2013 Alumni Award Recipients

Each year, the Linfield Alumni Association honors dedicated individuals for their hard work, innovation and generosity of spirit. Here’s a look at Linfield’s 2013 award recipients.

Scott Hamilton '77 – Distinguished Alumnus

Scott Hamilton ’77 has been called a champion of planet Earth – and for good reason.

A humanitarian, explorer and Wall Street businessman, Hamilton has traveled with medical teams to Nepal, Tibet and other parts of the world and spent more than 500 nights on various expeditions. He is an investment advisor, director of The Explorers Club and pro bono director of international relations for the Dooley Foundation-Intermed International, a not-for-profit organization which helps the underprivileged in remote areas of the planet.

Over the years, Hamilton has received awards from the prestigious Explorers Club, which promotes the scientific exploration of land, sea, air and space by supporting research and education in the physical, natural and biological sciences. Since 1982, he has chaired or served on virtually every committee in the club.
“I’ve always had an interest in exploration, travel and seeing new places,” Hamilton said. “After traveling through the villages and seeing the poverty in other parts of the world, it strikes you that you should make an effort to give something back.”

Hamilton has twice taken part in extreme environmental testing of advanced technologies for use in outer space and has also helped develop and test low light vision undersea technologies. In 2009, he and fellow Linfield alumnus Brian Lawrence ’99 climbed 19,341 feet to reach the summit of Africa’s highest point, Mount Kilimanjaro as members of the East Africa High Altitude Research Expedition, a 24-member biomedical research team Hamilton and Lawrence also participated in a similar high altitude research expedition to Mount Everest Base Camp in 2007.

The journey up Kilimanjaro was Hamilton’s second -- he has climbed all over the world, in the Andes, Arctic and Himalayas, and said he thrives on the challenge.

“Short of being an astronaut, it’s the closest you can get to being out of this world,” said Hamilton, whose recent expedition to restore eyesight to people in the Himalayan mountains is featured in “Visions of Mustang,” a film he produced which was recently selected as a finalist at the Banff Mountain Film Festival.

In addition to providing aid in other countries, Hamilton is adept at building relationships. He and his wife, Melissa, represented the USA at the festival of Moussem de Tan Tan by invitation of the King of Morocco. On their 2011 honeymoon, the couple visited an orphanage supported by the Dooley Foundation in Kathmandu, Nepal; delivered computer equipment to the Pema Ts’al Monastic Institute, evaluated a dental clinic and discussed possibilities for building a medical clinic in Pokhara; and met with a team of eye surgeons to discuss future cataract clinics in Vientiane, Laos.

Hamilton is a generous supporter of Linfield, both with his time and resources. He is a member of the President’s Circle and regularly hosts students from Scott Chambers’ January Term finance class in his New York office.
“Scott has been a wonderful East Coast ambassador and has always been willing to talk with Linfield students who are interested in his work,” Chambers said. “I believe Linfield's mission of connecting Learning, Life and Community is at play with Scott -- though his community is the world.”

Hamilton says it’s important to reinvest, both in Linfield as well as in society, and hopes his actions inspire others to do the same.

“Learning is a lifelong process,” he said. “We’re at Linfield for four years, and it puts us on a trajectory for the rest of our lives, so it’s important to show appreciation for those formative years. We are fortunate in the U.S. to have food on the table and access to education. To the extent we can help others, we should. That’s the Linfield spirit.”

Ryan Carlson '98 – Alumni Service Award

Ryan Carlson’s online nickname “Wildcat11” says it all.

A reference to his football jersey number, the name has stuck in the world of online D3 football – and evolved. Some call him simply “11.”

Carlson ’98, a former Linfield athlete and avid Wildcat fan, has donated countless hours to positive promotion of the Linfield football program. In 2006, he created catdomealumni.com, a website celebrating Linfield football. The site contains a video vault full of game highlights, past seasons and record-setting or memorable plays. Player and coaching blogs are also included.
The site has developed a dedicated following and is a useful supplement to the Linfield athletics website, according to Kelly Bird, director of sports information.

“Ryan always wears purple and cardinal colored glasses, seeing the positive in everything and doing what he can to promote Wildcat sports programs in ways the college cannot due to manpower restraints,” Bird said. “His love for Linfield and its athletic programs runs about as deep as you will ever find.”

Carlson, who works in business operations at Synopsys Inc. in Hillsboro, created the site initially to provide a way for Wildcat fans to virtually return to the “Catdome,” a long-held nickname for the Maxwell Field facility, and connect with the Linfield football team. During the season, the website commonly gets close to 9,000 hits, three times the usual game attendance.

Carlson is proud to expound the virtues of Linfield athletics at every opportunity. At home, he and wife Kelly (Bradstreet) ’00, former Linfield women’s basketball player, have an entire room decorated with Linfield memorabilia, including Kelly’s framed Linfield jerseys, publications and other artifacts. Carlson was an honorable mention NAIA All-American in 1997 and once held the Linfield single-season record for sacks with 18. Kelly is a teacher at McMinnville High School and they have a 2-year-old daughter, Grace.

Carlson shoots every football game, then spends evenings creating the video, donating approximately 18 hours each week to the process. He also creates videos for recruiting. Completely self-taught, he had never shot or edited a video when he was initially asked to take on the task. He has picked it up through books, web tutorials, and trial and error.

“Turns out I’m an AV geek at heart,” said Carlson, who also participates as a Top 25 voter on d3football.com. “I’m fairly competitive at it, too. I watch other videos and want to do better.”

