Aristeia Awards for Distinguished Alumni/ae

2023 Aristeia Award

On June 13, the American School celebrated Craig Mauzy, Deputy Director of the Agora Excavations, receiving the 2023 Aristeia Award with a ceremony in the Athenian Agora Courtyard Garden. The award honors distinguished alumni/ae who have provided exceptional service to the School and who have done the most over the years to support its mission. For nearly four decades, Mauzy has captured the amazing discoveries and excavation work being done at the Agora through his prolific photography. To view Mauzy’s work, please visit the School’s digital collections database at ascsa.net and enter “Mauzy” in the search field. 

2022 Aristeia Award

On behalf of the ASCSA Alumni/ae Association, the president of the Association, Elizabeth Langridge-Noti, announced that Margaret M. Miles is the recipient of the Aristeia Award for Distinguished Alumni/ae of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.  John Camp presented the award.

“I am resisting the temptation relayed by one of Margie’s mentors, Colin Edmonson, who used to describe the start of a lecture when a colleague stood up to begin the session and said “Our speaker needs no introduction” and sat down.

While this is certainly true in Margie’s case, I wanted to give her due. I had access to the many letters written in her support for this award, and in the interests of efficiency, I have mined the words used to describe her manifest abilities and qualities and will present them in alphabetic order. The rest of us would be happy to take only four or five of these to claim success as a teacher:

“Adventurous, Caring, Conscientious, Creative, Curious, Dedicated, Energetic,
Enlightening, experienced, Expertise, Explorer, Generous, Hard-working, Inclusive,
Inspiring, Kind, Knowledgeable, Passionate, Rigorous, Selfless, and Tireless”.

Exceptionable as a Teacher, Scholar, Role Model, and Mentor, and an obvious choice for the Arete award. I myself would add the word Wise, though usually wisdom is imparted by one older than one’s self, which Margie is not in my case. Even a short list of the many mentors the ASCS provided me: Sterling Dow, Ron Stroud, Alan Boegehold, Leslie Shear, Homer Thompson, Kendrick Pritchett, and Eugene Vanderpool, all shared words to live by or observations acquired after a lifetime. Margie should be on this list for her ability to raise the level of any conversation.

2021 Aristeia Award

On behalf of the ASCSA Alumni/ae Association, the president of the Association, Elizabeth Langridge-Noti, announced that Niamh Michalopoulou and Nick Michalopoulos have be named as the 2021 receipients of the Aristeia Award for Distinguished Alumni/ae of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

The Aristeia Award was created to honor those who have provided exceptional service to the School and who have done the most over the years to support the ASCSA’s mission. Both Nick and Niamh embody those characteristics, having nurtured and cared for the American School community over many years. For many of us, it is impossible to imagine carrying out our work and our programs without them—whether making sure that we ourselves or our students get the care needed when falling sick—especially important as Covid-19 came crashing down on us all last Spring—or whether it is finding an extra room, an extra plate, or at times, knowing that pizza is needed on an unexpected late Sunday return from a summer trip!  I know that I speak for all alumni/ae when I say that we cannot imagine life at the ASCSA in Athens without them there helping to make things run.

2020 Aristeia Award

The Alumni/ae Association announced that Susan I. Rotroff was named the 2020 recipient of the Aristeia Award for Distinguished Alumni/ae of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. 

The Aristeia Award, now in its tenth year, was created to honor those who have provided exceptional service to the School and who have done the most over the years to support  the ASCSA’s mission in teaching, research, archaeological exploration, and/or publication. Susan exemplifies all of those traits. Her work with Hellenistic pottery in the Agora was, and is, ground-breaking, but to many of us, it is her work supporting ASCSA students, friends, and smaller excavations by serving as mentor and consultant that form the core of why she is so deserving of this award. From unpeeling the layers of the Pnyx for Summer Session students to careful consideration of the issues before the ASCSA, she is recognized by alumni as having long been a truly integral part of the School, and richly deserving of this recognition.

