The Monroe Community College Foundation’s Alumni Council has selected three outstanding alumni and MCC’s First Class to be inducted into the MCC Alumni Hall of Fame. Charles Benoit ’84, Dawn V. Borgeest ’76 and Deborah C. Stamps ’97 will be honored at the MCC Foundation’s 22nd annual Salute to Excellence dinner on Thursday, November 17, at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. Special tribute is being paid to the First Class as part of the College’s 50th anniversary celebration.
Please join the MCC Foundation in congratulating and highlighting the achievements of Charles Benoit. Charles was nominated by Lauren Dixon, Chief Executive Officer of Dixon Schwabl and member of the MCC Foundation Board of Directors.
Charles joined Dixon Schwabl, a marketing, advertising and public relations firm, in 2003. In addition to his role as senior copywriter/producer at Dixon Schwabl, Charles serves as a mentor to interns at the agency, guiding hundreds of students through Dixon Schwabl's internship program; gives agency tours to high school or college students and speaks to local schools about advertising and Dixon Schwabl. A former high school history teacher in Rochester, he has also taught in Kuwait and Trinidad and Tobago.
Charles is a nationally acclaimed, award-winning author, currently working on his sixth book. His debut novel, Relative Danger, was nominated for several awards including the Mystery Writer's of America's Edgar Award. His second book, Out of Order;his third adult mystery, Noble Lies; and his most recent book, You, have received rave reviews. You was used in family reading programs at Greece Arcadia and in numerous classrooms in the U.S., Spain and Sweden. His fifth novel, Fall From Grace, will be published by Harper Collins in the spring. Charles was selected to participate in the Authors in the Bush program, working with students and teachers in the remote Tikigaq community of Point Hope, Alaska. His creative writing earned him a Communicators Award for The Smart Set, a weekly radio program that he hosts on Jazz 90.1.
Among his awards and accolades: Rochester City School District Teacher of the Year in 1989; Chair of the Social Studies Department at the American International School in Kuwait; 3rd US Infantry, The Old Guard, the Army's Official Ceremonial Unit and Escort to the President from 1980-83.
Charles earned an associate degree in liberal arts and, while at MCC, was a staff writer for the Monroe Doctrine. He credits Professor Lee Adnepos’s English 101 class for inspiring him to become a writer. He went on to earn a bachelor of science degree in history/education from Nazareth College and a master of arts degree in liberal studies from SUNY Brockport. Charles remains involved with MCC today contributing his time and talent to the MCC Foundation’s Gold Star Gala.
An occasional scuba diver and incurable novice saxophone player, Charles currently lives in Greece with his wife Rose, a high school English teacher.
Karen Shaw
MCC Foundation
11/01/2011 |