Simply the Best

Hall of Fame & Women of Distinction Honorees for 2020 and 2021

Alumni Weekend and Reunion returned to campus in the Fall of 2021 to celebrate the 2020 and 2021 Hall of Fame and Women of Distinction. The ceremony was held outdoors in the Formal Gardens as then Head of School José M. De Jesús honored the newest honorees as Hall of Famers and Women of Distinction.

2020 Hall of Fame and Women of Distinction

Zaid Abdul-Aleem ’90 Service to the School

As a decade-long member of the LFA Board of Trustees (2007 to 2017), Zaid Abdul-Aleem ’90 helped strengthen the school through service on the board’s advancement committee, finance committee, and the endowment subcommittee while also extending his volunteerism to involvement with the Academy’s students and alumni through the Black Student Union.

At LFA, Abdul-Aleem was junior and senior class president, prefect, Caxy Key, and All-Conference in football, basketball, and track. He went on to Duke University where he earned B.A. and M.A. degrees, was a Fulbright Scholar, and captain of the Duke football team earning All-Academic ACC honors, Student-Athlete of the Year, and a place on the 1994 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, an annual award given to football players for the impact they make off the field.

Robert Bates ’60 (posthumous) Service to Society

The late U.S. Marine Corps First Lieutenant Robert Bates ’60 is honored posthumously for his ultimate sacrifice. In addition to the Purple Heart, Bates also received a Silver Star for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action” in his command of the First Platoon, Company G, Second Battalion, Third Marines during Operation KERN in the Republic of Vietnam, before he was mortally wounded on October 22, 1966. Bates was the first soldier from Lake Forest who died in Vietnam.

The Bates family’s connection to the Academy is longstanding. One of the first buildings on the current LFA campus was Bates House, constructed in spring 1948. This dormitory was funded, in part, by Robert’s father, George Bates, Class of 1922. Additional LFA alumni with family connections to Lt. Bates include George Bates ’52, Kathryn Bates Leonard ’82, Nancy Bates Westergard ’87 and Lesley MacGregor ’03.

Bill Dolbee P’04, ’10 Service to the School

With his retirement following the 2019-20 school year—a year punctuated by the school’s transition to e-learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic—Bill Dolbee P’04,’10 left a legacy of 36 years’ service and leadership to the Academy. Long-heralded as one of the school’s most storied and celebrated instructors, he was the 1991 recipient of the Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence, graduation speaker for the classes of 1993 and 2020, and had the school’s yearbook, the Caxy, dedicated to him in 1995.

Dolbee assumed the roles of associate head of school; assistant head of school; dean of faculty; history department chair; dormitory parent; coach of football, softball and basketball; club adviser; and mentor to all. In 2018, Dolbee was named the inaugural recipient of the Ned & Lynn Jessen Endowed Chair in the Humanities. Always a proponent of a pluralistic community, Dolbee was a major force in helping LFA become the diverse and empathetic institution it has become. Among his final duties prior to retirement was to support the transition of José M. De Jesús as Head of School.

Gloria Harper P’93 Woman of Distinction

Lifelong educator Gloria Harper P’93 served LFA as dean of students; dean of multicultural affairs; AP Biology, Biology I, Freshman Physics, Current Issues in Science, Anatomy and Physiology instructor; dormitory parent/head; and cheerleading coach while employed at LFA from 1989-2006. The year after leaving LFA’s faculty to assume the position of chief program and academy officer with the Golden Apple Foundation (where she served for 11 years) in Chicago, Harper began a decade of service on the Academy’s Board of Trustees. She was elected as an LFA Life Trustee in 2017.

LFA alumni continue to share stories of how Harper’s science classes were inspiring and thought-provoking. When Harper is in the room, she embraces “her children.” She has also served as chair of the board of trustees for the Above and Beyond Family Recovery Center, a not-for-profit outpatient addiction treatment center on Chicago’s West Side and the Winston Knolls Education Group/School for students on the autism spectrum in Hoffman Estates, Ill. as well as being on the board of the Global Youth Leadership Institute.

