James P. Stearns, Class of 1970

Most of us spend our lives avoiding emergencies, but you have made a life of pursuing them. In two decades as emergency coordinator for CARE International, you have consistently been among the first on the scene in response to human disaster in some of the world’s most far flung places and amid the most trying circumstances. You have helped embody the heart of humanity’s response to such atrocities as genocide in Rwanda, civil war in Sierra Leone, and the rapid spread of HIV across Africa. The dangers include being the target of machine gun fire and frequent, last minute evacuation. The frustrations include lack of food and water, phones that don’t work, roads that are washed out or closed, language barriers, and the constantly shifting currents of deadly politics. Yet in countless operations you have succeeded in getting the right people and equipment to the right place at the right time and doing so in a manner your colleagues describe as masterful, ingenious, and leavened with both great judgment and a healthy sense of humor. “To be a humanitarian aid worker for two years is highly commendable,” says one colleague, “to be one for twenty years like Jim requires incredible dedication and commitment to those far less fortunate than ourselves.” Through this longstanding devotion, you have saved countless lives, built opportunity, brought hope, and forged a brighter future for many of our world’s neediest people. That such vital work has generally taken place in obscurity represents yet another wrong, one that your alma mater is pleased this night to redress.