Hartwick’s Alumni Awards Salute Influential Graduates, Employees

Four members of the Hartwick College community have been selected to receive a 2025 Alumni Award, which recognizes graduates, faculty or staff for their service to the College and the Hartwick community.

This year’s honorees are:

• William Egar ’19, Middletown, N.Y., named Outstanding Recent Alumnus for his demonstrated outstanding and sustained volunteer service to the College.
• Laurel Elder of Oneonta, N.Y., named Outstanding Employee for going above and beyond in support of the Alumni Association of the College.
• Ann-Marie Jastrab ’93 of San Rafael, Calif., named Distinguished Alumna for her outstanding achievements in her professional career, civic and/or charitable activities.
• Eric T. Shoen ’99 of Providence, R.I., named Meritorious Service Award recipient for his outstanding loyalty and effective service to the College.

The group will be honored at an on-campus ceremony on Friday, Sept. 19, during True Blue Weekend 2025.

“We’re incredibly proud of this year’s honorees and can’t wait to celebrate with them on campus during True Blue Weekend 2025,” said Kimberly Hastings, director of alumni, parent & family relations. “Each awardee was nominated by their peers, which speaks volumes about the meaningful impact they’ve made in their communities. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who submitted nominations and to our Alumni Association Board of Directors for their thoughtful selection of this year’s recipients.”

Outstanding Recent Alumnus
William Egar’s path to being named Outstanding Recent Alumnus began before he even left campus. Focused and dedicated, he graduated in 2019 in just three years, earning dual degrees in public health and Spanish. He went on to complete a master’s degree in public health epidemiology at Yale University, then worked at the university’s Syringe Service Program, where he helped develop community-based interventions and co-authored publications focused on harm reduction strategies for individuals with substance use disorders.

Currently, Egar is completing a Ph.D. in public health through a joint program at the University of California, San Diego, and San Diego State University. “He has already authored more than 20 peer-reviewed publications (including 10 listing him as the important “first author” publications)—an extraordinary accomplishment for someone early in their career,” one nomination noted.

His commitment to the Hartwick community has also been recognized. Egar recruited a current Hawk as a research assistant for his dissertation. “He provides mentorship, training, and opportunities for growth for the student and is even using personal funds to fly the student to San Diego for an immersive field experience,” a nominator said. Egar’s experience teaching courses at the University of New Haven and San Diego State University further “ensures the student receives strong academic and ethical guidance.”

Outstanding Employee
Laurel Elder, professor and chair of political science and co-founder/co-director of the Hartwick Institute of Public Service, was named Outstanding Employee. A published author and frequent media commentator, she has provided expertise on politics, public opinion, law and gender in national news publications including ”The Washington Post,” ”The New York Times” and ”Fivethirtyeight,” a data journalism site for ABC News.
Elder was in the first group of faculty to teach the College’s FLP (FlightPath) 490 Capstone, which connects alumni directly with students in the classroom. Over the past three years, she has engaged dozens of alumni through this class and brought many to campus for student events.

For Elder, this award adds to a long list of College honors, including the Outstanding Advisor Award (2022); the Winifred D. Wandersee Scholar-in-Residence Award (2017 and 2005); the Teacher-Scholar Award (2012); the Margaret Brigham Bunn Award for Excellence in Teaching (2008); and the Women’s History Month Faculty Award (2007). She was also twice nominated by Hartwick for a U.S. Professor of the Year Award, sponsored by CASE and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Distinguished Alumna
Ann-Marie Jastrab, winner of this year’s Distinguished Alumna Award, is a double-major Hartwick graduate in art and English. A master of photography and related disciplines, she has built her career as a fine-art photographer, gallery director, independent curator, darkroom printer, editor, writer and educator. According to one nomination, she has served “in a leading role in advancing photography as an art form, and is now widely respected and embraced by galleries, museums, and collectors.”

Jastrab has managed prominent institutions such as the RayKo Photo Center and the Scott Nichols Gallery in San Francisco. For four years, she served as editor-in-chief and writer for a photography website and also became a master printer at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles. Jastrab has also chosen to share her expertise with up-and-coming artists. She has shared her expertise as a photography instructor at Rockport College and Maine Photographic Workshops (MPW) in Rockport, Maine, and the San Francisco Art Institute. Importantly, Jastrab has remained a strong supporter of Hartwick, consistently providing opportunities for students and faculty to showcase their work. Plans are underway for her return to campus in 2026 to meet with students and conduct a workshop.

Today, Jastrab serves as executive director and curator for the Center for Photographic Art (CPA) in Carmel, CA, where she has been advancing its mission since 2019.

Meritorious Service Award
Eric Shoen, recipient of the Meritorious Service Award, is recognized for his exceptional dedication and tireless service to the Hartwick Community. A certified fundraising executive, he is an accomplished leader with a proven track record in higher education advancement and currently serves as the executive director at the Rhode Island College Foundation.

Shoen has played an active leadership role at Hartwick as chair of the Flightpath/Recent Alumni Engagement Committee, where his efforts have created valuable opportunities for mentorship, networking and professional growth. “His vision and efforts in this capacity have helped create meaningful opportunities for students to network, seek guidance, and build lasting relationships with successful alumni across diverse fields,” one supporter wrote.

His personal commitment to supporting Hartwick alumni is described as “exemplary.” He regularly provides career advice, guidance and mentorship to both fellow alumni and students navigating their professional journeys. As one nominator put it: “Eric’s impact on the Hartwick College alumni network is profound. He embodies the values of service, leadership, and dedication to the institution, and his work has had a lasting positive influence on both current students and alumni alike.”

For more information about the Alumni Awards, visit the webpage. To learn about True Blue Weekend 2025, visit the event website or contact Kimberly Hastings at 607-431-4045 or [email protected].