FA inducts six into Academic Hall of Fame
By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer
DOVER-FOXCROFT — Six Foxcroft Academy alumni were inducted to the Academic Hall of Fame at a ceremony on May 9. The ceremony was held in conjunction with the presentation of medallions to the Class of 2015’s Rose Award winners in order to link outstanding students of the present with those of the past.
The idea of starting both an Athletic and Academic Hall of Fame was conceived by Head of School Arnold Shorey in 2012, and 64 alumni have now been inducted. Nominations for the Academic Hall of Fame are generated by the Foxcroft Academy Alumni Office, which each year asks alumni, community members, parents, and faculty (past and present) to nominate alumni who demonstrated “success at Foxcroft Academy through academics and/or visual and performing arts, leading to notable accomplishments in a chosen career path.” FA’s selection committee then draws from a large pool of excellent candidates and carefully selects a new class each spring. Foxcroft Academy is proud to present the Class of 2015.
Dr. Frederick Hutchinson, Class of 1948: Dr. Hutchinson earned a BS and MS from the University of Maine Orono in agronomy, followed by a Ph.D. from Penn State. Fred continued in the realm of academics, starting his professional career as a faculty member in the plant and soil sciences at UMO before becoming a professor of soil sciences and later Dean of the College of Agriculture. He also served as the Senior Vice President and Provost of Ohio State before returning to Maine to serve as President of the University of Maine System. He served as a Trustee of FA from 1977-82 and 1997-2003. Fred served as both the president of the Student Council and the Class of 1948 while he attended FA.
Dr. Jane Barker, Class of 1953: Dr. Barker earned her BA in zoology from the University of Maine, her master’s degree from Wellesley College, and her doctorate from the University of Wisconsin before accepting a post-doctoral fellowship at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor. There Jane studied programmed changes in red blood cell development, work she continued at The National Institutes of Health. Jane established her own research lab following appointment to the faculty at The Jackson Laboratory where she primarily studied two things: red blood cell structure, which is altered in diseases such as sickle cell anemia, and disease treatment via bone marrow transplantation. Jane participated in sports and drama and served as yearbook editor and class secretary while at FA.
Dr. Wendy Love, Class of 1975: Dr. Love earned her bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Maine Orono before attending Harvard Medical School, where she received an M.D. She then practiced anesthesiology and pain management in the midcoast area and is currently serving our nation’s veterans as an anesthesiologist at Togus VHA in Augusta. Dr. Love has also participated in humanitarian medical missions to Honduras, Bolivia, and the West Bank. A life-long learner, Dr. Love went back to school in 2010 and in 2012 completed an MFA in Fine Art at the Maine College of Art. While at FA, she was a Rose Award recipient, a member of NHS, the Academy’s Spear speaker in 1974, vice president of her class, and a recipient of the Excellence in Public Speaking Award. She was also a member of the gymnastics team, the music program, and the dramatic arts program.
Dr. Jon Arnold, Class of 1998: Dr. Arnold graduated summa cum laude with bachelor’s degrees in history and Latin from the University of Maine. He then attended the University of Michigan, where he earned a master’s degree and later completed his doctorate with distinction in Roman and Medieval History. Jon now teaches courses in Greek, Roman, Medieval history, Film Studies, and Latin at the University of Tulsa and has published more than 40 articles and a book. While at FA, Jon participated in musical theater, drama, outdoor and indoor track, cross country, Student Council, math team, Latin Club, National Honor Society, and the State Science Fair, where his experiments on chewing gum and cryonics won first and third place prizes. He received a Bausch & Lomb Award and was salutatorian.
Dr. Matthew Ruby, Class of 2001: Dr. Ruby graduated summa cum laude from Colby College with bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and German Language and Literature. He later completed his doctorate at the University of British Columbia and is now a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. Matt primarily conducts psychological research and examines how people in different cultures think and make decisions about food. Matt was an active member of Latin Club, Gaming Club, and the NHS while at FA. He was salutatorian, and in addition to his studies, he served as a Monson delegate to Dirigo Boys’ State and was a volunteer webmaster for Womancare/Aegis.
Harita Reddy, Class of 2004: Reddy attended the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and later completed an Executive Masters in Public Health from the University of California Los Angeles, where she was inducted into the Honor Society of Healthcare Professionals. She is currently an administrator at Kaiser Permanente, a healthcare system in Los Angeles. Harita was valedictorian of her class at FA and participated in field hockey, the Spanish club, and International club while also representing FA at HOBY, Model UN, National Youth Leadership Forum, and Philips Exeter Academy.
The 2015 Academic Hall of Fame inductees have accomplished many extraordinary things, and due to space constraints the bios have been condensed. To read the full bios, please visit www.foxcroftacademy.org/academics/academic-hall-of-fame/.