Recipients of this year's "Outstanding Educator" awards presented by the Salem State College Alumni Association are, from left, Thomas H. Furey ('72) of Salem, Michael J. Harvey (‘88) of Lynn, Dr. Robert B. McCarthy ('61) of N.H., Carol A. Gray ('71) of Marblehead, Dr. Sharon A. Minichiello ('68) of Saugus, Kathleen M. Willis ('90) of North Andover and Diane L. Carey ('83) of Marblehead.

SALEM, Mass. - The Salem State College Alumni Association recently honored seven winners of this year's Outstanding Educator Award.

Diane L. Carey ('83), Thomas H. Furey ('72), Carol A. Gray ('71), Michael J. Harvey ('88), Dr. Robert B. McCarthy ('61), Dr. Sharon A. Minichiello ('68), and Kathleen M. Willis ('90) were honored at the annual reception and in the Campus Center.

Willis, of North Andover, is the Administrator of Elementary Education in the Triton Regional School District. She is a former assistant principal at Salisbury Memorial School and a former special education teacher. She also taught from 1977 to 1980 at the Herman School in Lowell. She received a Master's of Education in School Administration from Salem State in 1990.

Furey, of Salem, has been a media specialist in the Lynn school system since 1994. Previously he taught at elementary schools in Acton and Amesbury. He has three degrees from Salem State: a master's of education in both administration and in reading and a bachelor's degree in elementary education in 1968. Furey was recipient of the Salem State College Community Service Award in 1972 and the Salem Community Service Award in 2002. He is a member of the Salem Charter Commission.

Carey, of Marblehead, has been teaching science at St. John's Prep since 1983 and at the University of New Hampshire since 1997. She is interested in developing her experience with HIV prevention and teacher education. While pursuing her PhD in Neuroscience Education, she developed a high school curriculum for teaching neuroscience and created a new class at the Prep. She has performed animal research and cultural studies in Africa and will return there as part of the Teachers for Africa Program. She received a bachelor's degree in Biology from Salem State and a Mass Teaching Certification in 1983. She obtained a master's of education in 1993 from Cambridge College and a doctorate of philosophy neuroscience education in 1996 from The Union Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Gray, of Marblehead, has been teaching English at the Marblehead Middle School since 1998. She has also taught at Peabody High School, the Tower School in Marblehead, and in the Salem Public School system. A facilitator of professional development programs dealing with inclusion classrooms, she received her bachelor's degree in education from Salem State College in 1971. She obtained a master's degree in education from Cambridge College.

Harvey, of Lynn, teaches history, government and economics classes at Harare International School in Harare, Zimbabwe. Previously he taught in Florida, Athens, Greece, and in New Hampshire. After obtaining a bachelor's degree in history from Salem State College in 1988, he obtained a master's in history from the University of Michigan in and conducted post graduate work at the University of West Florida and at Harvard University.

Minichiello, of Saugus, is the director of the Center for Japanese Studies at the University of Hawaii and a former professor of Japanese and East Asian Studies at Loyola Marymount University. After receiving a bachelor's degree in history from Salem State college in 1968, she obtained a master's degree in history from the University of Hawaii in 1970 and a doctorate in history from the University of Hawaii in 1975.

McCarthy, from Grantham, N.H. is the senior consultant of the Education Alliance at Brown University in Providence, R.I.

After starting out as a social studies teacher in Chicopee and Brookline from 1962 to 1969, McCarthy was the principal of Hanover (N.H.) High School from 1971 to 1981 and headmaster at Brookline High School from 1981 to 1987. He was the senior associate for the Coalition of Essential Schools at Brown University from 1988 to 1997.

He is a member of the National Association of Secondary School Principals and past president of the New England Association of Accredited Schools.

For more information call Alumni Affairs Director Tom Walker at (978) 542-7532, Jim Dennis, director of gift and estate planning, at (978) 542-7596 or Eileen O'Brien, assistant director of alumni affairs, at (978) 542-7529.