Alumni Association Awards

Alice Paul Merit Award: Mark Mitchell ’86 honored for lifelong commitment to providing access to independent schools for all students

2021 Alice Paul Merit Award recipient Mark Mitchell ’86 has made a lifelong commitment to keeping the doors of educational access and opportunity open to all students. He was presented with the award virtually by Head of School Julia de la Torre at the Alumni Weekend Kickoff and Awards Presentation on May 7.

Mark came to MFS in ninth grade from Morgan Village Middle School in Camden, NJ as a Camden Scholar under the aegis of A Better Chance (ABC). He was a four-year member of Student Council, competed in track and played basketball, and was a National Merit Commended Scholar. He attended Northwestern University, earning a B.S. in communications. His career path started out in financial aid and student services, and he has become a thought leader in that field. Today he serves as the Vice President of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and also as Vice President of the Enrollment Management Association. Through Mark’s work at NAIS, he has had a chance to shape the conversation around access to education. He has authored dozens of articles, book chapters and blogs and is a frequent presenter at local, state, regional, national and international conferences. Topics he is expert on include tuition pricing, affordability, demographic and income trends, and school financial aid policy and practices.

Mark describes himself as passionate about “challenging schools to affirm the value of economic diversity in their school communities, keeping themselves accessible to families whose children only lack the financial resources to achieve their greatest potential.”

He built his expertise starting out as an Assistant Director of Financial Aid at Northwestern, then moved on to direct New Student Financial Aid at Lake Forest College. Next, he worked with the Access Group, Inc. of Wilmington DE, focusing on financing graduate student education. While in Delaware, he served on the Board of Delaware Futures, which provided tutoring, mentoring, and college guidance for low-income at-risk youth. Then, over 20 years ago, he joined NAIS.

Mark has also made a point of giving back to MFS. He served on the School Committee from 2005 to 2014, and has always been gracious about being a sounding board for the school about its financial aid and admissions strategies. He spoke at the Convocation celebrating the school’s 225th anniversary in September 2010. He served on the 2011-12 Strategic Planning Oversight Committee. He has been a member of the Camden Scholars Program Ad Hoc Committee. A loyal and generous donor, Mark has been a lead contributor to the Annual Fund, the Van Meter Endowment for the Camden Scholars Program, and the Great Classrooms for Great Kids campaign.

Mark says that without MFS, he would not be doing what he does today. In the workshops and talks he gives to school leaders, he emphasizes that it is a joy to help them do for students and families what MFS did for him and his family. Reflected Mark: “Based on my personal experiences at MFS, I know first-hand the transformative power and value of access to high-quality education. Helping schools make that transformation happen for others keeps my work authentic, true, and rewarding. Moorestown Friends also taught me that there is that of God in everyone. This belief has undoubtedly influenced my professional life and interests. I strive to honor the Light in others by providing opportunities for people to grow and learn how to be better, whether it’s a financial aid director seeking new skills or a parent seeking the right school for her child.”

Service Award: Meridee Duddleston recognized for long arc of volunteer leadership

Alumni parent and former Trustee Meridee Duddleston was presented with the Alumni Association’s Service Award virtually by former Head of School Larry Van Meter ’68. “The mother of an alumna, Meridee thoughtfully and generously contributed advice, hours of meeting time, as well as financial support, over a long arc of volunteer leadership at MFS,” said Larry. “She is a great example of an MFS parent who has continued to have a deep and meaningful connection with the school.” Meridee first became involved at MFS when her daughter, Melissa “Missy” Waxman ’03, enrolled in fourth grade in 1994. Melissa greatly enjoyed her science courses and, eventually, her opportunities as an Upper School athlete. A life-long, year-round competitive swimmer, she was a Cross Country team captain, Girls’ Swimming team captain, and also an accomplished rower, receiving medals in national competitions. As a senior, Melissa won the Herm Magee Award, presented for outstanding athletic achievement, leadership, and sportsmanship. While Melissa was at MFS, Meridee served as a class parent, and was asked to join the Parent Council Executive Committee as an Upper School Division Coordinator.

As Melissa’s high school career was wrapping up, Meridee started seeking new challenges. A lawyer by trade, in 2003, she began volunteering at radio station WRTI-FM. That evolved into an 18-year career there, as an award-winning arts reporter and morning news anchor.

After Melissa’s graduation, Meridee remained involved in MFS. In the winter of 2004, she served on the Vision & Program Task Group. In 2005, Meridee joined the School Committee, where she served, until 2014. She served on the Development Committee, the Property Disposition Committee, and the Governance Committee. As a trustee, she was also involved in the development of the 2011 Strategic Plan, and worked on the Quaker Dimension task group. In 2016, she began serving on the Ad Hoc Risk Assessment Committee, a subcommittee of the board that provides advice to the Head.

She currently is a member of the Head’s Council, an advisory group that works closely with Head of School Julia de la Torre.

