Recipient of the 2018-19 Alumni Award
Growing up in Maryland, when the time came to consider college, you set your heart on Duke. However, your parents encouraged you to look further afield, and you found yourself touring the Hanover Plain on Homecoming weekend. You instantly fell in love with the beauty and spirit of the campus. Luckily for us, when the two college acceptance letters arrived simultaneously, you chose Dartmouth over Duke, and your Dartmouth story began!
Once on campus, you plunged into a whirlwind of activities – you felt it important to take advantage of all that was offered. You served as a big sister through the Tucker Foundation, and joined Kappa Kappa Gamma. You studied French abroad on an LSA program, and spent a memorable off term working in Lake Placid during the 1980 Olympics. And of course, senior year, you started to date your classmate Bob Gaudet, who would later become your husband.
Although you majored in economics, some of your most meaningful classes took place outside your major. You found Professor Maurice Rapf’s film class fascinating. Varujan Boghosian, professor of art and studio art, opened your eyes to sculpture. Your professors’ dedication to their students always impressed you.
After graduation, you headed to Boston, where you joined Cigna Corporation as a commercial marine underwriter. After you and Bob married, you both returned to Dartmouth, where he helped coach the men’s hockey team, while you coordinated the employee benefits program, later transitioning to a position in Alumni Relations. A move to Rhode Island meant raising a young family, while also managing a productive and enjoyable career in real estate. Returning to Hanover brought a new chapter with Alumni Relations, where you went on to lead the Alumni Leadership team for nine years. Your calm and determined leadership set a steady course during some challenging times, and you were particularly proud of your work with the Association of Alumni and the Alumni Council to revise regulations and guidelines in alumni governance.
While you enjoyed a very successful and wonderfully fulfilling career at Dartmouth, your career as a Dartmouth volunteer has been remarkable as well. As part of your countless roles as a volunteer for the College, you’ve served as class secretary and newsletter editor for the great Class of 1981. Frequently serving on your Reunion committees, you’re renowned for your planning prowess in the food and drink department! You’ve also served as young alumni chair; vice president and president of the Dartmouth Clubs of Rhode Island and the Upper Valley; an alumni fund volunteer; an advisor to Kappa Kappa Gamma; and a member of the Association of Alumni Executive Committee. You are thrilled to now sit on the Native American Visiting Committee. This long list of volunteer positions does not even touch the support you’ve given to other Dartmouth events and gatherings you’ve organized, from the Hanover Golf Course to Boston hockey games to alumnae weekends in Florida. Your passion for bringing people together and connecting generations of alumni has been incredibly meaningful for so many, and you are constantly adding new friendships to your “collection.” Your friends joke that “No one can say no to Lynne!”
But it’s not just the Dartmouth community you assist; other organizations that you have been involved with include the local chapter of the Special Olympics, the stewardship committee of St. Denis Catholic Church, youth hockey teams, and parent organizations at your children’s schools.
All along, you have had the unwavering and enthusiastic support of your dear husband Bob, your sons Joe ’10 and Jim ’12, and daughter Kelly ’17. Your family truly bleeds Green, whether out on the ice or somewhere ’round the girdled earth.
When you received the Young Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 1997, your citation noted that “You have been blessed, of course, in your relatively young life, but you have, in turn, returned more than your share to your college, your colleagues, and the community.” And you have never stopped giving, particularly to your beloved alma mater. Lynne, for your unparalleled service to Dartmouth, and indeed to us all, we are thrilled to present you with the Dartmouth Alumni Award.