Anne Cady '73
Anne Cady is a talented artist who finds inspiration for her oil paintings in the extraordinary beauty of Vermont and its farms and mountains. Her storybook landscapes include fields of brilliantly colored patchwork, crisscrossed with inviting roads, trees and bushes with humorous, human qualities. Anne's paintings are recognizable for their eye-catching, highly accessible style―a style that continues to evolve. Her bold colors move the viewer through the painting and define the shapes, rhythms, patterns and light found in nature. The approach she brings to the landscape is in part a result of working with children and learning from the simple, playful way they see the world. For the first 20 years of her career, Anne also operated her own children's art school, relocating the school several times as her various moves required. There she worked with countless children, awakening their artistic talent during summer and after-school programs. A firm believer in the importance of art education for children and an art major at Middlebury, Anne saw her teaching culminate in "A Child's Vision," a 1990 exhibition of her students' work that took place at the College.
James H. Douglas '72
Jim Douglas, governor of Vermont since 2002, is known for his sense of humor. Perhaps it is this quality along with his plain-spoken manner and level-headed approach that have helped him succeed in Vermont politics for over 30 years. Perhaps it is also the fact that Jim has always stayed the course, not jumping on trends but rather sticking to a core set of beliefs that he developed as a young boy growing up near Springfield, Massachusetts. Yet another reason could be that his interest in politics, which began in junior high school, has similarly never wavered. A Russian major at Middlebury, Jim immediately joined the College Republicans upon his arrival in 1968, maintaining his involvement despite the turbulent times. Since then, he has remained a committed citizen of the state of Vermont as well as of the town of Middlebury, where he continues to serve as moderator of the annual town meeting. Jim was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1972―the same year he graduated from Middlebury. He went on to become assistant majority leader in his second term and majority leader in his third term at the age of 25. Jim left the state legislature in 1979 and became an aide to Vermont Governor Richard Snelling. In 1980, he was elected secretary of state, winning re-election five times and receiving the nomination of both parties on three occasions. Jim was elected state treasurer in 1994, a position he held until he was elected governor in 2002.