Alumni Awards - Phillips Exeter Academy

Honoring extraordinary service

Each year, the Academy honors individuals for exceptional service to Exeter and the world through three awards: the Founders’ Day Award, the John and Elizabeth Phillips Award and the President’s Award.

We invite you to nominate members within our community whose accomplishments are most deserving of special recognition.

See past recipients

Submit a nomination

Send us questions

Founders’ Day Award

Awarded in May

The Founders’ Day Award is given to an alum, retired faculty or staff member, parent or friend of Exeter who has demonstrated exceptional service to the Academy. The nominee must be living at the time of the nomination and whose extraordinary service was provided over a period of time, usually five years or more.

John and Elizabeth Phillips Award

Awarded in October

The John and Elizabeth Phillips Award is given to an alum of the Academy, still living at the time of nomination, whose life demonstrates co-founders John and Elizabeth Phillips’ ideal of goodness and knowledge united in noble character and usefulness to mankind. The nominee should have contributed significantly to the welfare of community, country or humanity, beyond any volunteer service to the Academy.

President’s Award

Awarded at Exeter Leadership Weekend

The President’s Award is given by the president of the General Alumni Association (GAA) to an alumni volunteer who has made outstanding contributions to promoting the activities and goals of the Academy within the past two years. Such contributions include: exceptional work within a defined volunteer role such as class officer or class agent, making an innovative enhancement to the Exeter community or performing other extraordinary types of service.

Civil rights advocate receives Phillips Award

Jim Coleman ’66 addressed an Assembly Hall audience and visited with students.

William H. Bolden Golf Benefit

Exeter invites alumni, parents and friends of the academy to the annual William H. Bolden Golf Benefit. All funds raised will benefit the William Bolden Scholarship Fund.