Alumni

Introducing the 2026 Shipley School Alumni Award Recipients

The Shipley School is proud to celebrate the achievements of our 2026 Alumni Award recipients — four distinguished individuals who embody the values of excellence, leadership, and service in their respective fields.

Katherine Preston ’76 – Alumni Service Award
A dedicated educator and devoted Shipley volunteer, Katherine Preston has given generously of her time and talent to the Shipley community for more than three decades. She served as an Alumni Representative for the Annual Fund from 1991 to 2001 and as a Class Agent for ten years, before joining the Alumni Council in 2017 — where she diligently serves as Secretary. A longtime elementary school teacher whose career spans independent schools from New York to the Philadelphia area, Katherine has also served as a substitute teacher at Shipley, bringing her warmth and expertise back to the halls where her own education began. Her sustained commitment to Shipley and its mission makes her a worthy recipient of the Alumni Service Award. Read more about Katherine.

David Wadden ’06 – Young Alumni Award
A researcher at the forefront of artificial intelligence, David Wadden is a Research Scientist at Google DeepMind, where he works on post-training for Google Gemini with a focus on agentic AI behavior. He earned his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Washington, where his research centered on knowledge-intensive natural language processing with applications in science and health. His work on scientific fact verification and AI for scientific literature has earned multiple best paper awards at leading conferences. Beyond his research, David has volunteered as a mentor with Minds Matter Seattle, providing college advising to high school students from underrepresented backgrounds. His innovation and commitment to using AI for real-world impact earn him the Young Alumni Award. Read more about David.

Deborah Gordon Klehr ’96 – Distinguished Alumni Award 
As Executive Director of the Education Law Center, Deborah Gordon Klehr has spent her career ensuring that every child in Pennsylvania has access to quality public education. Since joining ELC in 2005, she has become one of the state's leading voices on education law and policy — from fair school funding to equitable discipline practices. A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, Deborah has taught education law at the University of Pennsylvania, served on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania's Juvenile Court Procedural Rules Committee, and is a member of The American Law Institute. Her dedication to justice and equal opportunity for all students exemplifies the values honored by the Distinguished Alumni Award. Read more about Deborah.  

Raffi Gregorian ’81 – Margaret Bailey Speer Award 
A former diplomat and Navy veteran, Raffi Gregorian spent nearly 30 years in senior positions for the U.S. State Department, NATO, and the UN, working to bring Balkan war criminals to justice, negotiating post-conflict reconciliation, and serving as the founding director of the UN's counterterrorism office. The first male recipient of the Margaret Bailey Speer Award, Raffi's career is a profound embodiment of the award's charge: Courage for the Deed; Grace for the Doing. Read more about Raffi.

We are honored to recognize these outstanding alumni and their contributions to their professions and communities. Please join us in celebrating their achievements at the Alumni Awards Assembly on Friday morning, May 1, 2026.
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814 Yarrow Street
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

Phone: 610-525-4300
Fax: 610-525-5082
The Shipley School is a private, coeducational day school for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students, located in Bryn Mawr, PA. Through our commitment to educational excellence, we develop within each student a love of learning and a desire for compassionate participation in the world.