Shumway, Sink to be honored with Granite State Awards

By Lori Wright, Media Relations

UNH will honor two New Hampshire residents who have dedicated their careers to community service with Granite State Awards that will be presented at commencement Saturday, May 22.

Donald L. Shumway, president of the Crotched Mountain Foundation, and Marcia Sink, executive director of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of New Hampshire, are the recipients of the annual awards.

Shumway’s 30-year career serving people with disabilities and their families is rooted in direct care when, in 1973, he began working with adolescents with multiple disabilities at the Belchertown State School in Massachusetts. His service in New Hampshire began in 1976, when he served as planning director for the New Hampshire Developmental Disabilities Council. He then joined the Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services where he served three terms as its director.

After serving as co-director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation $5 million initiative “Self-Determination for Persons with Developmental Disabilities” in conjunction with the UNH Institute on Disability, Shumway was appointed in 1999 as commissioner of the state Department of Health and Human Services. In 2002, he became president of the Crotched Mountain Foundation in Greenfield. He is an adjunct professor with the Department of Psychiatry at the Dartmouth School of Medicine.

Throughout his career, Shumway has served as a volunteer in leadership positions with national, state and local organizations, including president of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors Board; member of The National Advisory Mental Health Council, National Institute of Mental Health; board member of the Endowment for Health and Leadership New Hampshire.

Marcia Sink is the founder and executive director of CASA of New Hampshire. Under her leadership, since 1988 CASA has become a key participant in the state’s child welfare system and earned the respect of the state’s judiciary. CASA is a private, nonprofit organization committed to speaking for the best interests of abused and neglected children in New Hampshire courts.

Approximately 1,000 children currently are represented by nearly 325 CASA volunteers who spend time with these children and bring important information to judges so that the courts can make informed decisions that allow children to be raised in nurturing, stable homes.

Sink has received numerous awards and accolades for her efforts, including the New Hampshire Bar Association’s Frank Rowe Kenison Award, New Hampshire Women’s Fund NH Women of the Twentieth Century, Governor’s Commendation, National CASA Association Kappa Alpha Theta Program Director of the Year, Greater Manchester Association of Social Service Agencies’ James B. Sullivan Human Services Leadership Award, Attorney General’s Task Force Award and the Odyssey House’s Arthur E. Brady Jr. Award.

Commencement begins at 10 a.m. at Cowell Stadium Field, rain or shine. It is expected to last about two hours.