The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.
Every year, the Daily Progress selects 12 individuals from the community as its distinguished dozen.
1995
- Fletcher Arnitt Jr., FUMA teacher and coach
- Linda Bowen, youth baseball booster
- Margaret McLeod Cain, attorney
- Thomas J. Calloway, CHS basketball coach
- Deborah DiCroce, PVCC president
- Nancy Gercke, Charlottesville’s preschool education coordinator;
- Edward W. Hook Jr., doctor and teacher at UVa
- A.E. Dick Howard, constitutional scholar at UVa
- Alicia Lugo, Teensight director
- Fran Sackett, Live Arts artistic director
- Charles Stickle, UVa hospital volunteer
- Richard Wellbeloved-Stone, teacher at Living Education Center for Ecology and the Arts
1996
- Sonny Beale, Boy Scout leader
- Rev. Bruce Aaron Beard, pastor of First Baptist Church
- Lelia Brown, community leader
- Eddie Dean, Madison County High School math teacher and football coach
- Rae Ely, attorney and founder of Historic Green Springs
- Vicky Generelly, Nelson County Rural Health Outreach Program nurse
- Michael A. Mallory, UVa’s director of minority recruitment
- Marion Nolan, president of Charlottesville/Albemarle Foundation for the Encouragement of the Arts
- Bert Roby, chief of Orange County VFD
- Donna Selle, regional library director
- Gabe Silverman, developer and arts booster
- Vince Tornello, CHS band director
1997
- Dequeta Anderson, Abundant Life Family Center manager
- Jasper Bell, Charlottesville fire educator
- Fred Boyce, Prism Coffeehouse’s booking agent
- Shirley Cox, volunteer organizer
- Judy Goetz, volunteer
- Gary Greenwood, youth sports booster
- Dr. Sharon Hostler, pediatrician
- Mark Lorenzoni, businessman and fitness advocate
- Tim Murphy, Orange County K-9 officer
- Ginny Smith, leader of Compassionate Friends
- Mack Tate, Yancey Elementary School principal
- John Thomasson, Louisa businessman and community activist
1998
- Patricia Bottom-Delany, Venable Elementary School special-education teacher
- Carl Brown, juvenile probation officer
- Annette Grimm, director of the Sexual Assault Resource Agency
- Robert V. Heffern, principal of Madison Primary School
- Joy Johnson, public housing advocate
- Heinz Kramp, founder of Innisfree Village, a home for brain-injured adults
- Anna Mirra, Greene County Primary School volunteer
- Dr. Mohan Nadkarni, Charlottesville Free Clinic co-founder
- Martin Schulman, veterinarian
- James W. Simmons, Charlottesville Municipal Band director
- Julie Trueblood, interpreter for the deaf at UVa Medical Center
- Albert Weed II, Nelson County community activist
1998-1999
- Ken Ackerman, executive director of Monticello Area Community Action Agency
- Agnes Cross-White, publisher of Charlottesville/Albemarle Tribune
- Joseph Frisina, Habitat for Humanity volunteer
- Marcia Invernizzi, program director at UVa’s McGuffey Reading Center
- William Lewis, businessman and community leader
- Janet Murphy, cancer survivor
- Dr. Vito Perriello, pediatrician
- Paul Rittenhouse, volunteer soccer coach and rescue worker
- Jessamy Rouson, founder of Animal Haven
- Betty Simon, volunteer at Runaway Emergency Shelter Program and Shelter for Help in Emergency
- Edith Wheeler, enrichment teacher at Venable Elementary School and co-founder of Imani Project
- Rev. James E. Woods, founder of First Bible Baptist Church and United Christian Academy
1999-2000 (Distinguished dozen of the 20th century)
- Raymond C. Bice Jr., UVa professor and administrator
- Drewary J. Brown, civil rights advocate
- Bernard Chamberlain, attorney and historian
- Nan Crow, Charlottesville’s recreation director
- Dr. Halstead S. Hedges, founder of Martha Jefferson Hospital
- Thomas Staples Martin, U.S. senator
- Rebecca Fuller McGinness, teacher and community leader
- Paul Goodloe McIntire, philanthropist
- Rev. Frederick W. Neve, Episcopal priest and educator
- Randolph H. “Pete” Perry, businessman and politician
- Edgar F. Shannon Jr., president of UVa
- A. Darden Towe, civic leader
2000-2001
- Mozell H. Booker, Burnley-Moran Elementary School principal
- Elain Carlton, volunteer at elder-care facility
- Stephen H. Helvin, district court judge
- Greg Howard, musician and literacy advocate
- Linda Krongaard-DeMong, nurse practitioner and patient advocate
- Harry Porter, landscape architect at UVa
- Mary Reese, director of Barrett Day Care Center
- Sterling Robinson II, chef and community activist
- Patricia L. Smith, director of Offender Aid and Restoration of Charlottesville-Albemarle
- Lou Southard, state chief of forest protection