Rebecca Makkai ’95 Achievement in the Arts

The induction of Rebecca Makkai ’95 into the LFA Hall of Fame is among a long list of achievements. Named one of Chicago Magazine’s 50 most powerful women, this acclaimed author saw her first novel, The Borrower, awarded a Booklist Top Ten Debut, Indie Next pick, and O Magazine selection. Her second book, The Hundred-Year House, received commendation as The Chicago Writers Association’s novel of the year and received raves in the New York Times Book Review and elsewhere. Her 2015 short story collection, Music for Wartime, included four stories that were featured in the Best American Short Stories anthology.

Makkai’s The Great Believers was named a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction and the 2018 National Book Award, and won the ALA Carnegie Medal, the LA Times Book Prize, the Stonewall Award, and the Clark Prize, among other honors; it was also named one of the New York Times’ Top Ten Books of 2018. The Great Believers has been optioned for television by Amy Poehler’s Paper Kite Productions. Makkai’s work has been translated into more than 20 languages.

A resident on LFA’s campus with husband, Jonathan Freeman, assistant dean of students/director of residential life and English teacher, Makkai maintains strong connections to many of her former teachers, and in 2019 was able to honor her former AP English teacher, Tom Elieff, with the Chicago Writers Museum inaugural Inspiration Award. In addition to her writing, Makkai serves on the faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University and is artistic director of StoryStudio Chicago.

Eric Stisser ’90 Achievement in Athletics

As vice president of corporate partnerships for the St. Louis Blues (NHL) and the indoor sports venue (Enterprise Center), Eric Stisser ’90 earned his second major sports championship ring when the Blues won the Stanley Cup in 2019. He received his first pro title ring from his time with the St. Louis Rams, Super Bowl champions in 2000. In his 14th year with the Blues, Stisser manages and develops strategic business relationships and generates revenue through corporate partnerships, advertising sales, signage, media, community relations, promotions, and other sales.

Stisser was a three-year starter and team captain for football, basketball, and baseball and was named All-Conference and All-Lake County his senior year in all three sports at LFA. As quarterback of the football team, he led the team to a 10-1 season. He was also a 1,000-point scorer as point guard on the basketball team and a stellar shortstop on the Caxy baseball squad. Also in his senior year, Stisser served LFA as prefect and Caxy Key. Following his graduation from DePauw University with a B.A.

degree, Stisser returned to LFA as assistant director of admissions and development from 1994-96 and also served as assistant coach for football, baseball, and basketball before embarking on his successful career in professional sports. He earned his MBA degree from Washington University in St. Louis. Fellow alumni in Stisser’s LFA family tree include David Andreas ’67, Andy Lee ’87, Cayman Lee Campbell ’89, Mark Stisser ’89 and Jason Delane Lee ’90

2021 Hall of Fame and Women of Distinction

Makola Abdullah ’86 Service to Society

The youngest African-American in Northwestern University’s history to receive a Ph.D. in engineering, LFA Life Trustee Dr. Makola Abdullah ’86 became a career all-star academic administrator, serving multiple roles while championing the importance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the United States. Since 2016, he has served Virginia State University, an HBCU, as its 14th president.

Following his graduation from LFA, Dr. Abdullah received his B.S. degree from Howard University in civil engineering, then earned both his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Northwestern University, also in civil engineering. Prior to his appointment as president of Virginia State, Dr. Abdullah also served as provost and senior vice president at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla., as well as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens. In his time at the helm of Virginia State, Dr. Abdullah’s work has included establishing VSU student mentoring partnerships in math and reading with local public school systems; opening the Academic Center of Excellence as a one-stop advising/tutorial hub for first-year students; and establishing the university’s Advisory Board for Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer/Questioning Intersex Ally+ (LGBTQIA+) Inclusion among other initiatives. His fundraising prowess has seen the largest gift ever to the university.