Townsend Award

Reginald T. Townsend Award

In 1952, the New England Society established the Reginald T. Townsend Award, named for its 64th President, to recognize outstanding achievement representing the finest attributes of the New England character. Award recipients have represented excellence in a wide range of fields, from the sciences, academia and letters, to politics and the arts. To date, the Award has been presented to the following individuals:

1952

Wilmot Brookings Mitchell

American history scholar and Bowdoin College professor

1953

Lloyd D. Brace

American history scholar and Bowdoin College professor

1954

Clare Leighton

Artist, writer and illustrator

1955

Samuel Chamberlain

Printmaker, artist, photographer and writer

1956

Joseph Nye Welch

Attorney and lead counsel for the U.S. Army for the McCarthy Hearings.

1957

James G. Blaine

Alternate Delegate to the Republican National Convention
from Rhode Island in 1912.

1958

Herbert Ross Brown

Literary scholar and editor, The New England Quarterly.

1959

Robert Cutler

U.S. Government official and the first person to serve as National Security Advisor (Eisenhower Administration)

1960

Hon. John Davis Lodge

79th Governor of Connecticut and U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, Spain and Switzerland

1961

Robb Sagendorph

Founder and President of Yankee, Inc., publishers
of The Old Farmer’s Almanac

1962

Francis T. P. Plimpton

Diplomat; partner at the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton and President of the New York City Bar Association.

1963

Rosemary Park

American History scholar and President of Connecticut College

1963

Walter Muir Whitehill

Author, historian and the Director and Librarian of the Boston Athenaeum

1964

Douglas Horton

Protestant clergyman, founding contributor to the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches

1964

Harold Jefferson Coolidge

Zoologist and a founding director of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the World Wildlife Fund

1965

Paul Dudley White, MD

Cardiologist, founding member of the National Heart Institute and of the American Heart Association; President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s physician.

1966

Frank L. Boyden

Headmaster of Deerfield Academy

1967

Hon. Leverett Saltonstall

55th Governor of Massachusetts and U.S. Senator

1968

Samuel Eliot Morison

Rear Admiral, U.S. Naval Reserve and American maritime historian.

1969

John Sloan Dickey

U.S. Diplomat, scholar and President of Dartmouth College

1970

Edward M. Fuller II

79th New England Society President

1972

Dr. Mary I. Bunting

Radcliffe College’s fifth President, responsible for fully integrating women into Harvard University.

1973

Calvin Hastings Plimpton, MD

Physician and educator, President of the American University of Beirut and Amherst College, where he was responsible for admitting women

1975

John N. Cole

Author and journalist; founder an editor of Maine Times, editor The Bath-Brunswick Times and The Kennebunk Star.

1976

Eric Sloane

Hudson River School landscape painter and author of illustrated works of cultural history and folklore.

1977

Edward A. Weeks

Editor, The Atlantic

1978

Hon. William S. Cohen

U.S. politician, represented Maine in the House of Representatives, and served as Secretary of Defense (Clinton Administration)

1979

Brendan Gill

Author and writer for The New Yorker

1980

Walter Hoving

President and Chairman, Tiffany & Co.

1981

Louis Auchincloss

Novelist, historian and essayist

1982

Hon. Kingman Brewster

President of Yale University and U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James

1983

Dr. Nathan Marsh Pusey

President of Lawrence College and 24th President of Harvard University

1984

Moorhead C. Kennedy

U. S. Diplomat; captive during the Iranian Hostage Crisis until his freedom was negotiated by President Jimmy Carter

1985

Arlene Francis

Actress, radio talk show host, and television game show panelist on What’s My Line?

1986

George Plimpton

Journalist, writer, editor and actor; founder of the literary magazine The Paris Review

1987

Richard Purdy Wilbur

American poet; Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress and two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

1988

William F. Buckley, Jr.

Author, commentator and journalist; founder of the political magazine National Review and host of the television show Firing Line

1989

Dominick Dunne

Novelist and investigative reporter

1990

Harrison E. Salisbury

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist; first regular New York Times correspondent in Moscow after World War II

1990

Harrison E. Salisbury

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist; first regular New York Times correspondent in Moscow after World War II

1992

Ruth Warrick

Film actress known for her role in Citizen Kane, and All My Children soap opera star; political activist

1993

Francis “Fay” Vincent, Jr.

Lawyer and sports executive who served as the eighth Commissioner of Major League Baseball

1994

Hon. Joseph Verner Reed

U.S. Ambassador to Morocco; Chief of Protocol of the White House (George H.W. Bush Administration) and noted conservationist

1995

Walter Cronkite

Peabody award-winning broadcast journalist and anchorman for CBS Evening News

1996

Hon. Everett Ellis Briggs

U.S. Ambassador to Honduras, Panama and Portugal; served on the National Security Council (George H.W. Bush Administration)

1997

William Charles Beutel

Broadcast journalist; ABC News anchor

1998

Charles E. Pierce, Jr

Director of The Morgan Library and Museum for over 40 years

1999

Samuel Sachs II

Museum Director of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Detroit Institute of Arts and The Frick Collection

2000

Anne Hawley

Director, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

2000

Anne Hawley

Director, The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

2002

Charles Scribner III

Chairman of publishing house Charles Scribner & Sons which was founded by his great-great grandfather in 1846

2003

Charles Osgood

Radio (The Osgood File on CBS Radio Network) and television (CBS News Sunday Morning) commentator

2004

James M. Fowler

Author and naturalist, Emmy award-winning television host of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom

2005

Samuel A. Waterston

Actor, producer and director, noted for his portrayal of Jack McCoy on NBC’s Law & Order

2006

Elizabeth Barlow Rogers

Urban planner, landscape architect and founding member of the Central Park Conservancy

2007

Hon. William F. Weld

68th Governor of Massachusetts and federal prosecutor in the U.S. Justice Department

2008

Hon. George E. Pataki

53rd Governor of New York and a noted attorney

2009

Lesley Stahl

Author and television journalist, reporting for CBS on 60 Minutes

2010

Tom Chappell

Author, environmentalist and co-founder of natural care products company Tom’s of Maine, and natural wool clothing company Rambler’s Way

2011

Charles Kittredge

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Crane & Co.

2012

Leigh R. Keno & Leslie B. Keno

American antiques experts

2013

Deborah & Charles Royce

Deborah is a film editor and former actress. Charles is President & Chief Investment Officer of Royce & Associates. They are active historic preservationists and philanthropists in New York and New England.

2014

Frederick B. Whittemore

Advisory director at Morgan Stanley, former governor and vice chairman of the American Stock Exchange, lifetime trustee of the Aspen Institute and philanthropist.

2015

Stephen C. White

Stephen White is President of Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea. Steve has long served as a trustee of schools and non-profits, and he currently serves as the Vice President of the International Congress of Maritime Museums.

2016

Ivan Sergeyevich Obolensky

Ivan Sergeyevich Obolensky is known for his support of the Soldiers’, Sailors’, Marines’, Coast Guard & Airmen’s Club. Ivan has also championed charities focused on youth including the Police Athletic League and the Children’s Blood Foundation, which he helped found.