HONORED — Gerry Durgin (left) was presented the FA Distinguished Alumni Award. He is pictured with Fryeburg Academy Alumni Association president David Richardson. (Photo by Lakyn Osgood)
Past recipients of the Fryeburg Academy Distinguished Alumni Award:
1964: George W. Bacon ’11
1965: Maj. Gen. Robert N. Smith ’34
1966: Judge Hugh W. Hastings ’07
1967: Roy W. Hill ’14
1968: Rupert G. Johnson ’20
1969: Leo C. Lemieux, D.O. ’20
1970: Capt. Alan B. Crabtree ’43
1971: Paul C. Marston, M.D. ’17
1972: John F. Weston ’27
1973: Harvey D. Gibson 1898
1974-1984 No Awards Made
1985: Abbie Woodbury Lange ’01
1986: Ruth Shaw French ’26
1987: Harry Kimball Eastman ’21
1988: Earl P. Osgood ’20
1989: William H. Oliver ’38
1990: Francis Buzzell ’22
1991: William J. Texido ’53
1992: David R. Hastings II ’42
1993: Richard R. Fox ’41
1994: Willard C. Warren II ’40 & Jean Cameron Warren ’41
1995: Lawrence Kiesman ’38
1996: Charles R. LaCasce ’42
1997: Harold E. Jones ’44
1998: Dennis W. Emery ’46
1999: Scott A. Kelly ’53
2000: Conrad K. Eastman ’48
2001: Celestine P. Harnden ’46
2002: Thomas W. Hutchins ’35
2003: Bion R. Cram ’33
2004: Georgia Louise Davis Stone ’49
2005: James F. Wilfong ’64
2006: James A. Osgood ’56
2007: To All Alumni Who Made Phoenix Project Happen
2008: Fred Murkland ’43
2009: Margaret Grover Pinkham ’68
2010: Diane Eastman Powell ’53
2011: Chris Gordon ’81, Asa O. Pike IV ’57 & Brett Russell ’56
2012: Bruce Smith ’67
2013: Sgt. Gregory Sanborn ’84
2014: Roy E. Andrews ’56
2015: Diane Gushee ’79 and Barbara Gushee ’84
2016: Richard Thompson ’61
2017: Alan Whitaker ’77

FRYEBURG — Fryeburg Academy Alumni Association president David Richardson ’84, presented the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award to Gerald Durgin, Class of 1968, at Fryeburg Academy’s Annual Alumni Reunion Banquet on Saturday, Aug. 18.

It is hard to imagine another person that has had a greater impact on interscholastic activities in Maine than Gerry Durgin.

As a student at Fryeburg Academy, he was a three-sport athlete, who later went on to an outstanding career at the University of Maine at Farmington.

In 1972, he began his teaching and coaching career at Telstar High School in Bethel, where he would also serve as the school’s athletic administrator.

In 1984, he returned to Fryeburg Academy, where he served as the school’s Dean of Students, athletic administrator, teacher, dorm parent and coach. Classes taught included: English, biology, anatomy/physiology and math; and sports coached included: football, soccer, basketball, baseball and softball.

In 1993, he moved to Gorham High School, serving as that school’s athletic administrator until 2011.

In the fall of 2011, he became an assistant executive director of the Maine Principals’ Association.

Throughout his career, Gerry has been involved with the MIAAA, serving on their board of directors for 15 years and as an assistant director from 1997–2005. He was the chairman of the MIAAA State Conference for 10 years, as well as the editor of their newsletter for many years.

At the national level, his involvement with the NIAAA has included being a member of the NIAAA Publications Committee, serving a four-year term on the Board of Directors, as well as serving as the organization’s president in 2007. He chaired the NIAAA Third Strategic Plan, and served as the chairman of the first NIAAA Accreditation Committee.

At the state level, he has hosted numerous regional and state championships, has presented at many state and national conferences, and developed “Citizenship Recognition Programs” in two different athletic conferences.

He currently serves as the state tournament director in golf, football and basketball. He has been an adjunct professor at the University of Southern Maine and Saint Joseph’s College.

While at the MPA, he has developed a statewide sportsmanship program for all interscholastic activities and also started the MPA Golf Tournament, which provides financial assistance for those students that attend the New England Student Leadership Conference, as well as five scholarships to Maine high school students.

Gerry has been recognized with numerous honors throughout his storied career. In 1993, Gerry was chosen as the MIAAA Athletic Director of the Year; he received a State Award of Merit in 1999; and in 2010 the MIAAA established the Gerry Durgin Leadership Award. Gerry was also recently named the Executive Director for the State of Maine’s Athletic Director’s Association.

At the national level, he received the NIAAA State Award of Merit in 1999, the NIAAA Distinguished Service Award in 2000, and received a NFHS Citation in 2002. In 2010, he received the NIAAA Award of Merit, the nation’s highest honor presented to an athletic administrator, and remains the only person from all of New England to receive the award.

He has been inducted into the Fryeburg Academy Hall of Fame (in their inaugural class), the Gorham High School Hall of Fame, into the NIAAA Hall of Fame in 2012, and in 2017 into the MPA Hall of Excellence.

Gerry and his wife, Ellen, reside in Gorham and have two grown daughters, Alicia and Jennifer, and six grandchildren, Jackson, Joey, Jamie, Elizabeth, Brecken and Kinsley.