- George Welsh, UVa football coach
- Jim Wootton, local historian
2001-2002
- Suzanne Brower, founder of Pathway Volunteers, a program for Alzheimer’s patients
- Luvelle Brown, assistant principal and founder of Walker Academy for black male students
- Robert Covert, diversity educator
- Dave Matthews Band, community benefactors
- Mary Lee Embrey, Nelson County volunteer
- Dr. Greg Gelburd, Downtown Family Health Care founder and physician serving low-income people
- Robert Hammond, retired veterinarian and Ivy Creek Natural Area volunteer
- Anthony Iachetta, engineering professor emeritus and civic activist
- Robert S. Pace Jr., Fluvanna County animal care advocate
- Deborah Pettit, Louisa County educator
- Dr. Jo Ann Pinkerton, women’s midlife health and menopause center founder and director
- Debbie Ryan, UVa women’s basketball coach and cancer research advocate
2002-2003
- Franklin Bacon, community volunteer
- Dan Bieker, conservationist, Ivy Creek Natural Area volunteer
- Juanita Wilson Duquette, owner of Wilson School of Dance
- Gary Eisenhuth, science teacher at Western Albemarle High School
- Miriam Green, nurse at Our Lady of Peace
- Jim Hingeley, chief public defender for Charlottesville-Albemarle
- Barbara Lachance, “soup lady” at Church of the Holy Comforter
- Beth McPhee, Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA shelter manager
- Alberto Ojeda, advocate for area’s Hispanic community
- Ivan Orr, executive director of the Music Resource Center
- Helen “Sandy” Snook, community activist
- Lillie Taylor, longtime cook at Nathanael Greene Elementary School
2003-2004
- Harold Boyd, Boys and Girls Club leader
- Ray Caddell, real estate broker, community helper
- Holly Edwards, parish nurse at Westhaven Clinic and Holy Comforter Catholic Church’s soup kitchen
- Dr. Raymond Ford, pediatrician, leads medical missions to Haiti
- Sandra Levine, community volunteer
- Marshall Pryor, community and civic service work
- Ann Rooker, community volunteer
- Barbara Shifflett, executive director of the Albemarle County Fair
- Deirdre “Dede” Smith, director, Ivy Creek Foundation
- Gordan and Mary Beth Smyth, funders of Nelson County students’ education
- Phillip Stinnie, CEO and president, Charlottesville-Albemarle Youth Club, basketball coach
- Ruth Stone, executive director, Piedmont CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates)
2004-2005
- Dyan Aretakis, family nurse practitioner/ project director of the Teen Health Center
- Dr. David Deviese, Madison dentist with many Medicaid patients
- L. Dayton Haugh, chief of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad, lawyer
- The Rev. Edward Hopkins, pastor of Hinton Avenue United Methodist Church and chaplain for the Charlottesville Police Department
- Frances McQ Lawrence, helped establish the Rivanna Trails Foundation and the Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center, lawyer
- Peppy Linden, executive director of the Virginia Discovery Museum and community helper
- Ellen Miyagawa, Fluvanna County Historical Society archivist and publications editor
- Tom Powell, Toy Lift founder, community helper
- Mildred Spicer, therapeutic recreation supervisor, Charlottesville parks and recreation
- Juandiego Wade, Albemarle County transportation planner and community helper
- William Washington, executive director and founder of the Bridge Ministry
- Mary Ellen Wooten, provides care packages and other assistance to U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq
2005-2006
- Lee and Paulette Albright, state agency watchdogs
- Sonny and Debra Beale, Somali refugee helpers
- James Taylor Beard, anti-poverty, civil rights activist
- Judy Hunt, hospice volunteer
- Cornelia Johnson, Charlottesville sheriff
- Eric and Marcia Johnson, volunteer tutors
- Oliver Kuttner and David New, Katrina relief organizers
- Dave Norris, housing, low-income advocate
- Cindy Payne, guidance counselor
- David Strider, nurse manager; swim program volunteer
- Carlos Teran, Hispanic community advocate
- Karen Waters, Quality Community Council executive director
2006-2007 (teen edition)
- Brian Bills, senior, Charlottesville High School
- Tyler Coppage, junior, Madison County High School
- Ellie Craddock, senior, Monticello High School
- Rebecca Dolan, senior, St. Anne's-Belfield School
- Ashley Johnson, senior, the Covenant School
- Kelly McDowell, junior, Orange County High School
- Jessica Michelle Oliva, senior, Albemarle High School
- Lucie Rhoads, senior, St. Anne's-Belfield School