The videos have accrued a number of awards over the years. Most recently, the spring football video “The Difference (Light ‘em up)” was a finalist for video of the year on the FootballScoop website.

“Some people like to work on and collect cars, but this is my hobby,” he explains. “I really enjoy videography. It’s a creative outlet. At the same time I’m able to give back to Linfield and the football program, so it benefits both parties – the college and me personally. It’s a great partnership. It’s so nice for Linfield to recognize me, but I don’t do it for recognition. I do it for the players and the fans.”

Watch a video: The Difference (Light ‘em up)

Anne Zimmerman '00 – Outstanding Young Alumna

Anne Zimmerman’s debut book may have been sparked by a forest fire.

Zimmerman ’00, the author of three books including An Extravagant Hunger: The Passionate Years of M.F.K. Fisher, was a graduate student in 2003 when forest fires raged near San Diego State University and residents took shelter inside.

“I ended up being trapped in my apartment for a week, and all I had were the groceries I had stocked up on and an armload of library books on M.F.K. Fisher,” she recalled. “By the time the fire died down, I was obsessed.”

Zimmerman wrote a paper on famed food writer Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher, but that didn’t quench her interest. She went on to write a thesis and ultimately a book, gaining access to Fisher’s original documents, which were part of a closed collection at the Author and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America. There, for two full weeks, she poured over Fisher’s writing in the library in Cambridge, Mass.

“I was able to hold in my hands the letters she had written,” said Zimmerman, who came away with hundreds of pages of notes and a theory about Fisher’s untold life. She is now one of the top M.F.K. Fisher experts in the world.

Zimmerman believed there was more to the life of Fisher than the stories she told in her autobiographical books and essays. Fisher's writings about food were rich and evocative: she viewed meals as one of the central characters in the most profound moments in her life. Yet there was a sadness to her work too, pain that hinted at a life filled with darkness and despair.

Zimmerman’s book, An Extravagant Hunger, depicts the most colorful years of Fisher’s life. In the biography, Zimmerman describes Fisher’s early years, love and knowledge of food, her time in France and development as an author. Having followed Fisher’s footsteps from Northern California to Cambridge, Mass., and then to Paris, Zimmerman pieced together the personal life behind the writer’s public persona.

“I’ve always been interested in non-fiction writing, true stories and work by women -- how women tell the stories of their lives,” said Zimmerman.

Her interest was nurtured at Linfield in courses with English Professors Barbara Drake and Barbara Seidman, and it was during this time that she was first introduced to Fisher. After earning her Linfield degree, Zimmerman worked in the non-profit sector and then politics, before returning to the classroom and a master’s program in women’s studies.

“I discovered Fisher when I was 28 and living alone in San Diego,” she said. “Her writing about food and the enjoyment of food and the importance of taking care of yourself even if no one is around to take care of you really resonated with me. That’s what makes her universal. She’s a food writer, but it’s really more of a philosophical mindfulness about investing in beauty and pleasure.”

Zimmerman is also the author of Musings on Wine and Other Libations and Love in a Dish. In addition to her Linfield degree, she has a MA from San Diego State, where her thesis was a biographical study of the life of M.F.K. Fisher. She lives in San Francisco and teaches nonfiction writing online through Stanford University.

 

Bob Breshock – Walker Award

Bob Breshock is a self-professed “small liberal arts college junkie.”

A graduate of a liberal arts college himself, he understands first-hand the power of a small college and was pleased when his daughter, Laura ’14, chose Linfield.

Now, as chair of the Parents Council Leadership Team (PCLT), Breshock continually finds ways to promote Linfield College and engage others in the Linfield community. He and wife Julie have been PCLT members for the past three years and regularly attend Linfield events in the Seattle area, as well as on the Linfield campus. They participate in events including Fall Family Weekend and admitted student events for admission, to name a few. Additionally Breshock, managing director of marketing at Parametric Portfolio Asociates LLC, hosted a January Term finance class visit at Parametric, and regularly updates the office of Career Development with job openings. 

“It’s clear that Bob has a real passion for education and loves to share that passion with others,” said Tomika Dew, assistant vice president for institutional advancement.

The Breshocks joined the PCLT in 2010 when Laura, a history major and art minor, came to Linfield as a freshman. The mission of the PCLT appealed to him – parents working to shape the Linfield experience by assisting with other parent questions, admissions, career placement and fundraising. Members also give administration and staff feedback about what is and is not working. 

For Breshock, the council was a way to contribute to Linfield and have a positive impact. Breshock said he appreciated the fact that Linfield is serious about providing volunteers a voice and encouraging them to be meaningful stakeholders in students’ success. 

“Linfield saw us as more than a philanthropy resource, important as that is,” he said. “Our family has benefitted from others who have volunteered and will benefit from those who will volunteer in the future. As part of the PCLT, we came to really enjoy the connection with the other council parents and the opportunity to engage directly with the administration.”

Breshock grew up in the Midwest and attended Wabash College, a small liberal arts college in Indiana. As a student, he appreciated the engagement of the faculty, the closeness with the students, the ability to explore a wide range of subjects and the encouragement of curiosity and life-long learning.

“Not every school gets this right so I am always happy to find the schools that do,” he said. “It’s fun to discover these little gems like Linfield!”

For more information, contact Debbie Harmon Ferry '90, director of alumni relations, by email or call 503-883-2607.