2019 Aristeia Award

The Association was pleased to announce that Nancy A. Winter was named the 2019 recipient of the Aristeia Award for Distinguished Alumni/ae of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. In Nancy A. Winter, we are fortunate to have someone who has published extensively on architectural terracottas and excavated in Greece, Cyprus, and Italy, and who has tirelessly served the School and its members for decades, especially in her role as Head Librarian.   Every alumnus’ and alumna’s life has been touched in one way or another by Nancy’s hard work as the initiator of the ARGOS project, which eventually led to the electronic cataloguing of the numerous resources of the libraries and archives.  She has long been a part of the heart and soul of the School, and richly deserves this recognition.  

Nancy Winter was presented with the Aristeia Award at the annual meeting of the Alumni/ae Association, in conjunction with the AIA/SCS convention in San Diego, January 4, 2019.   The many Alumni/ae in attendance helped us celebrate Nancy’s career and contributions to the life of the School.

2018 Award

Alumni/ae Association President Georgia Tsouvala announced that Robert A. Bridges, Jr. has been named the 2018 recipient of the Aristeia Award for Distinguished Alumni/ae of the American School of Classical Studies atAthens.

Bob was presented with the Aristeia Award in absentia at the meeting of the Alumni/ae Association, held at the AIA/SCS convention in Boston on January 5. The weather did not dampen spirits in the slightest! Immediate Past President Levine presided at the Annual Meeting, and Bronwen Wickkiser graciously read Prof. Leslie Day's presentation remarks.

The Aristeia Award, now in its eighth year, was created to honor those who have provided exceptional service to the School and who have done the most over the years to support the ASCSA’s mission in teaching, research, archaeological exploration, and/or publication. In Bob Bridges, we are fortunate enough to have someone who has worked tirelessly to support the research, teaching, and the lives of all alumni and alumnae who have set foot at the School and in Greece while serving as Secretary of the School for over three decades. He also did his own teaching for the School, providing lectures for the Regular and Summer programs even after his retirement, as well as leading successfully field trips to Turkey for many years. Bob Bridges stands alongside our previous recipients, Mary Sturgeon and Mary Darlington, Alan Boegehold, Jim McCredie, Ron Stroud, Nancy Bookidis, John Camp II, and Charles Kaufman Williams II, as an exemplary representative of the ideals of service, teaching, and scholarship.

2017 Award

Alumnae/i Association Georgia Tsouvala President announced that Mary Sturgeon and Mary Darlington have been named the 2017 recipients of the Aristeia Award for Distinguished Alumni/ae of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

Mary Sturgeon

Mary Darlington

The Aristeia Award, now in its seventh year, was created to honor those who have provided exceptional service to the School and who have done the most over the years to support the ASCSA’s mission in teaching, research, archaeological exploration, and/or publication. In Mary Sturgeon, we are fortunate enough to have a recipient who has made outstanding contributions not just in some but in all of these areas. In Mary Darlington, we are equally fortunate to have someone who has worked tirelessly behind the scenes and has made significant contributions to all departments of the School, but most importantly to the Managing Committee, and especially to admissions, publications, and fundraising. Mary Sturgeon and Mary Darlington stand alongside our previous recipients, Alan Boegehold, Jim McCredie, Ron Stroud, Nancy Bookidis, John Camp II, and Charles Kaufman Williams II, as exemplary representatives of the ideals of service and scholarship.

Mary Sturgeon and Mary Darlington were presented with the Aristeia Award at annual meeting of the Alumni/ae Association, which was held held at the AIA/SCS convention in Toronto, Friday, January 6.

The recipients' names are to be inscribed on a plaque on display in the ASCSA in Athens.

2016 Award 

Dr. Charles Kaufman Williams, II, Emeritus Director of the Corinth Excavations

Charles received his B.A. with honors (1953), and an M.F.A. in Architecture from Princeton University (1956), and worked as an architect in the office of Philip Johnson, while taking classes at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts. He received his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania (1978). He worked as an architectural archaeologist at Mycenae with Alan B. Wace, and worked in Sicily at Morgantina, and in Turkey at Gordion. He published the temple of Zeus at Nemea for the School. He excavated with Michael Jameson at Porto Cheli, and at Aghios Stephanos with Lord William Taylour. After a year as the Corinth Excavation Fellow (1963-1964), Charles became the first holder of the Gorham Phillips Stevens Fellowship (1964-65), and the following year (taking over from Henry S. Robinson) he became director of the Corinth excavations—a position he held for over thirty years.

