Vassar Quarterly - Summer 2018 - 39

Beyond Vassar

AAVC AWARDS
Outstanding Service and Faculty-Staff Awards Bestowed reunion Weekend

D

uring Reunion 2018, the Alumnae/i Association of Vassar College (AAVC) honored
two alumnae from the class of 1963 at the
Saturday morning Volunteer Breakfast.
Susan Donahue Kuretsky '63, Professor of Art on the
Sarah Gibson Blanding Chair, received the Outstanding
Faculty or Staff Award, and Sally Lyman Rheinfrank '63,
who has served Vassar in many roles, including trustee,
received the Outstanding Service to Vassar Award.
The Outstanding Faculty or Staff Award honors a
faculty or staff member's "exemplary service, leadership, and commitment to engage with alumnae/i and
current students through a range of programs, initiatives, and activities over a period of years." Kuretsky,
a beloved teacher of art history, surely fits the bill.
AAVC President Missie Rennie Taylor '68 acknowledged Kuretsky's "expansive, extraordinary work" in
education. "Generations of Vassar students have benefited from her extraordinary skills in the classroom,"
she said.
After earning her master's and PhD at Harvard,
Kuretsky returned to her alma mater in 1975 and went
on to teach at the college for more than four decades-
right through this spring semester.
Kuretsky's Art Department colleague, Andrew
Tallon-one of several people to have nominated her-
called her "a devoted servant of Vassar ... whether in
the role of beloved teacher, respected alumna, or
consummate Vassar evangelist on the road with
Regional and International Programs. As a fellow
faculty member in the Art Department, I have had the
chance to see her in these various roles firsthand, and
can speak directly to the love for Vassar that she elicits
from alumnae/i when they encounter her."
This is only the second year the Outstanding
Faculty or Staff Award has been granted. The inaugural award was given to Professor Emeritus of Political
Science Glen Johnson last year.
The Outstanding Service to Vassar Award is presented to an alumna or alumnus "in recognition of her
or his extraordinary commitment, leadership, and
service in promoting the goals and highest interests
of Vassar College and the AAVC." The award honors
outstanding contributions made over a number of
years in any number of volunteer capacities.
When presenting the award to Rheinfrank, Taylor
proclaimed her the "ultimate Vassar volunteer."

Rheinfrank served a total of 16 years on the Vassar
Board of Trustees, and four years chairing the Pyramid
Society of former trustees; led two national fund-raising
efforts, The Campaign for Vassar and the Vassar 150: World
Changing campaign; served as vice president and chair
of the nominating, scholarship, and reunion gift
committees for her class; and much more.
Taylor joked that devotion to Vassar just might be in
Rheinfrank's blood. After all, her Vassar family connections extend from the class of 1906 to the class of 2022
and include one mother, two aunts, one cousin, one
nephew, three nieces, two grandnieces, one motherin-law, one sister-in-law, and one grandson who will
arrive on campus this fall. As Rheinfrank's nephew
Stephen Hankins '85, P'13,'17 revealed during the awards
ceremony, "When it came time to apply to Vassar, my
mother, who's class of '61, couldn't remember all of the
family members and called Sally. On the application,
there's a line where you're supposed to put your family,
and Sally said 'Get out another piece of paper!'"
In honor of Kuretsky's and Rheinfrank's many
contributions to the college, the class of 1963 made a
generous donation to Vassar.

AAVC honorees Sally Lyman
rheinfrank '63 and Susan
Donahue Kuretsky '63,
center, with then-AAVC
President Missie rennie
Taylor '68 and President
Bradley.

VA S S A r Q u A r T E r LY

39



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