2026 Awards Dinner Honorees

Addy, Birkbeck, and Lovell to Be Honored

The Foundation will hold its 15th Awards Dinner at Watermark Country Club on Wednesday, October 7. This year’s program focuses on three issues that are vital to our community and our world: local journalism, mental health, and environmental protection.

The Awards Dinner is always a fascinating night. Our most recent event, honoring U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink and Beer City Dog Biscuits founders Leslie Hooker and Suzanne Wilcox, sold out well in advance.

Nii Addy '96 will be honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award. Addy is the Albert E. Kent Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology at the Yale School of Medicine. Throughout his 25 years of neuroscience research, he has contributed to our understanding of reward, motivation, learning and memory, anxiety, depression, and addiction. With his neuroscience expertise, Dr. Addy speaks on a range of topics, including mental health, work/life balance, employee wellness, treatments for mental health illnesses, navigating through times of uncertainty, and thriving. As an experienced professor, educator, and leader, he trains the next generation of scientists, clinicians, and thought leaders. He is also the creator and host of the Addy Hour podcast.

Albert John Koerts “A.J.” Birkbeck '78 will also be honored, posthumously, with the Distinguished Alumni Award. Birkbeck was an environmental attorney who made a career managing corporate-scale cleanups. He was instrumental in exposing the most severe case of toxic PFAS contamination in Michigan and touched off a massive search for the chemicals that helped stop thousands from drinking poisoned water in Kent County and beyond.

Susan Lovell will be honored with the Community Service Award. Lovell is a Michigan-based author, educator, and community leader. Most notably, Lovell co-founded the Cadence, a beloved weekly East Grand Rapids newspaper that was published for over four decades, from 1975 to 2019. Lovell also served as a consultant to The Wege Foundation and sat on the board of Our Hope and on the Salvation Army Advisory Board.

The 2025 and 2026 recipients of the EGRSF Excellence in Teaching and James and Georgia Nicholas Endowed Award for a Teacher of Math, Science, or Technology will also be honored at the dinner. Heather Carlson, Kailey Faris, and Andrea Dudley received the awards in 2025. This year's honorees will be announced later this month.

Click here for online nomination forms for the Community Service and Distinguished Alumni Awards.

Past Award Recipients