Robert Alan Barr '73: Dartmouth Alumni Award Recipient, 2009—10 
Bob Barr '73 (left) received the Dartmouth Alumni
Award from classmate Mark Harty '73 on Septem-
ber 25, 2009, during Class Officers Weekend.
You were raised in Massachusetts in the Green shadows of your father, uncle, and grandfather. We’re grateful for the paternal influences! When the time came for you to go to college, your decision to attend Dartmouth added an esteemed member not only to the great Class of 1973, but to the entire Dartmouth community.
Pursuing a major in the social sciences and education, you earned a teaching certificate to become a student teacher at Hanover High School and were awarded a citation in education from Professor Lindley. Outside the classroom, you were just as “goal” oriented—playing soccer in your freshman year, rugby in your junior and senior years, and intramural hockey all four years. You were also a member of Chi Heorot.
After graduating, you happily remained in Hanover for a year to work while Tricia, your wife-to-be, completed her studies at Mary Hitchcock School of Nursing. Then the start of a successful career in marketing and sales carried you off to other locations, including, eventually, Atlanta. But alas, those New England winters beckoned, and in time you made a turn in your career path that brought you back to Dartmouth, to work in a fundraising role. This, it seems, was meant to be: a perfect convergence of goal-orientedness and the betterment of educational institutions and the lives of alumni and students who, like you, care deeply for them. Here in Hanover, you and Tricia raised your three children—Gordon, Alan, and Rachel—even coaching all of them in hockey.
Although professional advancements took you on to Bowdoin College, Vermont Academy, and St. Paul’s School, Dartmouth has steadfastly remained a volunteer priority for you. You’ve served in many capacities, including Reunion co-chair and have attended every Reunion except one, in 1984, when your pregnant wife cautioned you to stay home. (Even though you’ve been a hockey referee for 20 years, Bob, that was one shot you couldn’t call!) You have also served as an Alumni Council and Association of Alumni Executive Committee member; as an Alumni Fund volunteer; and as class president, class Executive Committee member, and perpetual class newsletter editor: no one will let you step down from that role! As the “connector” of your class, you show an openness and generosity of spirit toward all the highs and lows of life as your classmates experience them together, and this has made you irreplaceable.
In addition to dedicating yourself to your family and to your Dartmouth family, you’ve managed to donate your time to USA Hockey, the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, and the Prouty Century Bike Ride and Challenge Walk fundraiser for the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center.
Anyone involved in the world of hockey knows you “don’t go through life without goals.” Bob, you’ve spent much of your life achieving extraordinary goals in your community, your career, your family, and your alma mater. It gives us tremendous pleasure to recognize this tonight, to take our hats off to you, and to honor you with the 2009–10 Dartmouth Alumni Award.
September 25, 2009