Head of School, and the MacDuffie community on a Master Planning Exercise. She met with faculty, staff, and board members to brainstorm the needs of the School and then prioritize those needs. At the end of this process, she developed a large picture scenario of the future "look of the MacDuffie campus."  In 2006, she created the Campus Study design for two major building projects for MacDuffie: a new gymnasium and new science facilities.