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Veree Hawkins Brown '93:  Dartmouth Alumni Award Recipient, 2006–07


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Veree Hawkins Brown '93 was presented the 2006-07


Veree, at the turn of the last century, your home town of Albuquerque attracted people from far and wide with its healing, dry and sunny climate. So it's ironic that some 90 years later, you were given doctor's orders to go to Hanover, and Dartmouth.

Okay, Stanley Stark '57, your pediatrician, was by that time speaking more as a family friend than a doctor. But he saw something in the teenage you that compelled him to say, “Dartmouth is where you need to go.”

Dr. Stark was right. Dartmouth was a great fit for you. You loved it visually, from the moment you took in the campus, and you loved it intellectually, as you indulged in your passion for languages and literature. You majored in English and also excelled at Spanish, going abroad to study at the University of Salamanca, Spain, your junior fall. You were recognized as a Rufus Choate Scholar, awarded to the top 5 percent of undergraduates based on GPA. Dartmouth captured your heart as well. You met Bert Brown '92 during Orientation week. Your friendship grew, after nine years, into a romance that included an Albuquerque wedding reception where the tables were named after Dartmouth buildings: Topliff, Dartmouth Hall, Baker Library, Fairchild— because Bert was a biology major—and Sanborn.

People who know you express admiration at how well you excel at so many pursuits, from work to community volunteering in Dallas, to giving back to Dartmouth. Since graduating from Southern Methodist University with an MBA in 1996, you have risen through the ranks of travel distributor Sabre Holdings. You put your fluency in Spanish to good use as the principal in global marketing planning for Latin America. And now you hold the position of marketing director of airline relations at one of Sabre's three companies, Travelocity, where you negotiate multiyear, multimillion-dollar contracts with airlines including United, Delta, and JetBlue.

You grew up watching your mother busily volunteering for the museum, the Air Force base, the hospital and serving on boards and committees. One of your earliest memories is of attending 7 a.m. board meetings with your mother and then heading off to elementary school. “Service,” you say, “is an important part of my life.” So you pour your energies into two community organizations: the Junior League of Dallas, where you perform 60 hours of volunteer time annually, and Camp John Marc, where you sit on the board of directors. The camp offers a summer camp experience for children with serious medical issues. Each summer, it becomes the largest non-hospital dialysis center in the United States. When you movingly describe how much it means to these children that they are “normal” for a week, it is clear that you receive so much from the simple act of giving.

Dartmouth has benefited from this sense of obligation as well. You have been a fundraising volunteer and have participated in the Alumni Council, including service on the busy nominating and honorary degrees committees. For the Dartmouth Club of Dallas, you've served as vice president, as president, and on the executive committee; during your tenure Dartmouth recognized Dallas the best mid-size club of the year.

In 2003, you welcomed baby daughter Ellen Taylor Veree Brown, and redirected your energies toward home. But you continue to conduct alumni interviews with Bert, telling prospective students to take advantage of everything they can at school. “I wish I could go to Dartmouth for another year and do all the things I didn't have time to do when I was there,” you say.

To your work on behalf of Dartmouth College, Veree, you've unfailingly brought great capability and an infectious sense of the excitement of dedication. With deep gratitude for the many ways, tangible and intangible, that you've enriched our community, we present you with the Young Alumni Distinguished Service Award.

Martha Beattie '76
President
Dartmouth Alumni Council
February 9, 2007