Bestowed during Colby-Sawyer's Commencement ceremony, the Susan Colgate Cleveland Medal for Distinguished Service is the college’s highest honor. It is presented to individuals who exemplify Susan Colgate Cleveland’s attributes, ensuring that her work, dedication and influence will be remembered by future generations.
Ann Page Stecker
Professor of Humanities, School of Arts & Sciences
David H. Winton Endowed Teaching Chair
Wesson Honors Program Coordinator
Ann Page Stecker retires from Colby-Sawyer after 40 years of steadfast dedication to both the college and its students. A prominent fixture of the college’s School of Arts & Sciences for decades, Stecker taught courses in environmental literature, autobiography, British literature, New England history and women’s literature.
Stecker joined the college’s faculty in 1980, and participated in an advisory committee that ultimately chose to transition Colby-Sawyer to a coeducational institution in 1990. Beloved by her students, Stecker was known for her passion for the works of William Shakespeare and Virginia Wolfe, and often passed that passion on to those she taught. She also taught courses which supported the foundation of the Women’s and Gender Studies minors.
Stecker received the Jack Jensen Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1991, and was the driving force behind the creation of the Wesson Honors Program, which offers academic, cultural and social opportunities for the college’s most highly motivated and capable students. She served as the program’s coordinator since its inception in 2000. In 2002, Stecker was honored as the first David H. Winton Endowed Teaching Chair in recognition of her excellence in teaching and leadership on campus, and was chosen as the keynote speaker at the 2008 Women Who Make a Difference Luncheon in New London, N.H.
A historian and writer, Stecker has published three books during her time at Colby-Sawyer: Sisters of Fortune in 1993, Our Voices, Our Town: A History of New London, New Hampshire from 1950 to 2000 in 2000 and New Hampshire: Crosscurrents in its Development in 2004. Stecker recently completed writing a yet-to-be-published fourth book, a biography of Mary Elizabeth Wilson Sherwood.
Stecker earned her A.B. from Randolph-Macon Women’s College, and her M.A. from the University of Virginia. She resides in New London, N.H., with her husband, Rick.
Patrick Anderson
Professor of Humanities, School of Arts & Sciences
Gibney Distinguished Professor
Patrick Anderson leaves Colby-Sawyer after more than 40 years of dedicated service to the college and devotion to his students. As an integral component of the college’s School of Arts & Sciences, Anderson taught courses in American studies, American literature, Native American culture and American and international film, for which he was extremely passionate.
Anderson joined the college’s faculty in 1977, and quickly earned both the respect of his peers and admiration of his students. His high standards challenged students to exceed expectations, and he often instilled in those who took his classes a new love for film and literature. Anderson was a strong supporter to students in English and Communication Studies majors, as well as American Studies, Film Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies minors.
Anderson earned the Jack Jensen Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1998, and in 2004, was selected as a George Washington Distinguished Professor/Scholar by the New Hampshire Society of the Cincinnati. He was honored with a Gibney Distinguished Professorship in 2007, in which he developed and implemented a public speaking initiative at the college, and was presented the college’s Gown Award in 2016 for his extraordinary work and contributions in the New London area.
During his 43-year tenure at Colby-Sawyer, Anderson completed sabbatical leaves that took him to Central and South America to study Maya and Inca culture, the Pacific Northwest and Alaska to study the indigenous cultures of those regions, New Zealand to study Maori culture, and to several Moundbuilder sites in the Midwestern U.S. to study the indigenous people who constructed them. He’s also travelled the state for more than 25 years giving presentations as part of the New Hampshire Humanities Council’s "Humanities on the Go" series, and is also the author of, In Its Own Image: The Cinematic Vision of Hollywood, published in 1978.
Anderson earned his A.B. from the University of Notre Dame, as well as an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He currently resides in South Sutton, N.H., with his wife, Betsy.
For more information on Commencement 2020, visit colby-sawyer.edu/commencement.