Alumni awards
The Earlham College Alumni Council gives up to three alumni awards each year to Earlhamites who have demonstrated excellence or achievement in a chosen career, and/or active service to Earlham College.
The Recognition Committee will review each nomination and make recommendations to the Alumni Council for final approval. Awards are presented at a ceremony held during Homecoming and Reunion Weekend.
The nominator may be contacted by the Recognition Committee for additional information. Nominations must be received by December 31 to be honored in the following year and will be considered for up to three years. The nomination will then become defunct unless renewed by the nominator or a member of the Recognition Committee.
Alumni awards accepting nominations
The Alumni Council is currently accepting nominations for the 2025 Alumni Awards. Please submit your nomination by Dec. 31 to be considered for the following year’s awards ceremony.
2024 Award Ceremony
Honorees
In 2024, the College is pleased to honor Roberta Anderson Ballard ’61 and Phil Ballard ’61 with Outstanding Alumni Awards, Margaret Lechner ’72 with the Distinguished Service Award, and the Team Magic Bus alumni with the Young Alumni Award. Read their bios below.
Outstanding Alumni Award
Roberta Anderson Ballard ’61 and Phil Ballard ’61
Roberta Anderson Ballard M.D. and Phil Ballard M.D. Ph.D. have been selected for the Outstanding Alumni Award.
Roberta and Phil graduated from Earlham in 1961, married in 1962 and completed Medical/Ph.D. training at the University of Chicago School and Pediatric residency training at Stanford University and University of California, San Francisco’s Cardiovascular Research Institute.
They both specialized in Neonatal/Perinatal Medicine: Phil in basic laboratory research understanding the role of antenatal glucocorticoids and surfactant metabolism in the developing lung, and Roberta in clinical care/administration/teaching and clinical research applying laboratory findings to improve survival and developmental outcomes of pre-term infants.
They collaborated in leading Neonatal programs at Mt. Zion Hospital in San Francisco, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), the University of Pennsylvania and UCSF. Together they have published multiple scientific papers and have been honored with two major Pediatric Academic Societies awards: The Maureen Andrews Mentoring Award, and the Mary Ellen Avery Neonatal Research Award.
They have advanced physiologic understanding and therapies in neonatal medicine, improved compassionate care and outcomes for mothers and infants, and provided guidance for future pediatricians.
Recently retired, they reside on a ranch in Bodega Bay, California, near their two sons, Dustin and Chris Ballard (wives Angela Walker Ballard and Alexandra Cann Ballard), and four grandchildren, Hayley, Holden, Callie and Eliza.
Distinguished Service Award
Margaret Lechner ’72
Margaret has made a significant impact in the world of teaching through combining Quaker ideals with hands-on experiences in the great outdoors.
As a student, Margaret participated in the founding of the August Wilderness program. After graduating in 1972, she designed the Southwest Field Studies program and joined the Earlham faculty in 1974 to lead the program.
Margaret later served Earlham as the director of the wilderness program from 1982 until 2000 while teaching as an associate professor of biology and co-founding the Kenya foreign study program.
She increased Earlham’s community impact by teaching consensus through the Quaker Foundations of Leadership. Margaret’s years on the Association for Experiential Education board connected Earlham with other leading college outdoor education programs around the country. For 25 years, Margaret mentored generations of Earlham students who went on to facilitate and direct outdoor education programs, teach in schools and universities, and serve in other significant roles in environmental education.
In 2000, Margaret left Earlham to lead Richmond’s Conflict Resolution Center. This connected her with the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP), which she still facilitates in communities, prisons and schools. In 2010, she volunteered with Friends Peace Teams, Peacebuilding en las Americas, which led her to organize AVP International gatherings in Guatemala, Ireland and Nepal.
Margaret has continued to play a pivotal role working with wilderness alumni and faculty leaders leading up to the program’s 50th anniversary in 2021. To celebrate the occasion, she helped produce the anniversary book, “They Kindled a Fire,” by assembling a writing team, contributing to several sections and serving as an archive of program history.
Young Alumni Award
Team Magic Bus
Team Magic Bus was the grand prize winners of the 2016 Hult Prize, the largest student competition for the social good. Using $1 million in start-up capital earned during the competition, they piloted a new text message-based ticketing system that has optimized public transit in Kenya and beyond. The venture was named one of the best three transportation start-ups at the Transdev Transport Challenge.
Now called BuuPass, the venture has won accolades in Africa and around the world, including the Bosch Africa Smart Mobility Start-up Award.