Meridee is able to use her legal experience and analytical skills, her finely-honed ability to ask questions from her years as a radio journalist, her experience as an MFS parent, and her warm and easy-going personality and wry sense of humor, to be a truly valuable member of every group with whom she’s served at MFS.

Meridee and her husband, cardiologist Harvey Waxman, have also been generous Annual Fund donors and lead contributors to a number of important MFS initiatives, such as Campaign 2000 for the Dining Hall; the Campaign for Arts, Athletics & Endowment; the Great Classrooms for Great Kids Campaign; the Camden Scholars Endowment; and the Emergency Financial Aid Fund.

Meridee’s daughter, Melissa Waxman Fleischer, is now an operating room nurse at New York City’s Hospital for Special Surgery.

Call for 2022 Alumni Awards Nominations

The MFS Alumni Association warmly welcomes nominations for the Association’s annual awards slate. If you would like to nominate a fellow alum, or in the case of the Service Award, an alum, alumni parent, or teacher, the process is easy. You can find an online nomination form on the MFS website under the Alumni tab at the top of the landing page. Criteria for the awards and lists of past recipients can also be found there. You also may contact Associate Director of Development Beth Stouffer, at bstouffer@mfriends.org and she will assist you. The Awards Program was established in 2000, when the first Service Award was conferred on the late teacher and coach Floss Brudon. Award nominations are considered by a representative national committee clerked by MFS Trustee and Alumni Association Executive Committee member Haley Coles Driscoll ’86. Traditionally, the awards have been presented at the Dinner Among Friends, which opens Alumni Weekend in May. In addition to the Service Award, the Alice Paul Award of Merit is given for lifetime achievement, and the Young Alumni Award recognizes outstanding alums on or before their 15th MFS reunion.

Young Alumni Award: Ryan Flynn, M.D., Ph.D. ’06 honored for insight and leadership to bridge the fields of RNA biology and stem cell research

The 2021 Young Alumni Award was presented virtually by former Science Department Chair Dr. Barbara Kreider to Ryan Flynn ’06, Assistant Professor at the Boston Children’s Hospital in the Stem Cell Program and in the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University.

Ryan grew up in a medical tradition. He is the son of retired surgical oncologist Anne Rosenberg M.D. ’74, and the grandson of two outstanding medical doctors. He was sure he wanted to be a physician, until he got to medical school. There, he discovered that his true passion was research.

He recently became the newest Principal Investigator in the Stem Cell Program and the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Boston Children’s Hospital, as well as serving in his position at Harvard University and the Pediatrics Department at Harvard Medical School.

In January, Ryan opened the Flynn Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital in the Stem Cell Program, where his team explores how biopolymers like RNA and glycans work together to control cellular processes in the context of human disease.

Ryan completed his M.D. and Ph.D. in cancer biology in The Medical Science Training Program at Stanford University, where he was mentored by Howard Chang and supported by the National Institutes of Health. He received his B.S. in biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, under the mentorship of Phil Sharp, a Nobel Laureate and leader in the RNA field. Ryan was recently awarded the Career Award for Medical Scientists from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Besides his strong focus on research, he is committed to mentoring and training young scientists. Outside the lab his hobbies are learning about and investing in transformative technologies in space, energy, and biotechnology.

Director of the Boston Children’s Hospital Stem Cell Program Dr. Len Zon said, “The Program is very excited to have Ryan as part of our community. Ryan brings amazing scientific insights, energy, and enthusiasm to bridge the fields of RNA biology and stem cell research.”

An original at MFS, Ryan’s interest in math and science was evident from an early age. He accelerated in both subjects as much as he was able, consuming every available math and science course, in addition to studying Latin outside of school on his own time. As an Upper Schooler, he was a finalist in the Siemens Westinghouse Science Competition as well as a semifinalist in the Young Epidemiologist Competition. Ryan was a co-author of a published and peer-reviewed medical journal article before he graduated from MFS. As a senior he received the National Association of Biology Teachers Award and the American Chemical Society Award. He also excelled at crew, cross country, and pottery.

As his academic career continued, he received publication in numerous prestigious journals including Science while he was still at MIT, and Nature while he was at Stanford. At Stanford he was a Damon Runyan postdoctoral fellow in Carolyn Bertozzi’s group in the Department of Chemistry (2017). He also received the Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (2016). At MIT, he was the recipient of the Salvador E. Luria Prize, for excellent scholarship and research of publication quality (2010), as well as the Merck Prize, for outstanding research and academic performance in biophysical/informatics science (2009).

In his college recommendations, MFS science and math teachers wrote about his personal qualities, beyond his obvious academic talent, such as his determination, drive, and grit. Those attributes have served Ryan well as he launched a very promising career in medical science, which has potential to unlock more of the basic biology of processes such as stem cells, cancer, and regeneration.