Thayer Leadership Award
Braintree High School Student Receives the Sylvanus Thayer Leadership Award
On 18 May, 2010, Meghan Doherty, a junior at the Braintree High School in Massachusetts, will receive the 1st Annual Sylvanus Thayer Leadership Award presented by the West Point Society of New England (WPSNE). The award presenters will be: Dale Kurtz, the President of the WPSNE, West Point class of 1973, and Al Barese, member of the WPSNE Leadership Award Committee, West Point class of 1979 and graduate of the Braintree High School.
The purpose of the Sylvanus Thayer Leadership Award is to recognize the outstanding leadership achievements of a secondary school student completing their junior year at Braintree High School. In making this recognition, it is the intent of the WPSNE to further the ideals of the United States Military Academy as articulated in the Academy’s motto, “Duty, Honor, Country”. Additionally, this recognition is intended to further those values ascribed to Brigadier General Sylvanus Thayer, the “Father of the Military Academy”, which are: scholarly achievement, selfless service, high standards of discipline, and demonstrated leadership ability.
Sylvanus Thayer was born in Braintree, MA, on 9 June, 1785. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1807 before entering the United States Military Academy at West Point. He graduated from West Point at the top of his class on 23 February, 1808. Since he never married, he spent his later years living in Braintree with his sister, Livia, and her husband, Dr. Jonathan Wilde. He died in Braintree on 7 September, 1872, at the age of eighty-seven.
West Point prepared Sylvanus Thayer for what would become a lifetime of military service. He began his career as an engineering officer during the War of 1812, but is most famous for his work as the Superintendent of the United States Military Academy (1817-1833). At West Point, Thayer improved all the academic departments, hired the best available educators, instituted strict disciplinary standards, promoted scholarly excellence and achieve-ment through challenging and frequent examinations, and established the first technological and engineering curriculum in the country. Thayer’s outstanding work transformed the Academy into a leading educational institution and earned him the nickname “The Father of West Point”.
After leaving West Point, Thayer served as Chief Engineer for the construction of Forts Warren, Winthrop, and Independence in Boston Harbor before retiring from the Army on 1 June, 1863. After initially refusing the commission he was entitled to by law for these works, Thayer reluctantly accepted a sizable amount and placed it on account for philanthropic works. He founded the Thayer Public Library (opened 1874) and the Thayer Academy (opened 1877). In 1867, he also founded and endowed the nation’s first graduate school of engineering, the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College.
Candidates for the Sylvanus Thayer Leadership Award were evaluated by the WPSNE Leadership Award Committee against a broad slate of criteria, based generally upon the ideals of West Point and those of BG Sylvanus Thayer. These criteria included: scholarly achievement, duty and selfless service, discipline and honor, leadership, and country. The West Point Society of New England will annually recognize an individual for their overall leadership accomplish-ments to date, to inspire them to persevere in their pursuit of leadership excellence, and to provide a tangible award for inclusion in such things as college or employment applications.
The members of the Sylvanus Thayer Leadership Award Committee (STLAC) of the West Point Society of New England are:
- Bill Seymour 1976 WPSNE Thayer Leadership Award Chairman
- Al Barese 1979 WPSNE Thayer Leadership Award Vice-Chairman
- Shane Belvin 1999
- Erik Eriksen 1979
- Nicole Grace Friend of West Point
- Dale Kurtz 1973
- Stefan Mationg 2002
- Tommy Meyer 1976 STLAC Book Coordinator
- Grant Rowland 2001
It is an honor, and no small feat, to be nominated by the Braintree High School for the Sylvanus Thayer Leadership Award. All of the nominees were outstanding in academics, athletics, and community service. The nominees this year were:
- Lauren Attardo
- Jacqueline Baker
- Meghan Doherty
- Marissa Ducach
- Keira Flaherty
- Tyler Wojtasinski
The winner of the 2010 Sylvanus Thayer Leadership Award was Meghan Doherty. She has been inducted into both the National Honor Society and the Spanish National Honor Society. She attended the MassSTAR Youth Leadership Conference and will attend Girls State this June. She has been on the Student Council for three years and been elected as her Class President for three years in a row. In athletics, Meghan is on the Varsity Girls Basketball Team and the Girls Lacrosse Team.
Community service is a cornerstone of Meghan’s focus. She participated in Freshman Orientation Day, Adopt-A-Family, the Junior Prom Committee, Clean Up Day, the Blood Bank, the Change for Haiti Fundraiser, and the March for Matt Walk-A-Thon. She is a Thanksgiving Day server for Feed the Hungry. She is a Team Captain for the annual Alzheimer’s Association Walk.
As the winner of the Sylvanus Thayer Leadership Award, Meghan Doherty will receive four classic books on leadership (some of which are authored by West Point graduates), a distinctive individual coin from the West Point Association of Graduates, a mounted miniature cadet saber engraved to reflect the Award, an Award certificate, and an Award recognition letter from the WPSNE President suitable for inclusion in college application packets or for similar purposes.
Erik Erickson ‘79
AOG Updated Website
The Association of Graduates’ website was recently updated this past month. Check it out at http://www.westpointaog.org
