In Pursuit of Excellence 

Dartmouth College Recognizes with Deep Appreciation the Extraordinary Achievements of 

Richard J. Beyer ’78
2018 Secretary of the Year – 26 Years Out and Older

You are as good as it gets, Rick. Your columns continue to display a balanced mix of class and classmate news and alerts regarding important class activities, and you always make inclusivity a top priority. You are a master news-gatherer who devotes at least two columns a year to a question posed to the entire class via email, and you check all the boxes in the Class Secretaries Association’s recently expanded criteria for selecting a Secretary of the Year, including going above and beyond the traditional role by writing obituaries for deceased classmates, serving as class filmmaker and Class Secretaries Association representative to the DAM editorial board, and more.

Your moving July/August 2017 column displays all the key attributes of a model class secretary—great writing, compassion, respect, humility, and love of class and College, to name a few. To wit: “I have now been writing this column for four years and I thought I would take a few paragraphs to reflect on that experience. During the last four years I have mentioned 198 of you in this column. This has included poets, governors, scientists, actresses, authors, healers, and a man who may be the most avid avian photographer on the planet…. I’m always impressed with the incredible array of activities being undertaken by classmates, which constantly inspires me to do and try more. On a more melancholy note, nine ’78s have died during my tenure as class secretary. I have celebrated their lives and mourned their passing, keenly aware that the ranks of departed classmates will only increase as the years hurtle onward. What’s missing, of course, is what the other 700-plus of you have been doing.”

Need we say more?

Thank you, Rick. You make us proud!