Charles Williams was instrumental in formalizing the long-running Corinth training program, which has trained generations of graduate students, providing an experience that was, for some, their first (and only) practical experience with archaeology. He brought order to all aspects of the record keeping at Corinth—both in the field and in the museum — and has ensured proper storage for its vast collections. Charles has applied his scholarly and architectural skills to a wide range of areas; his breadth of interests and expertise span the millennia, from the Iron Age to the Frankish periods.

His more than five decades of work with the School include annual instruction of Regular and Summer Session Members, with whom he has generously shared his insights on Corinth, the Corinthia and the Argolid—always with his memorably wry humor and unique, acerbic flair. Hundreds of us vividly remember his introduction to the site, and his teasingly playful comparisons of Corinthians and Athenians. One of his greatest legacies has been directing the dissertations of many ASCSA Members who studied with him at Corinth. Indeed, Mr. Williams has always been generous with helping everyone: as one nominator puts it, he “is unstinting in helping to equip other scholars with the means, tools, and facilities to contribute all they are capable of in the quest to better know and understand the ancient Greek world.”

Mr. Williams has been a generous collaborator in numerous other ways, too. Not only has he served as chair of the Board of Trustees, but also has used his architectural skills to benefit the School’s building projects, including Blegen Library and Loring Hall. As one of his nominators put it, “No one is more steadfast than Charles in his commitment to the School.” We all owe him a great debt. Another alum sums up his service: “He has left an indelible and positive imprint on the life of virtually every ASCSA member who has had contact with him ... and he has devoted his life to the school and its community in a way that is truly unmatched.”

2015 Award 

Dr. John McKesson Camp II

John has been a bright presence at the School since his undergraduate days. He was a member of the 1965 summer session directed by William P. Donovan, and joined the Agora excavations two years later, under T. Leslie Shear, Jr. He became Assistant Director of the Agora Excavations in 1973, was the School’s Mellon Professor of Archaeology (1985-1996), and became the Director of excavations at the Athenian Agora in 1994. Since 1996, he has taught at Randolph-Macon College in Ashville, Virginia as the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Professor of Classics.

John’s archaeological publications are many and impressive; they show an amazing breadth of knowledge and continue to benefit a myriad of scholars who have come to rely on his diligent research, keen observations and reasoned conclusions.

His more than four decades of service to the School include annual instruction of Regular and Summer Session Members, with whom he generously shares his insights on sites and museum collections throughout Greece and Turkey, but especially in Attica and at the Agora. Many of us cannot think about the Hephaisteion without having vivid memories of John’s lectures there. Perhaps his greatest legacy is introducing hundreds of students to archaeological practices by teaching them to dig at the Agora — and to uphold the highest standards of the profession.

John Camp is a generous collaborator and a master teacher; we are fortunate to know him as a vital part of the School’s heart and soul. As one of his nominators put it, “Member, advisor, professor, archaeologist, diplomat, fundraiser, and marketing department: what more could anyone do?”

2014 Award

Nancy Bookidis

Dr. Nancy Bookidis, Assistant Director Emerita of the Corinth Excavations, has been named the 2014 recipient of the Aristeia Award for Distinguished Alumni/ae of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Full details here.

2013 Award

Ron Stroud

Ron Stroud accepted his Aristeia Award at the January AIA meetings in Seattle in front of what must have been many who had a connection to Ron either as a student, colleague, mentor, or friend.  Full details here.

2012 Award 

James McCredie

Professor McCredie was presented with this honor at the Annual Meeting of the ASCSA Alumni Association during the AIA/APA Annual Meetings in Philadelphia on Saturday, January 7, 2012.

2011 Inaugural Award 

Alan Boegehold

Alan Boegehold was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Aristeia Award for Distinguished Alumni/ae .  The award was presented to Alan last June in Cotsen Hall in Athens as part of the festivities celebrating the School’s 130th anniversary.