2017 Alumni Award Recipients
Back Row Left to Right: Jeffrey Shook ’92, Billy Strean ’86, Bill Ingram ’53, & Sarah Jolie ’87.
Front Row Left to Right: Graciela Guzman ’11, Christopher A. Wilde ’88, Margaret Megorden Bailly ’67, Dawn Helsing Wolters ’87, & Judy Wise Bond ’58.
Not Pictured: Jay Greener ’67
Bill Ingram ’53
Judy Wise Bond ’58
Margaret Megorden Bailly ’67
Jay Greener ’67
Billy Strean ’86
Dawn Helsing Wolters ’87
Sarah Jolie ’87
Christopher A. Wilde ’88
Jeffrey Shook ’92
Graciela Guzman ’11
William Ingram ’53
Consistent efforts made over the course of decades can transform communities. For this alumnus, diligent work as a teacher, a scholar, and a volunteer have led to work that has inspired students and improved the places that are most important to him.
As a student at Grinnell, this alumnus earned degrees in Greek and comparative literature.
After a stint in the Army, he earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of Pennsylvania.
He went on to become a professor in the English language and literature department at the University of Michigan, where he was an outstanding scholar and instructor.
He earned prestigious fellowships, including one from the National Endowment for the Humanities. His books have been nominated for numerous awards. And he has been recognized for his inspiring teaching with both a Distinguished Teaching Award and an Excellence in Education Award.
The community volunteer work of this alumnus has been robust. Decades ago, he and his wife helped found a cooperative community day care center in his neighborhood. It continues to flourish with some of the original children bringing their own children there.
He has been a longtime volunteer for Grinnell, the Salvation Army, and Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra.
For his commitment to excellence in his career and his community, we are honored to recognize William Ingram ’53.
Judith Wise Bond ’58
Few of us can credibly claim that our work has had a worldwide impact. But for this alumna, a deep knowledge and passion for music education has led her to pursue efforts around the globe.
This work has profoundly influenced how teaching of music is done for children.
At Grinnell, this alumna’s interest in music was clear.
She earned a degree in music education and participated in the glee club, choir, band, and orchestra. She spent years working as an elementary music teacher and private piano teacher before earning a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.
One of her primary interests is teaching the Orff philosophy, an approach that combines music, speech, movement, and drama to involve children in creating and making music together.
Her skills in this work have led to appointments at universities across the country and engagements worldwide.
Her series of K-8 textbooks, Share the Music and Spotlight on Music, are widely used in classrooms.
This alumna has shown exceptional leadership within her field and is actively involved in numerous music and education organizations. She is co-chair for the Alliance for Active Music Making and served as President of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association.
For a lifetime of work to make music more accessible and fascinating to young minds, we are honored to recognize Judith Wise Bond ’58.
Margaret Megorden Bailly ’67
It may be that there is no individual who can singlehandedly transform a community, but if anyone can come close, it may be this alumna.
A committed leader and volunteer, this alumna has supercharged the arts in her adopted hometown of Fargo, North Dakota.
As a volunteer, she is an endless source of energy and creative ideas.
She has been tapped as president for many local organizations, including Fargo-Moorhead’s Junior League, Civic Opera Company, F-M Area Foundations Women’s Fund and Fargo Kiwanis. She has served as a board member for nearly a dozen other groups.
Perhaps her greatest achievement has been the work she has done to revitalize the iconic Fargo Theater.
Since 1992, she has served in multiple roles for the theater, board member, development officer and executive director. She spearheaded successful efforts to raise $3 million to complete the building’s renovation, and the results have been hailed as a symbol of a resurgent downtown Fargo.
For her efforts in these and many other endeavors, she has received numerous honors, including the Woman of the Year for the Arts Award, Friend of Downtown, the North Dakota Community Leadership Award and the 2013 F-M Chamber of Commerce Legacy Leader Award.
Friends and colleagues admire not just her successful work, but the joy, humor, and humility she brings to all of her pursuits.
For her tireless efforts to bring the best of the arts to her community, we are honored to recognize Margaret Megorden Bailly ’67.
