Renowned authors and publishers. Dedicated physicians, researchers and educators. Attorneys and advocates for the wronged and vulnerable. Crusaders for justice, truth, equality and reason.
The Executive Council established the Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Service in 1997 to recognize and honor those members of the association who have been a credit to the School and its teachings. The Distinguished Service Award is the highest distinction that can be bestowed on an alumna or alumnus by the association.
Recipients are those living alumni who, through outstanding service, have improved the quality of life in a community on a local, national or global level. Nominated by the alumni body at large, recipients are selected by the Alumni Association’s Presidents Council, composed of the president and past presidents, as well as the executive director and past executive directors.
In 2026, the association selected writer, educator and thought leader Robert “Peter” Neill III ’59 to receive the Award for Distinguished Service. The St. Paul’s School community will recognize him during the association’s annual meeting held on Saturday, May 2, during Anniversary Weekend.
As a writer, educator and thought leader, Robert “Peter” Neill III ’59 has spent more than six decades following his instincts in pursuit of a pair of causes: improving the lives of young people, and advocating for greater awareness of the issues affecting the world’s oceans and promoting policies to improve their sustainability.
Mr. Peter Wright ‘60
Mr. Ted Landsmark ‘64
Ms. Judy Jordan ‘79, P’12
Mr. Coleman “Coley” Burke ‘59
Mr. Robert “Bob” Hall ‘65
Ms. Caroline Randall Williams ‘06
Mr. E. Q. Sylvester ‘57
Dr. Etienne Poirot ’79
Mr. Victor Young ’74
The Form of 1970 (SPS Sparks)
Ms. Lee C. Rhodes ’81
Mr. John H. Shattuck ’61
Mr. William Taft ’62
Mr. Theodore Achilles ’54
Mr. Peter Mack McBride ’89
Mr. Albert Gurney ’48
Dr. Katharine McK. Esselen ’98
Mr. Randa Wilkinson-Bouvier ’75
Mr. Christopher Gallagher ’87
Mr. Andrew Gauldin ’89
Mr. David P. Hunt ’57
Mr. Sam Beard ’57
The Hon. John F. Kerry ’62
Ms. Katherine A. Tarbox ’00
Mr. William R. Matthews Jr. ’61
Mr. David Nelson ’80
The Hon. Nicholas Platt ’53
Ambassador Tatsuo Arima ’53
Mr. Richard Barth Jr. ’85
Dr. Bayard D. Clarkson ’44
Mr. Kevin Gover ’73
Mr. Jonathan T. M. Reckford ’80
Ms. Meg Vaillancourt ˆ74
Dr. Richard E. Schade ’62
Mrs. Michel McQueen Martin ’76
The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold III ’55
Mr. Trevor A. Patzer ’92
Mr. Charles D. Best ’94
Mr. Robert S. Mueller III ’62
Mr. James Wesley Kinnear III ’46
The Rt. Rev. G. P. Mellick Belshaw ’47
Mr. James Forney Bodine ’40
Mr. T. Edward Hambleton ’30
Ms. Karen Louise Sawyer ’74
Mr. Amory Houghton Jr. ’45
Mr. Minoru Bernard Makihara ’50
Dr. Jennifer Walser Wilson ’86
Ms. Lorene E. Cary ’74
Mr. Marshall J. Dodge Jr. ’29
The Rt. Rev. Paul Moore Jr. ’37
Mr. Eliot Warner Coleman Jr. ’57
Prof. Archibald Cox ’30
Mr. Anthony Drexel Duke Sr. ’37
Mr. Alan A. A. Khazei ’79
Ms. Augusta Read Thomas ’82
Mr. J. Randall Williams III ’30