Established in 2009, the Tower Hill Founders' Achievement Award is the preeminent award created to recognize and celebrate distinguished members of the school community for their exemplary service and significant contributions to the development of the school. Tower Hill School presented the award to two extraordinary individuals during Homecoming Weekend 2017: Irénée du Pont Jr. '38 and Linda Boyden.
The son of Tower Hill founder Irénée du Pont,
Irénée du Pont Jr. '38 attended Tower Hill during the school’s earliest years in the 1920s and 1930s. He enrolled at Dartmouth College and graduated from M.I.T. in 1943 with a degree in mechanical engineering before working at the DuPont Company for many years. His five children attended Tower Hill, and he served the school as a trustee from 1955-1977, chair of the Board Nominating Committee from 1969-1977 and chair of the Board Scholarship Committee 1966-1973.
Mr. du Pont drove his vintage 1936 Oldsmobile, which he drove to school in the 1930s, to this year’s Founders’ Day celebration on DeGroat Field on Friday, Oct. 27. Head of School Bessie Speers and fourth-grader Ahana Mitra presented him with the Founders’ Achievement Award — a wooden steering wheel created by Visual Art and Design Department Chair Rich Pierce — before the entire student body and faculty. Upon receiving the award, Mr. du Pont shared, “One of the things that we learned in 2nd Grade at Tower Hill was to love each other as we love our God. Thank you.”
Linda R. Boyden served on Tower Hill’s Board of Trustees from 2002-2017. She contributed to Tower Hill in many capacities including board secretary, chair of the Board Development Committee, member of other Board committees, co-chair of the Campaign for Athletics, Annual Fund Chair, and chair/co-chair of Home and School Association and Green and White Club committees. She played a major part in various interior design projects around school. She is the mother of
Blaine ‘20, Reed ‘13, Spencer ‘13 and
Preston ‘10. Currently, Mrs. Boyden is a member of the board of trustees of the Delaware Historical Society.
Mrs. Speers presented Mrs. Boyden with the Founders’ Achievement Award at 2017 Homecoming Reunion on Oct. 28 before a large crowd of alumni, faculty, trustees and friends.
Congratulations to this year’s Founders’ Achievement Award recipients!