The Nicholas P. Tillinghast Award

For Achievement in the Field of Education

This award was named in honor of the college's first president (then called "headmaster"). The award is made to honor a Bridgewater graduate who has demonstrated the qualities of outstanding leadership, excellence in performance, and outstanding personal achievement in the field of public education at the state, regional, or national level.

 

 

 

2012 Recipient - Dr. Philip Conroy '72

Dr. Phil Conroy, Ed.D. is completing his first year as the  president of Vermont Technical College. He came to Vermont Tech from Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts, where he served as vice president of enrollment management and marketing, responsible for admissions, financial aid, marketing, publications, the web site, public relations, and retention related activities.

Phil has served in a variety of roles at Mount Ida beginning in 1997, is an internationally recognized expert on higher education management, particularly in the areas of strategic enrollment management and institutional advancement.  Prior to his service at Mount Ida, Dr. Conroy served as the director of development for the College of Food and Natural Resources at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Director of Development and Executive Director of the Bridgewater State University Foundation, where he also served as a faculty member, financial aid counselor, and alumni relations director.

He has more than thirty years of teaching and management experience in higher education, including resource development, endowment management, volunteer and constituent management, strategic enrollment management, financial aid, integrated marketing, international and multi-cultural education, transition to college and the first year of college. In addition, he has earned a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) designation from the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Phil is a frequent presenter at conferences and workshops in Europe and North America on enrollment management, academic affairs, and institutional advancement issues, and he's served in a number of volunteer positions, both in higher education and in his local community.

He has a B.S.Ed. from Bridgewater State University, a M.Ed. from Rhode Island College, and an Ed.D. from Nova Southeastern University. He is the recipient of the Boston Higher Education Partnership Community Service Award for developing the Success Academy Program at Mount Ida College, a program that bought more than 12,000 first generation middle school and high school students to the campus for a day at college program.

 

Last Modified: August 16, 2012