One of CMC’s highest honors, the Presidential Award for Merit, was presented to two of the College’s most prominent and productive leaders during Commencement weekend.
President Hiram Chodosh, in his final presentation of the special award, honored one faculty member and one staff member: Heather Antecol P’29, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty and James G. Boswell Professor of Economics, and Sharon Basso, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
He cited both “for their individual achievement and for their collaboration and teamwork during an intensely productive time for the College.”
“Together, they are key to the best leadership team in higher ed,” President Chodosh continued. “Each strong leaders, who understand vision, strategy, teamwork, resources, and execution. Each strong leaders, who step up, surface challenges, take responsibility, build community, and earn trust … Each has built an outstanding career as the foundation for (CMC’s) pinnacle set of achievements.”
Antecol joined CMC in 2001 and was named Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty in February 2021. With strategic and visionary leadership, Antecol has successfully recruited almost 50 world-class tenure-line faculty to CMC—including 20 new hires for the Kravis Department of Integrated Sciences—and has been at the forefront of new research and curricular initiatives across the College’s academic program.
A distinguished labor economist and prolific scholar, Antecol’s research has been recognized on a global scale and published in numerous highly respected economics journals. For her service to the College, which includes previous roles as Chair of the Robert Day School of Economics and Finance and Director of the Berger Institute for Work, Family, and Children (now the Berger Institute for Individual and Social Development), Antecol has been honored with the Roy P. Crocker Award for Service and the Glenn R. Huntoon Award for Superior Teaching.
“She is second to none in the combination of her multiple powers: her pure smarts in qualitative and quantitative reasoning, her rigorous attention to detail, her courage in facing new challenges and surfacing neglected ones, her tireless execution, and her simultaneous ability to build community and a great team,” President Chodosh said.
“When the history of the College is updated, I believe Heather will be known as the most productive Dean in the school’s history. Heather is a powerhouse.”
With more than four decades of leadership experience in higher education, Basso was named CMC’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in 2023. She joined the College in 2016 as Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students, and helped oversee a world-class student affairs team to build and implement notable initiatives like CMC’s Public Safety Team and the CARE Center. Under her direction, DOS also created transformational student development programs.
“Sharon co-designed a program capable of supporting the culture we sought to preserve, aligning our student life program with our mission of responsible leadership through community, purpose, and play,” President Chodosh shared. “Our data on student belonging, friendliness, and reliance on friends for strong emotional support are peerless.”
An innovative, strategic, and trusted leader, Basso served as Acting President in fall 2023 during President Chodosh’s sabbatical and helped CMC navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Basso was also instrumental in the successful opening of the Robert Day Sciences Center and is playing a crucial role in overseeing the construction of The Roberts Campus Sports Bowl.
Along with the extraordinary leadership accomplishments of Antecol and Basso, President Chodosh celebrated the honorees’ inimitable personalities and strength of character that have made a meaningful and lasting difference at CMC.
They are “each strong leaders, who are kind and funny … each strong leaders who understand the little moments that are so critical: active listening, careful questions, strong intuition, follow-through commitments, judgment, and social warmth that builds community.”
Read President Chodosh’s full remarks from the Presidential Award for Merit presentation.