Jay Greener ’67
Even the most important medical breakthroughs need a champion who helps doctors and patients see the potential of the innovation. This alumnus has helped bring better and more sustainable medical products to the world.
This alumnus was a biology major at Grinnell. After graduation, he was trained as a combat engineer and served as a medic in Vietnam.
In 1974, he began working in Dow Corning’s medical products division, where he helped bring important medical innovations to people who needed them most. He was responsible for sales and support for a range of different silicone products including silicone breast implants.
His work also supported scientists who redesigned transdermal delivery products. The changes in the products prevented a million pounds of Freon from being released into the atmosphere.
In 1990, Dow Corning honored him with a public service award.
Outside of work, this alumnus is a busy volunteer. At Grinnell, he has served as a class fund director and a member of the Alumni Council.
He is a committed church volunteer and has been a strong advocate for veterans’ issues.
He has continued much of this work even as he courageously fights Parkinson’s disease and other conditions linked to exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam.
For his unwavering devotion to make the world a healthier place, we are honored to recognize Jay Greener ’67.
William B. Strean ’86
It’s an age-old axiom that laughter is the best medicine, and this alumnus has spent his career proving it, teaching it, and living it.
As a student at Grinnell, this alumnus earned a degree in philosophy and was a three-sport athlete. He earned a master’s degree from the University of Iowa and a Ph.D. in sport psychology from the University of Illinois.
He has been a faculty member at the University of Alberta in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreations since 1994, where he has been recognized both by his faculty and his university for exceptional teaching. In 2011, he was named a 3M National Teaching Fellow, Canada’s most prestigious teaching and educational leadership honor.
Some of his research has focused on the many health benefits of laughter and humor. In addition to published journal articles and numerous workshops and presentations on the topic, he is the author of The HoHo Dojo and Humor Me: Lighten Up and Live Life Laughing.
This alumnus has maintained a strong connection to Grinnell since graduation, serving as a class agent, GRASP volunteer, and class committee member. He has returned to campus to give talks on laughter in the liberal arts and staying engaged at work.
For his work to help us all live healthier and happier lives through laughter, we are honored to recognize William B. Strean ’86.
Sarah A. Jolie ’87
In a world of self-promoters, it takes a truly exceptional person to be recognized for quiet but steady good work. This alumna thrives not in the spotlight, but in behind-the-scenes work that truly make a difference.
At Grinnell, this alumna earned a degree in anthropology, then went on to serve for a decade at the Commercial Law League of America.
In 1998, she returned to her family’s direct mail business, where she has focused on maintaining good wages, benefits, and working conditions for its 10 employees.
Hensley Company plays a small but vital role in our democracy, mailing tens of thousands of absentee ballots for local elections, as well as providing mailing support for dozens of nonprofits.
She has also taken on challenging hands on roles with the local United Way/Community Chest, Chicago’s Rape Victim Advocates, Girl Scout Leader for her niece’s troop, and overnight volunteer at Lincoln Park Community Shelter.
She is a leading fundraiser for – and participant in – the annual Bike MS ride to fight Multiple Sclerosis.
This alumna has been a steadfast supporter of Grinnell, serving as a longtime class agent and class committee member. Her desire to help seems etched into her DNA, say friends who praise her consistent and thoughtful efforts to support them during difficult times.
For her efforts to quietly and meaningfully support her college and her community, we are honored to recognize Sarah Jolie ’87.
Dawn Helsing Wolters ’87
Keeping a theater financially healthy can be a complicated challenge. Through her leadership and fundraising skills, this alumna has spent decades helping theaters across the country thrive.
At Grinnell, this alumna was an English major. She went on to earn an MFA in theatre management from Yale. From the very beginning, she proved to be an adept fundraiser.
As an associate for Baltimore’s Center Stage, she increased the organization’s revenues by more than a third. As its director of development, she improved the theater’s annual fundraising efforts and launched a $5 million campaign.
While at graduate school, she developed and managed the Yale’s Repertory Theater’s budget.
