D-E Alumni from the Dwight School for Girls, the Englewood School for Boys (ESB), and Dwight-Englewood School will gather on Saturday June 2, to celebrate 50th and other milestone reunion years, and honor select alumni.

During Reunion 2012, the 2012 D-E Distinguished Alumni Award, which honors exemplary professional and/or volunteer accomplishments, will be presented to Michael Leiter '87 and conductor Mark Shapiro, D.M.A.,  ’77. Leiter is the Senior Counsel for Palentir Technologies and the former Director of the National Center for CounterTerrorism. He will be the featured Keynote Speaker for Commencement 2012 on Sunday, June 3, for the Class of 2012.

Dr. Shapiro is the artistic director of both Cantori New York and the Monmouth Civic Chorus, and now the WORD of the St. Cecilia Chorus. A highly-sought visiting and guest conductor, Shapiro has worked with Juilliard Vocal Arts, the Nova Sinfonia chamber orchestra of Halifax, and the Bridgeport (Connecticut) Symphony, among others. Shapiro is also a teaching faculty member at Long Island University and Mannes College – The New School for Music.

Alumni will also be inducted into the Dwight-Englewood School Athletic Hall of Fame, established in 1996 to honor those individuals who have achieved a high level of athletic success as students and/or coaches, or through significant contributions to the school’s athletic program.

This year, the 2012 Hall of Fame inductees include Alexandra Brill-Edwards White ’92, who won a total of 10 Varsity letters in three sports while she was in the Dwight-Englewood Upper School. She captained the 1991 and 1992 Varsity Field Hockey, Basketball and Lacrosse teams, and was a member of the 1989 and 1990 Lacrosse Prep School Division A State Championship teams. She also played on the 1988 County Champion Varsity Field Hockey team. Alexandra earned All-State honors in Field Hockey and Lacrosse during her career and was a recipient of the Nick Herko Award in 1992. After Dwight-Englewood, she went to the University of Pennsylvania and played Varsity Lacrosse. In 1996, her senior year, she was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week.

The 1992 Boys Varsity Tennis Team will also be inducted into the Hall of Fame. For its era, the 1992 team perhaps best represents the success of the D-E tennis program, the talents and efforts of a remarkable group of players, and the years of outstanding leadership from Coach Andy Pink. The experienced and dominant 1992 team won the Bergen County Group 1 Championship for the third year in a row, earning the #1 ranking in the Bergen County and placing among the top 25 in the state.

The D-E Athletic Hall of Fame will also welcome the 1966-67 ESB Wrestling Team. Like tenacious bulldogs, the individuals on this team made sacrifices for the sake of the team, forgoing personal accolades by dropping down or moving up weight classes, overcoming injuries, and battling for every point. With such determination and sacrifice, the team compiled an 8 and 1 record, and overcame Montclair and Morristown to become the first ESB wrestling team to win the State Championship title.

A special Room Dedication event is also scheduled during Saturday’s Reunion Celebration in honor of Rebecca Blackwell, who is retiring after 45 years of service to D-E in various capacities, including Latin Teacher, Dean, and Assistant Head of School. The Room Dedication will take place within the Imperatore Library at 11:30 a.m., followed by a reception, and all are welcome to attend.