Needham High School Distinguished Career Awards Ceremony to be held on 10/31

Needham High School Alumni to honor 2014 recipients of the George Dennett Distinguished Career Award at ceremony on Friday, October 31st.

Awards Ceremony

Date: Friday, October 31st, 2014
Time: 10:00 AM
Place: Needham High School Alumni Auditorium

Award Recipients (Full Bios Attached)

• Suzanne Power Wicox NHS 1969. Suzanne is a teacher/educator and has recently retired from her role as Principal of the Eliot School in Needham. She played softball while at NHS and attended Boston College as an undergrad.

• Michael Sullivan NHS 1984. Mike is an International Attorney and Human Rights Lecturer specializing in Rule of Law, international democracy and human rights. He is currently in the Ukraine and works for the US State Department. He was a basketball player (under Coach Dennett) and ran track while at NHS and he attended Williams College.

• Sarah Saltzberg NHS 1994. Sarah is a NYC based Tony-award winning writer/producer/actor. As a student at NHS, she was on the swim team.

Needham High School George Dennett Distinguished Career Awards

In 1990, Needham High School established the George Dennett Distinguished Career Award (named after NHS’s long-time teacher, coach and architect of the award) as a way to connect accomplished NHS graduates with NHS juniors who are beginning to think about higher education and career choices after high school.

Every year the Distinguished Career Award Committee solicits nominations of alumni (who have graduated at least 10 years prior to the award date) who have made significant contributions in a variety of business and creative settings. Past nominations have included alumni working as corporate officers, community activists, entrepreneurs or those who have chosen to work in the non-profit world, government service or education. Equally, the committee is interested in recognizing an alumni’s experience in the military, entertainment industry or the performing arts.

Since 1990, nearly 50 NHS alumni have been honored. Past recipients include Charles Baker (’75), Past President/CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare and 2010 Gubernatorial Candidate; James S. Gracey (’45), Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.); Jeff Taylor (‘78), Founder and former CEO of Monster.com; Bert Jacobs (’83) and John Jacobs (’86), Co-Owners/Founders Live is good, Inc.; and Sunita L. (Pandya) Williams (’83), NASA Astronaut and Naval Aviator.

Award recipients are honored at an awards ceremony every October. In attendance are faculty, community leaders, family, friends and the current junior class. Award recipients are then recognized by the Superintendent of Schools and NHS Principal at a lunch reception hosted in their honor.