Lisa Cresswell Kloman, Class of 1947, was a “lifer” at Shipley, having attended from first through twelfth grade. She was President of her Senior Class, played on the basketball, field hockey, and tennis teams, and won the Alumnae Prize for “high scholarship, conduct, influence, improvement, and spirit.” She has carried those traits throughout her life, so it’s no wonder that today we recognize her outstanding achievement, dedication, and personal accomplishments as the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Mrs. Kloman has made a lifelong commitment to improving the nation’s educational system. In the late 1960s, Mrs. Kloman worked with the New York Urban League’s Street Academy in Harlem, which at the time was busy implementing a ten-point plan designed to close the economic gap between white and black Americans through education. In the early 70s, Mrs. Kloman developed the Center for Career Opportunities and Public Service in Lakeville, Connecticut. The Center allowed high school students to attend municipal and civic functions during class time and to receive academic credit for participation in the program. The success of this program led Mrs. Kloman to establish a similar program in Albany, New York.

Mrs. Kloman’s passion for effecting change in education, combined with her voracious appetite to learn, also led to her own continued education, first earning an Associate’s Degree from the University of Hartford, before going on to Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, where she earned a Master’s Degree in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy in Education. After completing her degrees, Mrs. Kloman worked as a consultant in the education field. In 1983 she moved to San Diego, California and later founded the San Diego Graduate Center for American Politics, which is the first graduate school of elective politics in the nation. Mrs. Kloman served as Executive Dean of the Center until she retired in 1990.

With time for new endeavors, Mrs. Kloman turned her attention to her love of athletics, and she became the Chair of the Education Committee of the San Diego National Sports Training Foundation. Through the Foundation, she ran the Pilot Program in Olympism in eight public schools. The program educates children about the Olympic Movement and promotes the spirit of Olympism – excellence, positive self-esteem, courage, perseverance, and fair play.

With unwavering zeal for, and energetic dedication to education in all of its forms, Mrs. Kloman has, truly, led change in the field of education and made a difference in the lives of many young people. We are pleased to present her with The Shipley School’s 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award.

Hi everybody. Thank you so much for awarding me this wonderful, wonderful award. So I would like you all to know what Shipley did for me. There were two people who most influenced me at Shipley. Hester Yarnall, who was the Upper School sports coach, was very important to me because I played varsity field hockey, basketball, and tennis all during my Upper School years. What she did for me was that she taught me to think beyond myself—to be a team player—and that has helped me in my career throughout my lifetime. The other person was Allegra Woodworth. She taught American History and public service, and she used to make me so mad, because she would say quirky things in class, sharing political views, and they were directly opposite from what I heard at my family’s dinner table. She would suddenly float a question to the class, which she knew would challenge us. What she really did was that she inspired me to be a Democrat, like she was, and to work on Presidential campaigns, and to be a rebel who makes a difference and promotes public service as a career to follow.

I have a special note for this year’s seniors, and that is simply this: Don’t waste your life. Do what you want to do, not what your friends want you to do, and not what your parents want you to do, but what you want to do. That will lead into a very exciting life for you, and it will also take great courage to do it. But it’s your life, and you should do what you want to do. So, good luck, be daring, be courageous, and have an exciting life.