Honors for Service

Alumni Council honorees, from left: Fittizzi ’97, Crolius ’76, Scheide w’36, and Conger-Austin *83

Judith McCartin Scheide w’36 has served generations of Princetonians since she began volunteering for the University in the 1980s — something reflected in her nine honorary class memberships, spanning from ’28 to ’70. She met Bill Scheide ’36, one of Princeton’s greatest benefactors, when working with the Old Guard as a staff member in the development office; the two married in 2000 and were together until Bill’s death in 2014. Judith sat on the Parents’ Class Committee from 2004 to 2008 and served as chair of the class associates from 2004 to 2016. Today, she organizes and sponsors Reunions events for the Old Guard. “She brings together old and young, all out of love for Princeton,” the Alumni Council citation says.

Since she organized an architecture symposium for the Princeton Club of Chicago 25 years ago, Susan Conger-Austin *83 has been building community through her work with the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni (APGA). She served on an APGA committee that was instrumental in improving Princeton’s relationship with graduate alumni, and now is an APGA board member and chair of its Committee on Nominations of Awards. In Chicago, she has chaired the city’s Princeton Prize in Race Relations committee, earning praise for her humor and calm. The citation describes her as the “ideal volunteer: She shows up, she works hard, she doesn’t care who gets the credit, and she always has a smile on her face.”

Ten years ago, Anthony M. Fittizzi Jr. ’97 stepped up to co-chair ’97’s 10th reunion, guiding it to win the Clancy Award for the best planned and run major reunion. Since then, he has held leadership positions on the Committee on Reunions, interviewed applicants as a member of the Schools Committee, been a board member of the Princeton Area Alumni Association, and represented alumni on the Council of the Princeton University Community. He is known for giving recognition to those behind the scenes, such as student crews. He helps with the Freshman Step Sing, and “even puts meals on the table,” the citation says. 

Kendall Crolius ’76 has said she “majored in Triangle Club” at Princeton: directing, stage-managing, and serving as officer and cast member. After graduation she took on the role of “Tour Godmother,” mentoring student managers as a Triangle trustee. In 1989, she joined the Triangle Executive Committee, eventually becoming the first female Triangle chair. Last year, Crolius led the committee that planned Triangle’s 125th anniversary and staged Triangle’s “A Lotta Kicks” exhibition at Mudd Library. “Triangle Club is one of Princeton’s best ambassadors to alumni, prospective students, and ordinary citizens,” a Triangle trustee wrote. “Kendall, by extension, is one of the University’s best ambassadors.”