Barbara Hanscom Awarded the Hopkins Medal

In a ceremony on Sunday, April 6, 2014, Barbara Hanscom, who will be retiring from her position as Assistant to the Head of School this summer, was awarded the Hopkins Medal. Heath Commons was filled with familiar Hopkins faces, past and present, all in attendance to show their appreciation and gratitude to Barbara for her years of service to the School.

Hopkins bestows its highest honor—the Hopkins Medal—on that person who has shown unparalleled commitment, loyalty, and devotion to Hopkins School. Barbara Hanscom has shown all of this and more during her long history with Hopkins and, for this, she is being honored as this year's recipient.

Over the course of her thirty-six years at Hopkins, Barbara Hanscom has worked with ten Board Presidents (Guido
Calabresi ’49 HGS, Robert Lapides, Heinrich von Staden, Paul Johnson, Davis Weinstock, Noreen Haffner, Vincent Calarco, William Kneisel ’65 HGS, David Newton ’67 HGS, and Kelly Martin); seven Heads (John Wilkinson, John Heath, Michael V. McGill, Michael J. Theobald, Thomas Rodd, Jr., John Beall and Barbara M. Riley); 325 faculty and 80 staff. Whether measured in years on the Hill, or in the number of individuals who have benefited from her commitment and loyalty, or in the equal parts of institutional memory and care she brought to her myriad responsibilities at Hopkins, Barbara Hanscom’s contributions to our school are, in fact, immeasurable.

Hired in 1978 by then Headmaster John Wilkinson, Barbara Hanscom began her time at Hopkins as the receptionist. When John Wilkinson left Hopkins to become the Secretary at Yale University and John Heath was named Interim Headmaster, Mr. Heath persuaded Barbara to be his "secretary," starting the long line of Headmasters and, then Heads of School, Barbara would educate, guide, advise and serve.

Barbara’s contributions to Hopkins have been numerous. She has worked in the Hopkins Development Office, for the
Athletic Office, for the Head Advisers, and for Betty Benedict ’40 DAY who was Dean of Faculty and Scheduler. In addition to her immense responsibilities, Barbara worked tirelessly for 27 years as the Assistant to four Financial Aid Chairs, Paul Fossett, Tim Rodd, Marilyn Zuckerman and Bill Bakke ’60 HGS. She currently serves on the Hopkins Financial Aid
Committee, the Safety Committee and assists the Secretary to the Committee of Trustees.
 
Born in Syracuse, New York, Barbara grew up in Milford, Connecticut, and worked for the government until her son Michael, Jr., was born. He graduated from Hopkins in 1987 and has three children, Caitlin, Andrew and Jonathon. Barbara and her husband Michael will celebrate 47 years of marriage this July.

Alec Gewirtz '14 wrote a wonderful article about Barbara in the March 2014 issue of The Razor, Hopkins' student newspaper. Please read the story online here for more information about Barbara's career at Hopkins.

Please see the attached photo gallery of pictures from Sunday's event. Photos by Harold Shapiro