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Hector Motroni '66,'68Tu: Dartmouth Alumni Award Recipient, 2005-06


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Hector Motroni '66,'68Tu (left) was presented the 2005-06 Dartmouth Alumni Award


Hector, as an eternal optimist, you quickly informed us that the title for this citation should be, "Young Kid from Havana Wins the Lottery and Goes to Dartmouth." This heading perfectly sums up the immense gratitude you feel for the impact Dartmouth has had on your life.

Born in Havana, you experienced tragedy at a young age, with the death of your father. One year later, your mother moved to New York City with you and your brother. She worked hard to support the three of you and instilled a strong sense of values and appreciation of education that you carry with you today. Beginning in junior high and continuing through high school, you were fortunate to participate in the "Experimental Guidance Project," a program providing educational and cultural opportunities that would not typically be available to students from your inner-city neighborhood. You flourished in this setting and captured the attention of your high school principal, Henry Hillson '30. He encouraged you to apply early decision to Dartmouth, but you chuckle today when you remember that he omitted two important factors at the time: The temperature in Hanover does dip below zero degrees in the winter, and there were no women in the student body!

Despite these drawbacks, you enjoyed every minute of your Dartmouth experience, participating in Pi Lambda Phi, the Spanish Club, the cheerleading squad, and the Interdormitory Council. You excelled in the classroom, earning three citations for academic excellence. You graduated with honors with a degree in engineering and proceeded to receive both bachelor's and master's degrees from the Thayer School of Engineering. During your fifth year of studies, you served as president of the Dartmouth Society of Engineers and were named class marshal.

You emphasize, though, that it was the relationships you established at Dartmouth that you value to this day, be they with your co-workers at the Dartmouth Dining Association; your roommates in the Choates; your fraternity brothers; or the many excellent faculty members who became your role models and mentors, including Professors Stearns, Tribus, and Strohbehn.

After graduation, you worked briefly for the U.S. Public Health Service before starting a professional relationship with the Xerox Corporation that continues 35 years later. Nothing short of spectacular, your career encompasses extensive experience with the Xerox Latin American Group, including Argentina, Venezuela, and the Andean region, and the Xerox Worldwide Marketing Group. You currently serve as the senior vice president, chief staff officer, and chief ethics officer at Xerox. In addition, you chair the Xerox Political Action Committee. You have been recognized for your achievements on numerous occasions: You were named the National Hispanic Achiever of the Year by Hispanic Corporate Achievers, Hispanic Trends magazine cited you as one of the 25 Top Hispanic Executives, and Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology magazine included you on its list of "100 Most Important Hispanics in Business and Technology."

You feel a huge debt of gratitude to your alma mater, and you have worked tirelessly to support Dartmouth in a variety of volunteer roles--as class head agent; secretary, vice president, and president of the Dartmouth Society of Engineers; as Thayer School representative on the Alumni Council; and as alumni club secretary, participation chair, and leadership chair. You have also served on a wide variety of Thayer boards, including the Thayer School Dean's Fund Executive Committee, the Thayer Campaign Executive Committee, and the Thayer Corporate Advisory Board.

No less impressive is your civic volunteerism, which emphasizes educational opportunities for minority children. Your extensive list of community involvement includes roles on the boards of the Council of the Americas, Forum for World Affairs, Outward Bound Inc., National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Prep for Prep, United Way National Quality Committee, Wharton School's Center for Advanced Studies in Management, and HORIZONS at Green Farms Academy, and you are a former chair of the Committee on New American Realities of the National Policy Association.

Although there were no female classmates at Dartmouth, you did find love in the Poconos following your freshman year. A summer camp co-worker stole your heart, and you and your wife, Myra, have been together since. Married almost forty years, you are the very proud parents of Melissa and Marcus '95, '00Tu, and the adoring grandparents of Madison and Meadow.

Hector Motroni, in recognition of your extraordinary commitment to your alma mater, your community, your profession, and your family, we are honored to present you with the Dartmouth Alumni Award.

Martha Beattie '76
President
Dartmouth Alumni Council
December 9, 2006