The 2013 President’s Alumni Awards honored nine distinguished JSC alumni for their personal and career success. JSC President Barbara Murphy presented the awards at the Sept. 21 ceremony.

Five alumni received Outstanding Alumni Awards, recognizing alumni who have had a great amount of success both personally and in their chosen fields.

Beth O’Brien, ’95, earned her master’s degree in educational leadership from JSC. She started working as a teacher at Montgomery Elementary School in 1990, becoming the school principal nine years later.

The school has seen a dramatic increase in student achievement under her leadership, according to Murphy. “This is a school that saw just under a 30 percent improvement in NECAP [New England Common Assessment Program] scores,” she said. O’Brien also teaches in the JSC graduate education program.

Angela Smith, ’13, is a part-time faculty member and director of human resources and career services at Burlington College, a writer and public speaker on career development, employment and human resources. She is also the founder of “Bright Pink,” a national nonprofit focused on educating young women about breast and ovarian health.

In 2012, Smith was named one of Vermont’s “40 people under 40” to watch by “Vermont Business Magazine.”

“They say that you’re known by the company that you keep,” Smith said. “Reading through the program about all of the other reward recipients today, I’m just so thrilled and honored to be included as a part of this group.”

Prudence Sullivan, ’78, was honored next. The director of culture and workplace innovation at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR), Sullivan got her start working to implement employee and organizational development and human resources at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC).

Sullivan also shares her expertise with several Vermont nonprofits, including End Child Abuse Vermont and the Vermont Pediatric Association.

Jeff Crowley, honored in absentia, graduated from JSC in 1978 with a degree in recreation facilities management and a passion for skiing. Purchasing a struggling small ski area from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Crowley increased the number of skiers the area hosted from 190,000 in 1993 to 400,000 in 2012.

Crowley has also contributed to his community, having served as a trustee of the Fitchburg Art Museum, the former chair of the Tramway Board within the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety, as well as having a place on the board of the Massachusetts-based A.D. Makepeace Company, the world’s largest cranberry grower.

The last alum to receive the Outstanding Alumni Award was textile designer, illustrator and author Heather Ross, who enrolled at JSC in 1988. In 1996, at age 26, Ross created the clothing brand Munki Munki, and within two years her designs were appearing on the covers of magazines and being sold by hundreds of stores nation-wide.

“Growing up in northern Vermont without a telephone or a television, she became creative early,” said Murphy. “She and her sister began sewing and knitting at about age five…She illustrated a popular children’s book series called “Crafty Chloe,” which got a “Star” review from Kirkus—that’s pretty good for people who follow that—and was listed among Amazon’s top ten books last year.”

Emily Hamlin, ’08, received the first of the 2013 Rising Star Awards, which are presented to alumni who’ve graduated in the past decade and who demonstrate considerable early success and provide inspiration to current students.

Hamlin, who received her award in absentia, graduated magna cum laude from JSC with a degree in Political Science and double-minors in Business and Pre-Law as an Ellsworth Scholar, going on to earn her Masters in Public Administration from Syracuse University.

“She was a resident assistant, orientation leader, president of the highly popular Pizza Club, participated in Break-Away trips, a tour guide in admissions, a manager in lighting tech in Dibden, and also managed the computer lab,” said Murphy. “Emily has this advice for current students: take advantage of every opportunity, go on Break-Away trips, serve as an orientation leader, attend lectures, take advantage of faculty’s office hours, and do resurrect the Pizza Club.”

Hamlin is an emergency management planner with the Vermont Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

Julie Sloan, ’03, received the next Rising Star award. While earning her degree in health sciences with physical education licensure, Sloan was a solo athlete in skiing, competing against other teams for JSC. She also served as a student representative to the executive board of the Vermont Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance from 2000 to 2002, later serving on the board as vice president for dance from 2009 to 2010.

She has taught physical education and health at Mount Mansfield High School, and has been the head alpine ski coach there since 2006. “What Julie was too modest to put in is that both her boys’ and girls’ downhill ski teams have won their northern Vermont district or conference championships, and her girls’ team has for three years in a row been the State champions,” said Murphy.

Sloan also teaches physical education teacher licensure courses at JSC.

Murphy awarded the last Rising Star to Adam Carr, ’08. During his time at JSC, Carr impressed Murphy so much with his business planning that he received money from the President’s Fund to create a nationally ranked, top 10 collegiate cycling team—with two members.

“Following his graduation, he signed a full-time, elite level cycling contract with a team based in Texas,” said Murphy.

The next year Carr went pro, signing with a Southern California team. He has since competed on four continents as a professional racer and is working to form a nationally competitive team in Vermont.

Carr’s mother accepted his award on his behalf, as he had a race.

The last award given out was the Distinguished Career Award, which was created in recognition of the outstanding service of Don Vickers, who graduated in 1970 and was a former director of financial aid at JSC.

In 1971, Vickers joined the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC), becoming the organization’s president and CEO in 1990, and working there until his retirement in June.

Under his leadership, VSAC became the first grant program in the nation to provide aid to non-degree-seeking students, as well as offering the first program to reduce borrowers’ costs and later becoming a federal loan servicer after the group’s role in federal loan administration ended in 2010.

“I think he is pretty much, with his staff, single-handedly responsible for one of the lowest default rates in the country,” said Murphy.

VSAC provided many students with the opportunity to attend college, increasing the number of scholarships available to Vermonters and helping families save for college by managing the State’s 529 plan, as well as providing help to families planning for college with workshops and assistance with financial aid forms.

Vickers received the 2013 Eleanor M. McMahon Award for Lifetime Achievement from the New England Board of Higher Education in honor of his accomplishments.