Our Alumni Make Us Proud
Since 2003 Woodstock School has awarded Woodstock’s Distinguished Alumni Award
The goal is to publicly celebrate meritorious alumni of the school for exemplary and recognized lifelong achievement in their field or in voluntary philanthropic activities or service, in ways that publicly represent the values that Woodstock School seeks to engender in its students. A major goal of the award is to provide inspiring role models to Woodstock students today and in the future.
If you would like to nominate someone, please contact the Woodstock School alumni office for an application and candidate submission details.
Rahul is the chairman and managing director of the Jyoti group. In 1997 Rahul became managing director of Jyoti Ltd, a company that makes equipment for India’s water and power sectors. He holds an M.S. from the University of Baroda and a Master of Engineering from Cornell University.
Shobha Arole has been honoured for her outstanding contribution to serving people in extreme poverty and improving rural healthcare in Maharashtra, India.
Tom Alter has been a well-known face to Indian movie-goers for more than three decades. In addition to acting in Hindi films, Tom has exhibited talent in theatre, in sports and in literature.
Ashoke Chatterjee’s distinguished career as a public servant and professional communicator has sat comfortably with his widely recognised voluntary philanthropic contributions.
TZ Chu has been recognised for his pioneering work in analytical instrumentation, his facility as an early practitioner of global business strategy for smaller companies, his leadership in promoting diversity in management as a role model, and as an industry leader.
Robert Scott is a nationally renowned teacher and scholar in the fields of contracts, commercial law, and bankruptcy. He has co-authored five books on contracts and commercial transactions and is the author of more than three dozen scholarly articles.
Dick Brown has been recognised for his lifelong commitment to advancing political and economic development around the world. He graduated from Woodstock School in 1958 and received his BA in Political Science from Muskingum College, Ohio.
Nayantara Sahgal has been elected to the Distinguished Alumni Roll in recognition of her lifetime achievement as a writer of elegantly crafted works of both fiction and non-fiction.
Throughout his career, Robert Griffiths has dedicated himself to forming a lasting link between theory and reality. Born in Etah, Uttar Pradesh, in 1937 to Presbyterian missionaries, he attended Woodstock from fourth standard to tenth.
David started several companies that served the health care industry. His product and process improvements were a benefit to both his customers and competitors, accounting for the rapid growth of his technologies and the high value placed on his companies.
After co-founding one of the first computer software design companies in e-commerce, Art Technology Group (ATG), Jeet sold his interest in 2003 and shifted his attention to other pursuits, including setting up the Winterline Foundation as a major arm for his philanthropy.
Jagdish Sagar has served in many prominent positions in the Indian Civil Service, dealing with, among other things, law and order, tax administration, personnel, and development and planning, including responsibility for the power sector.
Gabriel Campbell has spent almost his whole life in the Himalaya. Born at Landour Community Hospital, Mussoorie, he followed his father, uncle and aunts in attending Woodstock School from Upper Kindergarten to graduation (with a couple of years in the US).
Chris Anderson was born in Pakistan in 1957. His parents were medical missionaries and he spent most of his childhood in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. He attended Woodstock until eighth grade and went on to public school in England.
Dorothy Riddle was born in the United States. She accompanied her parents to China after World War II, learned Chinese, and was ready to start school when the Communist takeover of the country forced the departure of all foreigners.
Frank Mayadas has been elected to the Woodstock School Distinguished Alumni Roll for his extraordinary leadership in the business sector and for his widely recognised work as Program Officer at the Sloan Foundation.
Gerry Williams has been recognised for excellence in his field, his original research on ceramic techniques called wet fire and photo resist, and his contributions to the art of wheel-thrown and slab-built pottery both nationally and internationally.
Fred Downs has spent his life in service to the Church and to theological education in India. He was born of missionary parents at Tura, Meghalaya, in 1932. A member of the Class of 1949, he attended Woodstock from 1946 to 1948.
Carl Taylor dedicated his life’s work to advancing the healthcare of people throughout the world, building on the principle of health equity. Born in the Indian Himalaya as the son of medical missionaries, he attended Woodstock throughout his adolescence.
After studying law at the University of Virginia Rick took a job at an international law firm in New York City where he practiced Corporate Law for six years. In 1992, Rick left the practice of law to start an investment firm with which he is still involved today.
James has made significant contributions to realising Woodstock’s ideal of education for a world of difference. As a recognised and accomplished journalist, writer, and teacher, he strives to demonstrate how a vision of sustainable growth with peace can unite people around the globe.
Philip DeVol graduated from Woodstock School in 1966, and has been training and consulting on poverty issues since 1997.
Margaret Loehlin Shafer is an outstanding example of Woodstock’s Distinguished Alumni. Margaret attended Woodstock School as the daughter of missionaries serving the Presbyterian Church in the Punjab.
Bob Fleming Jr is recognised in his field as a pre-eminent Himalayan naturalist and natural history educator. His lifetime has been spent studying, understanding and spreading an appreciation for nature. His deep love for the natural world is rooted in his upbringing in Nepal and India.
Bhavenesh Kumari Patiala has had a ground-breaking career as a woman lawyer in India. A member of the royal family of Patiala, she excelled in a career that was closed to women and to those of her lineage.
Mark Kenoyer has been elected to the Woodstock School Distinguished Alumni Roll for his pioneering work on the anthropology of the Indus Valley, which has completely revised previously accepted theories of the beginning of civilisation in the Indian Peninsula.
Marty Alter Chen has been recognised for her work with poor rural women in South Asia, especially for her efforts in illuminating the plight of widows through books such as Perpetual Mourning: Widowhood in Rural India.
Brigadier Hukam Singh Yadav has devoted his life to service in the Indian Army. Born in Agra in 1921, he came to Woodstock in 1935. At the age of 18, he took the Federal Public Service Commission Examination and was one of fifteen cadets admitted into the Indian Military Academy.
Throughout his life, and through half of Woodstock’s first 150 years, Bob Alter maintained a unique relationship with both Woodstock School and the people of the Garhwal.