Dickinson Names 2019 Alumni and Volunteer Award Winners

Dickinson College has named its 2019 Alumni Award and Volunteer Award recipients. The awards will be presented on Friday, June 7, during Alumni Weekend.

2018 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS

The Walter E. Beach Distinguished Alumni Award for Service
Sherwood “Woody” Goldberg ’63

Sherwood “Woody” Goldberg ’63 has been one of Dickinson’s most committed champions for more than 50 years. A valued member of the Board of Trustees, he has tirelessly supported the ROTC program, streamlined the honorary degree recipient process, played a key part in bringing the replica statute of the college's founder Benjamin Rush to campus, served on numerous committees and helped plan many reunions. He also has used his vast military and professional networks to benefit the college, especially in matters relating to U.S.-China relations, most notably helping to facilitate the release of Dickinson librarian Yongyi Song from false imprisonment in China in 2001. Along with his wife, Susan, he established the Susan H. and Sherwood D. Goldberg ’63 Endowment Fund for the Advancement of East Asian Studies at Dickinson. They’ve also supported the music department and hosted countless lunches, welcome events and receptions. After graduating from Dickinson as a Distinguished Military Graduate of the Army ROTC, Goldberg earned a J.D. and a master’s degree in international relations. Highlights of his distinguished military career include serving two tours of duty in Vietnam as an infantry officer; earning various military decorations, including the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Ranger Tab and Parachutist Wings, the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal and seven Bronze Stars (two for valor and five for achievement); retiring in 1995 in the rank of colonel having been an assistant professor for 17 years in the Department of Social Sciences at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point; and serving as chief of staff to the late General Alexander Haig in war and peace, including in the U.S. Department of State and in the private sector for some 25 years. Since 2001 he has served as civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army, an honorific position of three star protocol rank. He also serves along with former Senator Bob Dole as co-chair of the Dr. Henry Viscardi Achievement Award Selection Committee, which recognizes disabled persons from across the world for their advocacy for and support of people with disabilities.

Distinguished Alumni Award for Professional Achievement
George Gill M.D. ’54 

George Gill, M.D. ’54 graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1958, and, after residency in pediatrics and serving in the U.S. Army, he returned to Penn and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia on an oncology training fellowship from the American Cancer Society. After three years on the faculty at Penn, he joined the Jimmy Fund Clinic staff at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard. In 1968 he moved to the Newark Children’s Hospital and became the first pediatric oncologist to practice in the state of New Jersey. Later he became the first medical director of the Valerie Fund Children’s Cancer Clinic while also serving on the faculty at Columbia University and then Cornell/Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. From 1969 to 1985, he was a member of the Children’s Cancer Study Cooperative Group of the National Cancer Institute. From 1968 to his retirement in 2018, Gill had a 50-year career in research and development in the pharma/biotech industry at Hoffmann-LaRoche, Bristol Myers, ICI (now Astra Zeneca), Ligand and Oncolytics. He has played a major role in the clinical development and FDA approval of eleven anti-cancer agents, the second approved AIDS drug and three other infectious disease agents. He has authored or co-authored more than 20 scientific publications.

Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Llamilet Gutierrez ’09

As the daughter of formerly undocumented immigrants, Llamilet Gutierrez ’09 wanted to become a lawyer to provide a voice for the marginalized. This led her to major in law & policy at Dickinson, earn her J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School and serve for six years as a Maryland public defender in Prince George's County. As her work brought her into contact with victims of human trafficking, Gutierrez became increasingly concerned about the issue. To help combat this international problem, she became the executive director of the Amara Legal Center, a nonprofit that provides free legal services to survivors of sex trafficking. As the nonprofit’s executive director, the former Posse Scholar works to ensure these survivors get the legal protection they need and receive the social services to which they’re entitled.

2019 Volunteer Awards

Class Correspondent of the Year Award
Louise Hauer Greenberg ’54

Admissions Alumni Volunteer of the Year Award
Orli Segal ’15

Admissions Parent Volunteers of the Year Award
Carol Dougherty P’17 and Hung Nguyen P’19

Career Champion of the Year Award
Eric Grorud ’94

Published March 12, 2019