- Alicia Trice, senior, Albemarle High School
- Michelle Walker, freshman, Monticello High School
- Hunter Weaver, sophomore, Orange County High School
- Sean Zimmer, senior, the Renaissance School
2007-2008
- Mary Birkholz, animal sanctuary operator
- Jim Carpenter, photographer, volunteer
- Janet Herman, Women’s Four Miler volunteer
- Jeanne McCusker, senior citizen helper
- William Moors, Spanish-speaking physician
- Steve Murray, provider of running trails for local teams
- Rydell Payne, Prospect-area community worker
- Rick Richmond, JABA board member, community volunteer, lawyer
- Ed Russell, volunteer for local Alzheimer’s Association
- Eben Smith, Rivanna Trails Foundation volunteer
- Josephine Whitsett, retired school guidance counselor
- William “Whit” Whitten, musician/teacher
2008-2009
- Mary P. Anderson, administrator, nurse and therapist at the Lafayette School & Treatment Center
- Suzanne Jessup Brooks, serves on numerous community boards
- Maureen Burkhill, works with at-risk youths, most recently with Teensight
- Janet Centini, co-founder of Jeffrey’s Gifts
- Dr. Alan Dalkin, Central Little League leader
- Harold B. Folley, community organizer; coordinator of the Westhaven Afterschool Program
- Del Horan, founder of quilting group; community service
- ElizaBeth McCay, principal of Jackson-Via Elementary School
- Mary T. Miller, community and therapeutic arts volunteer
- Fahy “Skip” Mullaney, co-founder of People and Congregations Engaged in Ministry
- Carolyn Ohle, executive director, Innisfree Village
- Tom Payne, volunteer reserve sheriff’s deputy; oversees the Project Lifesaver program
2009-2010
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
2014-2015
- Richard R. Brown, Free Town heritage, environmental activist
- Marie Carter, community volunteer, chairwoman for the Lord’s Kitchen
- Jennifer Durant, Episcopal priest with Lou Gehrig’s disease
- William Gardner, volunteer robotics competition coach
- Jay Gillenwater, co-founder of the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards
- Andre Hakes, lawyer and gay-rights activist
- Mike Himes and Lisa Himes, volunteers with Fluvanna County’s Habitat for Humanity and Meals on Wheels
- Lucian Jackson, community outreach worker at Club Yancey
- Beth Laine, art teacher and community volunteer
- Tim Payne, volunteer search and rescue commander;
- Rickey E. White, pastor of Union Run Baptist Church, community volunteer
- Charles H. Wood Jr., founder of the Companion Animal Fund.
2015-2016
- Margery Daniel, PH.D., LCSW, volunteer with the local United Way, other groups
- Sarad Davenport, executive director of the City of Promise
- Sue Dougherty, assistant principal of Charlottesville Catholic School
- Stacy Greer and Wanda McGhee, operators of two thrift stores through their nonprofit, the Christian Outreach Program and Pregnancy Center
- Eddie Harris, REAL Dads educator
- Jennifer King, board president and volunteer with the Sexual Assault Resource Agency
- Dr. Karen Maughan, family physician at UVa
- Kari L. Miller, elder care coordinator, owner of The Next Phase;
- Todd Niemeier, operations director for the Urban Agriculture Collective of Charlottesville
- James R. Peterson, volunteer for the Rockfish Wildlife Sanctuary, other groups
- Kate Tamarkin, music director, conductor of the Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia and creator, program coordinator of Hospice of the Piedmont’s Music by the Bedside program
- Alison Webb, co-founder of the Virginia Institute for Autism.
2016-2017
- Lisa Black, teacher at the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital
- Tony Borash and Melissa McBride, Fluvanna SPCA volunteers and former board members
- Jeff Burton, youth baseball coach, mentoring leader
- Melba Campbell, active supporter of Hospice of the Piedmont, the local Habitat for Humanity and UVa Cancer Center, among other groups
- Joe Gieck, pioneer in the athletic training and sports medicine fields who supports and volunteers with numerous community organizations
- Quinton Harrell, active with the Black Professional Network and the Charlottesville Alliance for Black Male Achievement
- Jimmy Hollins, active with the Burley Varsity Club
- Dr. Richard Lindsay, retired physician who advocates and educates on aging and caregiving issues
- Joe Noonan, home repairer who goes above and beyond
- Ashton Ryan, founder of annual coat drive Ashton’s Birthday Wish
- Sonjia Smith, volunteer, mentor, philanthropist
- Rose Williams, advocate for disabled persons.
2017-2018
2018-2019
2019-2020