Long-serving and distinguished school leader Alice G. Kendrick ’70, G’79, G’93 will be honored with the William Pearson Tolley Medal for Adult Education and Lifelong Learning at the 10th annual One University Awards on Friday, April 17, 2026, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. A reception follows in the Heroy Geology Building.
Kendrick retired as superintendent of the Jamesville-DeWitt (NY) Central School District in 2018 after a 40-year career with the district. She served as Superintendent for 23 years and previously worked as a high school teacher and administrator.
Kendrick earned a B.A. in Science Education through the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education in 1970. She later earned an M.S. in pre-forestry from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry before completing her doctorate in teaching and curriculum through SOE in 1993. She has served on the School’s Advisory Board since 1999.
The One University Awards celebrate excellence in academics, scholarship, creative work, and dedicated service by members of the Syracuse University community and beyond.
Syracuse University established the Tolley Medal in 1966 to recognize outstanding contributions by national and international leaders in what was then known as adult education.
For four decades, William Pearson Tolley was one of the nation’s pre-eminent leaders in higher education. By the time he retired in 1969, having served as the University’s Chancellor for 27 years, he had reconfigured the Syracuse campus, tripled enrollment, and made life-long learning his career legacy.
In naming the award for Tolley, the Board of Trustees paid tribute to a man whose own interest was expressed in consistent, personal support of Syracuse’s adult education activities worldwide.
Recent Tolley Medal winners are Howard G. Adams G’78 (2025), Rhodia Thomas ’77 (2024), Linda M. LeMura (2023), Allen Berger (2022), and Don McPherson ’87 (2021).