2025 Alumni Awards
After considering nominations received from the Grinnell alumni community, the Grinnell College Alumni Council has selected 14 exceptional Grinnellians to receive the 2025 Alumni Awards.
The Alumni Award recognizes individuals who embody Grinnell College’s mission of lifetime learning and service. Nominated by their classmates and peers, recipients have distinguished themselves by their service to their careers, their community, and/or the College.
The 14 recipients will be celebrated May 31 during Alumni Assembly at Reunion 2025.
The 2025 Alumni Award recipients are:
- Kenton Clymer ’65
- Jeri Langham ’65
- Michael Cullen ’75
- Bill Ferguson ’75
- Renee Garrick ’75
- Amy Fraenkel ’85
- May-lee Chai ’89
- Clint Korver ’89
- Kent Koth ’90
- Monique McLay Shore ’90
- Juan Castaño ’00
- Gabrielle Conecker ’00
- Caitlin Davies ’09
- Evan Griffith ’15
Kenton Clymer ’65
Described by his academic colleagues as one of the world’s leading scholars in the history of American foreign relations with Southeast Asia, Kenton Clymer has devoted his career to research, writing, and teaching. As a history professor at the University of Texas at El Paso and Northern Illinois University, Clymer mentored countless students over the past 55 years. A Clymer seminar always built on a foundation of well-chosen books and articles that insist students undertake a rigorous, deep, and rich immersion in the topic. Clymer also has written eight books including three scrutinizing the history of U.S. relations with Cambodia.
Jeri Langham ’65
For the past 40 years, Jeri Langham has led bird watching trips all over the world, teaching about birds, ecology, and conservation along the way. He regularly holds birding excursions at Conard Environmental Research Area (CERA) and Rock Creek Park during alumni reunions. Langham taught for 38 years as a biological science professor at California State University, Sacramento. In 2006, he received the university’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service. Langham is also a founding and fundraising director for the Neotropical Grassland Conservancy, which provides grants and equipment to students and scientists working in grassland habitats of Central and South America.
Michael Cullen ’75
As an agricultural economist, Michael Cullen has over 35 years of experience addressing African economic problems. His lifelong passion is to improve the livelihoods of farmers, and he has been on the front lines in Niger, Ghana, Mali, and other countries liaising with governments and research institutions. Cullen was a founding director of Terra Global Capital, which was launched in 2006 to produce market driven solutions for climate change. In his long and varied career, Cullen has taught economic courses, consulted at the World Bank, managed investments for Merrill‐Lynch, and was a senior program director for the World Cocoa Foundation.
Bill Ferguson ’75
Teaching economics isn’t just an academic pursuit for Bill Ferguson. It’s a continuation of his quest for community and social justice. He is known for his intellectual curiosity, collegiality, and encyclopedic knowledge of institutional political economy, game theory, and labor economics. Currently the prestigious Gertrude B. Austin Professor of Economics, Ferguson has been teaching economic courses at Grinnell College since 1989. Ferguson was the guiding force in establishing the College’s Policy Studies concentration. He has written two books published by the Stanford University Press and has been an invited speaker at Oxford University and numerous other schools. Ferguson also has served on several Reunion Class Committees and lectured at alumni events.
Renee Garrick ’75
As chief medical officer at Westchester Medical Center in New York, Renee Garrick has provided unparalleled leadership, overseeing a medical staff of 3,000 attending physicians. A practicing nephrologist (specializes in kidney conditions) with over 35 years of clinical experience, Garrick insists that every patient be treated with attentiveness, empathy, and integrity. She also is the vice dean and professor of clinical medicine at New York Medical College and has published numerous articles in medical journals. Gerrick – who has served on numerous medical care committees – is currently chairing a steering committee on Quality of the Healthcare Association of New York State.
Amy Fraenkel ’85
A deep passion for the environment and her concern for others has driven Amy Fraenkel during a 30-year career as an environmental law and policy expert. Since 2019, she has led the political and policy management for a United Nations treaty raising the profile of the plight of countless species nearing extinction. She helps identify and strengthen global attention to key threats, including overexploitation, habitat destruction, climate change, and pollution. Amy previously worked in other UN agencies focusing on the environment and conservation. She directed the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity, integrating biodiversity into governmental and private sector policies.
May-lee Chai ’89
May-lee Chai is an important voice in the Asian American literary community. Her stories reflect the complexity of Asian American experiences and add to the understanding of growing up Asian in the Midwest. She has authored three novels, two memoirs, three collections of short-stories and essays, a novella, and a nonfiction book on the culture and history of China. Her 2018 book Useful Phrases for Immigrants: Stories won an American Book Award. A creative writing professor at San Francisco State University, Chai encourages her students to step outside conventional modes of expression to become bold, innovative, and original writers.