As executive director of the University of Chicago’s Court Theatre, she led operations, strengthened the organization’s financial reserves, and launched a robust commissioning program.
In 2009, she took the helm of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, leading the operations of a three-venue professional theater company.
In 2013, she began working on an even larger level, becoming director of institutional giving at Alverno College. She helped the liberal arts college complete a $30 million campaign that will revitalize its Milwaukee-based campus.
For her efforts to ensure that the arts — and the liberal arts — have the funding to do their very best work, we are honored to recognize Dawn Helsing Wolters ’87.
Christopher A. Wilde ’88
It’s one thing to express support for LGBTQ causes. It’s another to spend decades doing the quiet but important work of archiving some the community’s most personal and idiosyncratic publications, as this alumnus has.
A history major, this alumnus was a KDIC DJ and served as a senator in student government.
He performed at Black Box Break and in student-directed one act plays and he advocated for the development of what would become the Stonewall Resource Center for LGBTQ students.
Influenced by his study of history at Grinnell, this alumnus became an avid collector of queer zines: self-published, photocopied publications of LGBTQ issues. In 2003, he cofounded the Queer Zine Archive Project.
As part of this project, this alumnus has collected more than 2,000 publications from 15 countries in over a dozen languages. The publications are catalogued and searchable online.
This alumnus has served as a sexuality educator at The Tool Shed and a writer for Queer Life News.
He returned to Grinnell in 2016 to help organize the Stonewall Resource Center’s 30th anniversary celebration and has spoken at numerous colleges about queer zine history. For Grinnell, he is a member of his class committee and the Multicultural Reunion Planning Committee.
For his work to strengthen the documented history of the LGBTQ community, we are honored to recognize Christopher A. Wilde ’88.
Jeffrey J. Shook ’92
If it is true that a society should be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable members, then we all benefit from the work of this alumnus. He has dedicated his career to ensuring that young people who have received some of the harshest penalties in the criminal justice system are fairly treated.
At Grinnell, this alumnus majored in economics, played football, and worked at the radio station.
He went on to earn a law degree from American University and received a master’s of social work and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.
During law school, this alumnus did an internship at Oak Hill Youth Center in Washington, D.C.
The work introduced him to the challenges faced by young people in the criminal justice system and has guided the trajectory of his life.
Since 2005, this alumnus has been with the University of Pittsburgh and has strengthened his work linked to youth and criminal justice. He is a founding member of the Pennsylvania Coalition for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, designed to keep young people out of the adult criminal justice system.
He has written journal articles and coauthored Amicus Briefs for the Supreme Court linked to these issues.
For his work to protect some of society’s most hidden and disadvantaged citizens, we are honored to recognize Jeffrey J. Shook ’92.
Graciela Guzmán ’11
When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) opened the health insurance market to millions, one big challenge was getting low-income and Spanish-speaking citizens to sign up.
Through her diligent work, this alumna has helped enroll more than 27,000 Chicagoans into health insurance programs.
At Grinnell, this alumna was a Posse Scholar and an anthropology major with the heart of an activist. Her many extracurricular activities included the Organization of Latinos/as, Concerned Black Students, Multicultural Leadership Council, Grinnell Singers, and Queer People of Color
After graduation, this alumna began working with PrimeCare Community Health. This ACA “Navigator organization” is designed to help consumers and businesses understand their health care coverage options.
She quickly became a nationally-known expert in enrolling immigrants in the ACA Marketplace, and helped improve the entire system by sharing best practices for outreach.
She was named chair of the Chicago Affordable Care Act Consortium, a collaboration of more than 60 different organizations across the city.
Today, this alumna works as enrollment coordinator for the Patient Innovation Center, the largest organization in Illinois that helps people navigate the ACA Marketplace.
Her colleagues praise her not just for her compassion, but for her steely focus and tenacity. “She has a resolve as hard as diamonds,” says one.
For her groundbreaking work to help the most vulnerable people get the health insurance they need, we are honored to recognize Graciela Guzmán ’11.
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