Recently, Elizabethtown College celebrated the 2022-23 Educate For Service award recipients at the institution’s annual President’s Society Dinner.
The awards are among the most distinguished presented to alumni of the College who demonstrate a commitment to the institution’s mission, Educate for Service. The awards are categorized in three unique areas which include, Service Through Professional Achievement; Service to Humanity; and Service to the College.
The 2022-23 alumni Educate for Service award recipients include:
- Jennifer Breen Feist ’94: Service to Humanity Award
- Daniel J. Jones ’97: Service Through Professional Achievement
- Robert E. Rigg ’74: Service to the College
“This year’s Educate for Service Award recipients all exemplify the core mission and values of Elizabethtown College and have made deep impacts in their communities to better the lives of others,” Elizabethtown College President Betty Rider said. “Each serves as an example of the type of legacy we want all Etown graduates to make in the world.”
Presented annually since 1966, these awards are intended to recognize alumni who exemplify the foundation of the Elizabethtown College spirit and legacy of education. Learn more about Elizabethtown College’s Educate For Service Awards.
Educate for Service Award Recipients
(L-R): Alumni Council President TaLisa Ramos-Watts ’11, Jennifer Breen Feist ’94
Jennifer Breen Feist ’94, H’22: Service to Humanity Award
Jennifer Breen Feist ’94 is a lawyer in Charlottesville, Va. specializing in finance, real estate, and wealth management. She is the Co-Founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation and sister of Dr. Lorna Breen. The Foundation’s mission is to reduce burnout of healthcare professionals and safeguard their well-being and job satisfaction. It envisions a world where seeking mental health services is universally viewed as a sign of strength for healthcare professionals.
Breen and her husband Corey, with whom she co-founded the Foundation, advocated tirelessly for the creation of the Dr. Lorna Breen Healthcare Provider Protection Act—legislation that was fully passed by Congress in December 2021, signed into law by President Biden in March of 2022 and funded with $140mm, most of which has already been distributed to hospitals and health care facilities across the country.
She has served in various roles on multiple non-profit boards including Girls, Inc., the United Way, the Venable Elementary School PTO and Girls on the Run. She is also the co-founder of Women United, an organization dedicated to supporting causes that benefit women and children in Central Virginia.
View Jennifer Breen Feist’s Educate for Service Video
(L-R): TaLisa Ramos-Watts ’11, Daniel J. Jones ’97
Daniel J. Jones ’97: Service Through Professional Achievement
Daniel J. Jones ’97 is currently President of Advance Democracy, Inc., a nonpartisan, non-profit organization that conducts public interest investigations around the world. Jones is also the Founder and President of The Penn Quarter Group, a research and investigative advisory that works with executive boards, organizational leaders, creative departments, and other entities to fill information gaps and solve complex problems.
A former FBI analyst and staff member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Jones led a team that completed the largest investigative review in U.S. Senate history, a nearly 7,000-page classified report on the use of torture by the Central Intelligence Agency after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
The 2019 Amazon Studios film, “The Report,” recounts Jones’ effort to research, write, and release a public version of the classified report. He is portrayed by the actor Adam Driver and the film’s cast includes Annette Benning and Jon Hamm.
View Daniel J. Jones’ Educate for Service Video
(L-R): TaLisa Ramos-Watts ’11, Robert E. Rigg ’74
Robert E. Rigg ’74: Service to the College
Robert E. Rigg ’74 is currently a Managing General Partner with Silver Oak LLC, and J&R Real Estate, providing commercial property management in Chester and Berks Counties. In addition, he has been a Director of First Resource Bank since 2012. In January 2022, Rigg retired as President of Rigg Darlington Group Inc., an insurance brokerage, after 47 years.
He has served as a director on over a dozen nonprofits, including serving as Chair of the Board for the Chester County Community Foundation, now director Emeritus. In 2021, Elizabethtown College received the largest gift toward an endowed scholarship by a living donor in College history, from Bob and his wife Karen. The Rigg Family Chester County Futures Scholarship, established in 2018, provides full room, board, and tuition for up to eight semesters, to four underrepresented or first-generation Elizabethtown College students from either Chester or Berks counties each year.