2011
Susan Stampler Paresky, Honorary Degree Recipient
Susan Stampler Paresky, class of 1968, is awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.
Read the citation for her degree below:
You have described your life’s work as your “small way of adding value to the world.” Yet your “small way” yields big results, Susan Stampler Paresky. In raising millions of dollars to benefit health care and higher education, you have paired need with generosity, and vision with opportunity.
Your work improves lives. The students who attend Wheaton, Harvard and Brandeis profit from your ability to bring people together for a cause. Now, as the head of fundraising for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, you’ve led a 200-member team in completing a $1 billion capital campaign that powers the effort to understand, diagnose, treat, cure and prevent cancer.
You have said that the passion for your work comes from the unique capacity of philanthropy to add richness to the fabric of life. You know firsthand of what you speak. Your service as a Wheaton Trustee, and as a leader for other organizations, speaks of your generous spirit. Together with your husband, you established the Joseph M. and Susan Stampler Paresky Class of 1968 Fellowship for graduate studies.
You’ve been equally steadfast in your willingness to mentor others, especially young women, in the development profession. Experienced fundraisers and aspiring newcomers alike regularly find an open door to your good advice and encouragement.
Your professional accomplishments and your munificent spirit have brought you numerous awards. Today, we are proud to add one more. Susan Stampler Paresky, it is with great pleasure that we present you with the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters in acknowledgment and appreciation of your exemplary achievements and generosity.