The Joan Shaw Herman Award for Distinguished Service

Award recipients have exemplified the qualities of generosity and selflessness and the capacity to labor untiringly on behalf of others. These outstanding community members have shared with us their own visions of a better world. They challenge us to challenge ourselves.

We are excited to announce Richard Read ’75 is the 2024 Joan Shaw Herman Award for Distinguished Service recipient.

The Joan Shaw Herman Award is presented annually to a member of the Concord Academy community whose life exemplifies a fundamental orientation our school cultivates: service to others. Since it was established in 1976, CA’s only award has offered our community opportunities to affirm the value of working toward a better world and draw inspiration from individuals who are making a difference.

An award-winning journalist, Rich got his start at CA’s student newspaper, The Centipede. He worked in newspapers for 40 years, reporting from more than 60 countries on all seven continents. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes—one for explaining Asia’s 1990s financial crisis by following a container of french fries from a Northwest farm to a Singapore McDonald’s, and the other for exposing abuses by U.S. immigration officials.

As a Tokyo-based foreign correspondent, Rich reported from North Korea, covered the war in Cambodia, and chronicled the economic opening of Russia and Vietnam. As Los Angeles Times bureau chief in Seattle, he broke the story of a superspreader event among choral singers that helped convince health officials that COVID-19 is transmitted through the air. Rich retired in 2021 and spends his time freelance writing and working on documentary films.

Many thanks to the 2024 Joan Shaw Herman Award Selection Committee:

Betsy Green ’91, Chair
Kate Rea Schmitt ’62, P’88
Stuart Warner ’77
Alexis Goltra ’87, P’26 ’27
Shreya Patel ’21

Mandy Adams ’24
Irene Jiang ’24
Grace Kalere ’24
Lynn Lewis ’24
Irene Zheng ’24
Chiara Wanandi ’24
Aurora Hao ’25
Mei Reed ’25

The Joan Shaw Herman Award

The Joan Shaw Herman Award for Distinguished Service is the only award given in the Concord Academy community. It was established in 1976 in honor of Joan Shaw Herman ’46, who was paralyzed from the neck down after contracting polio the summer after her graduation. Although she was confined to an iron lung for much of the remainder of her life, she worked constantly for the improvement of the lives of disabled persons. Herman’s devotion to others exemplifies a common value instilled in the CA experience—a lifelong commitment to service. 

Each year, the Concord Academy Alum Association presents the Joan Shaw Herman Award to a member of the CA community who has demonstrated dedication to service in either a professional or volunteer capacity. Nominees may be of any age and may be recognized posthumously. While Concord Academy is fortunate to be supported by many wonderful volunteers, this award is not for service to Concord Academy but to the world at large. Learn more about Herman and the award.

Nominations

We invite you to nominate peers to be future Joan Shaw Herman Award recipients. Your nominations are both inspiring and humbling. It is a testament to the values of the CA community that we choose to give our only award in recognition of service. We look forward to hearing the stories of and tributes to your extraordinary classmates. Thank you in advance for your thoughtful submission.

About Herman’s “Christmastide” Painting

Christmastide

“Christmastide” was painted by Joan Shaw Herman ’46 and copied from a color photo taken by Elizabeth Wheeler. It was painted with a brush held in her teeth and was begun March 1959 and finished October 1960.

Past Award Recipients

Our impressive field of past honorees have made their mark through work in medicine, the arts, social justice, environmentalism, education, science, and more.

2023
Chris Rosenberg ’86

2022
Adnan Zubcevic ’75

2021
Leslie Davidson ’66
Ingrid Walker-Descartes ’91

2020
Anne Pfitzer ’85

2019
Kate Morse Erwin ’69

2018
Catherine Saalfield Gund ’83

2017
Lyn Burr Brignoli ’62

2016
Sandra Willett Jackson ’61

2015
Sharmin Eshraghi Bock ’80

2014
Robin Alden ’69

2013
Tom Lincoln ’78

2012
Ellen Smith Harde ’62
Jennifer Moulton ’67 (posthumously)

2011
Nancy Jaicks Alexander ’51

2010
Paul Santomenna ’85

2009
Nancy Read Coville ’49

2008
Anne Gaud Tinker ’63

2007
Katharine Muller Bullit ’42
Phyllis Rothschild Farley ’42

2006
Victoria Post Ranney ’56

2005
Nellie Davidson ’55 & Anne Wilson ’75

2004
Bronwen Jenney Anders ’59

2003
Angela Middleton Wilkins ’48

2002
Jody Heymann ’77

2001
Corrine Benson Johnson ’46

2000
Deborah Ham ’55

1999
Lisa Halaby ’69 (HM Queen Noor)

1998
Adelaide Eicks Comegys ’48

1997
Marten Poole ’58

1996
Sarah Foss ’41

1995
Wendy Arnold ’65

1994
Betsy Atwood Nelson ’55

1988
Ann McKinstry Micou ’48

1985
Rosemary Baldwin Coffin ’40

1984
Helen Whiting Livingston ’41

1982
Doreen Young, past faculty (posthumously)

1980
Cynthia Creelman Hill ’50

1979
Ruth Brooks Drinker ’31

1978
Elizabeth Monroe Boggs ’31
Margaret Lincoln Marshall ’31

1977
Joan Shaw Herman ’46 (posthumously)