Daniel Webster College president honored with

Chief Executive Leadership  and Business Person of the Year Awards
Hannah McCarthy recognized by CASE and the

Nashua Chamber of Commerce

February 9, 2005 – Daniel Webster College President Hannah McCarthy was recognized by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District I with the first annual Chief Executive Leadership Award on January 24, established to honor an institutional leader for outstanding contributions to her campus community, for efforts promoting public understanding of education, and for support of advancement at her campus.  Just three days later, she was recognized with the Nashua Chamber of Commerce's Eminence Awards as its 2005 Business Person of the Year.

Nashua Chamber of Commerce: Comcast's Steve Hackley, Regional VP and GM; President McCarthy; and Nashua Mayor Bernie Streeter

At the CASE Awards: front row from left: Annette Kurman, director of public relations; Sean Ryan, dean of admissions and financial assistance, Tom DiConza, chief financial officer; President Hannah McCarthy; Dr. Michael Fishbein, vice president of academic affairs; Stuart Chase, director of development; rear from left: Marilyn Valentine, executive assistant to the president; Susan Elsass, dean of students; Dr. Robert Sweo, dean of graduate and continuing studies.

President McCarthy is retiring from her post this June, after 25 years leading Daniel Webster College from the time it was a two-year junior college and a specialized, two-year aviation school to where it is now -- a regionally recognized baccalaureate and graduate business and technology center of higher education.

The CASE District I is comprised of higher and independent school professionals from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Selected from among a number of highly-qualified nominees, President McCarthy’s demonstrated ability to increase Daniel Webster College’s stature in the community and establish a positive image of the institution while leading it to even higher levels of success was equally important in the selection process.

Said Patrick Dilger, director of public affairs, Southern Connecticut State University, who was one the selection committee, “All of our nominees were very strong candidates, but the committee felt that the plethora of experience and the tremendous changes she brought to the Daniel Webster College campus over the years warranted her recognition with the 2005 Chief Executive Leadership Award.”

Those who know her agree. “Ms. McCarthy has made extraordinary contributions to the College, to the New Hampshire higher education community, to aviation education, and to the lives of the College’s students and alumni,” said Dr. John Egan, chair of the College’s Board of Trustees.

A passionate advocate for the non-profit community, President McCarthy served as a director of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Nashua for over 20 years; a vocal spokesperson concerning the powerful community benefits of public philanthropy, she also serves as a director of the statewide New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, as well as its Nashua regional division.

Hannah McCarthy came to Daniel Webster College as dean of admissions and financial aid in the fall of 1976 when the college, then known as the New England Aeronautical Institute, was in its 11^th year and enrolled 265 students. Promoted to president in 1980, she led the College through the final stages of its change of name and mission, moving the institution towards more curricular diversity, recognition as a baccalaureate college, and national recognition of its aviation programs. She secured the College’s first decennial regional accreditation shortly after taking over the leadership at Daniel Webster.

Known for its aviation programs, the College owned no aircraft and employed no flight instructors until President McCarthy instituted a campus-based flight curriculum in 1982. Now each year 250 students study flight at the Nashua campus which offers a fleet of 40 aircraft as well as flight simulation laboratories. Fifty full-time flight instructors now serve Daniel Webster flight students and another 100 students are enrolled in air traffic control and aviation management.

In addition to the 350 students who study in the College’s nationally recognized and accredited aviation programs, Daniel Webster College enrolls over 650 graduate and undergraduate students in business and management, the computer sciences, engineering, and social science.

“Over the last quarter of a century, President McCarthy has reconstructed the College on a strong foundation, welcoming the involvement of students, faculty, and staff, creating new facilities and programs, and building a robust network of community support,” said Dr. Norman E. Thurston, of Daniel Webster’s division of social sciences and humanities, who has been at the College since 1978.  “I think her success can be summed up in a single symbol. The Collings Auditorium of the Eaton-Richmond Center has become a venue for a thriving variety of public activities: lectures, seminars, workshops, and the performing and visual arts. People from the Greater Nashua area and beyond visit our campus by the thousands each year for our annual Aviation Heritage Festival, and every four years the College has become a regular stop for politicians at the state and national level…The difference between the place described in the old [1980] college catalog and the place we live today represents a lifetime of achievement.”

Added Dr. Suzan Schafer, retired vice president of academic affairs and dean of the college, “When Hannah McCarthy became president, one of her priorities was to ensure that the College and the community it serves undertake collaborative efforts as part of a vital and educational partnership. Daniel Webster is known to have the most outstanding evening college program in the area, the expansion of service learning and internship programs have been remarkable; and the quality of the Daniel Webster student is strong...providing the region with a rich source of young and capable talent.”

In addition to her work at Daniel Webster College, President McCarthy has been a leader in New Hampshire higher education for almost three decades and has served the Nashua and regional philanthropic and non-profit communities. As chair of New Hampshire College and University Council (NHCUC), a state-wide consortium of all of the public and private regionally-accredited baccalaureate colleges, President McCarthy led the reorganization of the NHCUC as it expanded its role from developing cooperative educational ventures to becoming the leading advocate for higher education in the state. She also chaired the New Hampshire Postsecondary Education Commission from 2001-2003 and was instrumental in re-focusing the Commission on the needs of the state’s most financially disadvantaged students.

“As I worked with President McCarthy for the past 10 years (1994-2004),” said Dr. Schafer, “I am fully aware of the respect she has garnered of many from across the Granite State. Her integrity, personal commitment and dedication to the quality of life in the community have emerged time and time again. She has contributed vastly to the educational climate of the state and to many not-for-profit organizations and the people they serve.”

President McCarthy informed the College’s Board early in August 2004 of her plans to step down in June 2005, at the end of her 25^th year of service as president of Daniel Webster. “This is a great loss for the institution, but Ms. McCarthy has earned the right to retire with pride in all that she has accomplished,” said Dr. Egan. “She will, after all, have successfully led the College from its 15^th to its 40^th year.”

Ms. McCarthy and her husband Phillip Rutledge are residents of Amherst, N.H.

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