Clint Korver ’89
Clint Korver’s distinguished career is marked by innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit that seeks to empower others. He is the CIO, co-founder, and managing director of Ulu Ventures, a seed-stage venture capital firm in Silicon Valley investing in technology startups. Korver has helped venture capitalists view diversity in a different way and encouraged the industry to open its ranks to a broader group of entrepreneurs and investors. The co-author of Ethics for the Real World, Korver regularly guest lectures at Grinnell about ethical decision making. He served on the College’s Board of Trustees from 2001-2017 and was board chair from 2011-15.
Kent Koth ’90
Kent Koth has dedicated his life to service and community engagement for college students. That vocation began at Grinnell, where as a student he helped start the Alternative Break and Alternative Happy Hour programs. Since 2004, Koth has worked as executive director of the Sundborg Center for Community Engagement. Under his leadership, Seattle University built a nationally recognized engagement model that focuses on building lasting partnerships with Seattle community organizations. He also facilitates the Seattle University Youth Initiative, which supports 1,000 children living in public housing in neighborhoods adjacent to campus.
Monique McLay Shore ’90
Monique McLay Shore’s dedication to the Grinnell community and preserving its history is unmatched. She recently retired after 33 years of working for the Stewart/Drake Community Library, where she began the Poweshiek History Preservation Project to document and digitize the history of the town of Grinnell and Grinnell College. This research led her to collaboration with professor Tamara Beauboeuf-Lafontant and the creation of Team Renfrow, a partnership that brought important visibility and recognition to Edith Renfrow Smith ’37, DHL ’19. To further raise awareness about Renfrow Smith’s incredible life, Shore wrote and published the children’s book No One Is Better Than You, and then donated 500 copies to schools and libraries.
Juan Castaño ’00
A highly visible and sought after arts leader in New York City, Juan Castaño has produced professional performances with his international touring company, designed arts-in-education programming, and led community outreach activities. Since 2003, Castaño has been founding executive director of Calpulli Mexican Dance Company, which celebrates the rich diversity of Mexican and Mexican American cultural heritage through dance-based programming. A recipient of Grinnell’s 2019 Joseph F. Wall ’41 Alumni Service Award, Castaño used the grant to present Monarcas: Stories of Inspired Immigrants. He also has been a guest on Sesame Street, where he taught children about ballet folklorico as their dance teacher.
Gabrielle Conecker ’00
Already a successful advocate for global health for mothers and infant children in central and sub-Saharan Africa, Gabrielle “Gabi” Conecker has led transformative acceleration in the scientific understanding of a rare genetic disorder. In 2012, her son Elliott was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy caused by a mutation of the SCN8A gene. In 2013, Conecker and her husband John founded the nonprofit organization, Wishes for Elliott, dedicated to advancing research into SCN8A and providing support for families whose children are dealing with its effects. Conecker also founded and leads a cross-disease foundation, DEE-P Connections.
Caitlin Davies ’09
With a longstanding commitment to excellence in the field of special education, Caitlin Davies helps non-verbal students with autism find their voice. A special education teacher in the Multi-Intervention Program for Students with Autism at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, Davies works primarily with students who use alternative or augmentative communication systems. She also works closely with her students’ families, helping them navigate resources. Davies was selected as a 2023-24 Teach for American Green Fellow, further developing her leadership skills. She has also dedicated hundreds of volunteer hours through ArtStream, a nonprofit organization that provides inclusive creative classes and performances.
Pioneer Awards
The Alumni Council also selected one Pioneer Award recipient. The Pioneer Award is a distinctive Alumni Award, which recognizes noteworthy alumni who have graduated from Grinnell College within the past ten years. Honorees offer inspiration as models for their demonstrated commitment to the values and mission of Grinnell in such a short time.
Evan Griffith ’15
With an endless curiosity about the intersections between humans, animals, and the environment, Evan Griffith jumped into every research opportunity he could involving animals and conservation as a Grinnell student. Now a researcher and doctoral candidate in infectious disease and global health at Tufts University, Griffith’s dissertation seeks to develop, pilot, and validate the Community One Health Index – a tool to improve health and well-being outcomes for pastoralist communities in Kenya. He presented his research at the eighth annual World One Health Congress in South Africa. Griffith has published eight papers and serves as associate editor of the CABI One Health journal.
— by Jeremy Shapiro
For your information:
Nominations for future Alumni Awards are accepted at any time, though nominees are only considered when their class is celebrating a Reunion year. To nominate a fellow Grinnellian, visit the Alumni Awards page and complete the nomination form.
To read more alumni news, check out our news archive and like the Alumni & Friends Facebook page.