The 2016 recipients of the Syrena Stackpole Award for dedicated service and exceptional commitment to Wellesley were Maud Hazeltine Chaplin ’56 and Barbara Bywater Creed ’66.
Given annually at reunion by the WCAA, the Syrena Stackpole Award honors dedicated service and exceptional commitment to Wellesley. The 2016 recipients were:
Chaplin—Virginia Onderdonk ’29 Professor of Philosophy, emerita—spent most of her adult life serving the College, its students, and alumnae. Teaching from 1963 to 2007, she also served as dean of the College and acting president of Wellesley. For years, she was one of the strongest advocates of the Davis degree program, and her CE/DS “Tea With Maud” gatherings were legendary. As one on the WCAA’s most popular faculty speakers, she visited with 27 alumnae clubs around the United States between 1993 and 2012.
Creed has been a stellar class volunteer for decades—serving in many different offices from class treasurer to Durant giving chair to annual-giving volunteer. Most recently, she earned kudos as class president as ’66 prepared for its 50th reunion. Creed has been a member of Wellesley’s Business Leadership Council since 1992 and recently completed a three-year term as its co-chair. Her fellow members say that she led with a “combination of selflessness, collegiality, and imagination.”