Ivy Football Association Sixth Ivy Football Association Dinner
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BROWN COLUMBIA CORNELL DARTMOUTH HARVARD PENNSYLVANIA PRINCETON YALE
YALE
Photo: Henry G.
2011 Honoree
Henry G. "Hank" Higdon 1963
Born in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of a retail executive, Hank Higdon attended Phillips Academy at Andover, where he played varsity football, basketball, and baseball, and was named the school's Outstanding Athlete in his senior year. He then matriculated at Yale, earning a B.A. in American Studies. On an undefeated freshman football team, he played halfback and safety and was voted the team's Most Valuable Player. On the 1960 undefeated and untied varsity football team, he was one of three sophomores (and only back) who lettered. He was voted captain of the team his senior year, playing both ways.
Hank has been in the executive search business for almost 40 years. He founded Higdon, Joys & Mingle in 1986 which ultimately evolved into HigdonBraddockMatthews LLC. Specializing exclusively in the asset management industry, the firm lists among its clients a number of the leading investment management/mutual fund organizations around the world. Headquartered in New York the firm also has offices in Los Angeles and Boston.
Prior to founding HigdonBraddockMatthews LLC, Hank spent 15 years with Russell Reynolds Associates, Inc. (RRA), including time in Houston and Los Angeles. He was ultimately named an Executive Vice President and Member of the firm's Executive and Compensation Committees. Before RRA, Hank spent six years with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., in a sales capacity. He also served six months on active duty in the USMC Reserve Program, and was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps Reserve as a Staff Sergeant in 1970.
Hank today serves as a member of the boards of directors of the Bowery Mission in New York (Christian Herald Association), Life Spring Network (a faith-based organization based in Chicago), and the Greenwich Leadership Forum, of which he is also a founder. Hank has served as President of the Alumni Association at Andover, and also as a Trustee. For Yale, he has served as President of the Yale Football Association, of which he presently is a director. He is also a founder of the Ivy Football Association. Hank and his wife, Erika, are members of the Stanwich Congregational Church, and where he has served as a Deacon, Chairman of the Deaconate, Moderator of the church, and Trustee.
2009 Honoree
Stone Phillips
A Philosophy major, Stone was a two-year starter at quarterback; his team shared the Ivy League championship his senior year. Stone received Yale's F. Gordon Brown Award for Outstanding Academic and Athletic Leadership and an NCAA post-graduate scholarship from the National Football Foundation. Before joining NBC News in 1992, he spent 12 years with ABC News as a correspondent for World News Tonight and later for 20/20. In his 30-year career in network news, Stone's list of interviews includes President George H.W. Bush, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, as well as an Emmy Award winning 1996 interview with New York subway gunman Bernhard Goetz. He has received the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service, and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, among many others. Stone's work has also been recognized by the Overseas Press Club of America and the National Society of Black Journalists.
2007 Honoree
Jerome P. Kenney
Jerry and his three brothers attended Yale University and played varsity football.  Jerry earned a B.A. in Economics in 1963 and later an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern.  He began his career as a research analyst at White, Weld & Co., and subsequently created an institutional business for Merrill Lynch.  Over his 28 years with Merrill Lynch, he served in a number of senior roles, including President and Chief Executive Officer of Merrill's worldwide investment banking and institutional business.  Jerry has been generously involved with Yale Football, including his contribution toward the recent renovation of the Yale Bowl.
2005 Honoree
Charles B. Johnson
For his efforts on the field, Charlie won a major 'Y' his junior and senior years as an offensive guard, and played both ways.  After a stint in the U.S. Army, he joined Franklin Distributors (then a $2.3 million mutual fund organization) as President and Chief Executive Officer and assumed the same positions with Franklin Resources, Inc., when it was formed in 1968.  As the current Chairman of the Board of Franklin Resources (with assets now at over $300 billion), Charlie Johnson is also known as a strong supporter of Yale football. 
2003 Honoree
Kenneth L. Wolfe
Honored at the 2003 dinner, Ken is a former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hershey Foods, and achieved both academic and athletic success at Yale. He was an all-purpose halfback who helped Yale to its last undefeated and untied season in 1960 by scoring three touchdowns rushing and four receiving; he was also second in the nation in kickoff returns. Ken has been an involved citizen in both the private and corporate sectors of his life. He is an Independent Trustee of Fidelity Management & Research, and also serves as a member of the boards of several other corporations.
2001 Honoree
Kurt L. Schmoke
A native son of Baltimore, Kurt served as Mayor of the city for 12 years, and is today the Dean of Howard University School of Law.  During his career, Kurt has been Senior Fellow of the Yale Corporation and also Assistant Director, White House Domestic Policy Staff, under President Carter.  As an undergraduate, Kurt played defensive back and was a member of two championship Yale teams.  After graduation, he studied as a Rhodes Scholar after which he earned a law degree from Harvard University.