Alumni Association Honors Four
The Alumni Association presented awards to three alumni and an administrator during Reunion 2012, May 18-20.
Alumni Excellence Awards
Alumni Excellence Awards, which recognize alumni who have contributed outstanding service as humanitarians and professionals in their chosen field, were given to Martin E. Block ’80 and Judith Ann Harvey ’73.
Marty received his B.A. in physical education, later earning an M.A. from The Ohio State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. He is a professor of kinesiology with the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. He is best known for his work to expand opportunities for children with disabilities to participate in general physical education. A member of the Guilford College Athletic Hall of Fame, Marty lives with his wife and two daughters in Charlottesville, Va.
Judy graduated from Guilford College in 1973 with a B.A. in humanistic studies and later received an M.Ed. from Indiana University. She was hired as director of internships and service learning at Guilford in 1992, and also served as director of multicultural education and director of leadership for social change. As the engaged learning and teaching specialist with the Center for Principled Problem Solving, she helps students integrate experiential and academic learning through the lens of Guilford’s core values.
One of Judy’s passions is creating a healthy, multicultural society. Her own multicultural family of five daughters and one son (deceased), 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren keep her motivated, as does the work of her husband, Raleigh Bailey, who directs the Center for New North Carolinians.
Charles C. Hendricks Distinguished Service Award
Jerry Boothby, Guilford’s vice president of finance and administration 2004-10, received the Charles C. Hendricks Distinguished Service Award, which is presented to those persons who have given outstanding and prolonged service to the College. He came to Guilford in 2003 as director of institutional research and was named a vice president the following year. Since 2010, he has continued to work for the College on a part-time basis.
Jerry has worked his entire career in finance and administration at colleges and universities, including the University of New Hampshire, the University System of New Hampshire, Cornell University, Bowdoin College and Elizabethtown College. He has been married to his wife, Louise, for more than 40 years. They have three grown children and one grandchild.
Young Alumni Achievement Award
The Young Alumni Achievement Award, which recognizes graduates under the age of 40 who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments early in their careers or volunteer service, was presented to Najeeba Syeed-Miller ’95.
Najeeba received her B.S. in psychology with a concentration in women’s studies, and studied Arabic at the University of Chicago. She is a graduate of the International Institute for Mediation and Conflict Resolution held at The Hague and received her J.D. from the Maurer School of Law, Indiana University-Bloomington. She is an assistant professor in interreligious studies, senior advisor for Muslim relations, and founder and director of the Center for Global Peacebuilding at Claremont School of Theology, where she has been instrumental in developing the first M.A. in Leadership in Muslim Contexts and the M.A. in Interreligious Studies. She teaches courses in the areas of conflict resolution, Islamic Studies, interreligious education/dialogue and leadership.
An international leader in the field of faith-based diplomacy, transitional justice, gang conflicts, gender-based development programming, and complex intervention in interethnic and multifaith conflicts, she has worked closely with children’s entertainment companies on national campaigns to reduce violence in schools and has worked with dozens of schools to start conflict resolution programs focused on race relations.
For more information about the awards presented by the Alumni Association or to make a nomination, visit the association’s awards webpage.
