Elise P. Wright ’83
    A former chair of the Alumni Council has said that “the volunteer leader who models and encourages volunteer leadership provides a quintessential service to Princeton.”  Elise Wright is that volunteer leader.
    Those words alone, though, cannot do justice to the many ways that Elise has modeled and encouraged. The number of her commitments over the last 25 years is staggering: ranging from Schools Committee to Women in Leadership to Career Service volunteer, from many Alumni Council committees to many Annual Giving roles. Most recently, of course, she harnessed both her Alumni Council and her AG energies to lead the Class of ’83 in its spectacular 25th Reunion. With quiet skill and a generous spirit, Elise built a team from a broad range of classmates, and serenely channeled their energies into success. Even the often dangerous minefield of Reunion jacket design discussions were conducted with calm good humor. (A classmate proposes that Elise really ought to be managing world peace.) Not only did her class achieve a Reunions Annual Giving record and the Class of 1926 Trophy, ’83 was also recognized with an Alumni Council ACE Award for the effectiveness of their graphic design in all their Reunions communications.
    Success is measured by more than awards, however. Just as important, Elise’s personal outreach to classmates long unengaged with the University resulted in many returning who had not been on campus for years. Overheard more than once was the comment: “I came back because of Elise.”
    Beyond the numbers and the awards are those successes that don’t show up on reports, but are indeed “because of Elise.”   Linda Francis Knights ’77 writes eloquently of the role Elise played in helping her lead her own class to a successful 25th. Behind the scenes, Elise served as a “young mentor,” introducing Linda to the power of e-mail and the wonders of websites for managing class business. “How lucky I was,” remembers Linda, “that Elise stepped up then and there to support me.”
    Jan Runkle, business manager, University Health Services, and a co-chair of the LGBT Task Force, also feels lucky to have had Elise as the Alumni Liaison. It was this task force that brought to reality Princeton’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center at Frist Campus Center. Elise was integral to the project, not only with her careful, thoughtful recommendations, but also with her quiet guidance that kept the task force focused and calm as they prepared their proposal for Nassau Hall. “Elise was invaluable in the first meeting with President Tilghman in 2003. Without her efforts, the project may still have gotten done, but it happened sooner…because of Elise.”
    While Elise has served as a model for many, she has had her own model: her beloved father, Wes Wright ’51. A dear friend observes, “She grew up with a fine appreciation for the tradition of Princeton volunteer service. She keeps up the tradition in her own way, thinking hard about kindling alumni spirit for the future.” It is surely unique, and just as surely no accident, that Wes ’51 and Elise ’83 are father-daughter winners (in 1995 and 1999, respectively) of Annual Giving’s Harold H. Helm Award, which recognizes “exemplary and sustained service.” And how lovely that they now serve together on the Annual Giving Committee.
    Yes, it’s true that Elise’s name has been associated with a number of awards. In fact, though, she herself has avoided the spotlight. She likes to set a project in motion and watch it unfold, invariably putting herself in the background. Elise, your time has come to be in the foreground, to be in the spotlight. The Alumni Council is lucky to have the privilege of recognizing your abiding passion for the University with this Award for Service to Princeton.