(SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Oct. 8, 2013) Peggy Lynn ’05, of Red Creek, N.Y., a professional singer, songwriter, 2005 winner of the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence and part-time mentor and assistant professor in historical studies and cultural studies, has been selected as a co-recipient of the SUNY Empire State College Altes Prize for Exemplary Community Service.

Lynn is being recognized for her work in co-founding Creative Healing Connections, a nonprofit organization that features programs and shared opportunities for women with cancer or other chronic illness and for women veterans. CHC seeks to achieve healing and growth directly through programs and indirectly through training and inspiration.

“Faculty Mentor and Professor Peggy Lynn embodies what makes SUNY Empire State College remarkable in higher education,” said Merodie A. Hancock, president of the college. “Professor Lynn’s experience as a student and alumna of the college, as an artist, as a faculty mentor, as a volunteer dedicated to helping women, makes all of the organizations and people she touches and the greater community a better place to live, work and learn. My gratitude and appreciation go to Peggy Lynn for her service to the community; she is most deserving of the college’s Altes Prize.”

Lynn, a part-time mentor and assistant professor at the college’s Central New York Center, was presented with the Altes Prize last week as part of the center’s annual open house.

“We are thrilled that Peggy’s outstanding community service is being recognized and celebrated,” said Nikki Shrimpton, dean of the Central New York Center.

“Receiving the Altes Prize is an honor and I am very grateful for this recognition,” said Lynn. “My Empire State College education informed my songwriting, the Creative Health Connections programs about women, and helped to make me a more intelligent, active citizen of the United States and the world.”

“Peggy Lynn is most deserving of the prize,” said Jane W. Altes, for whom the award is named. “She and past recipients exemplify a commitment to ‘community’ in thought and behavior. Because the culture of Empire State College fosters such a commitment, the areas served by the college receive substantial benefits beyond those of higher education.”

About Peggy Lynn

A 2005 recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence, Lynn graduated from Empire State College that same year with a degree in women’s studies. She has been a singer/songwriter and recording artist for the past 25 years.

Lynn is one of the founders of Creative Healing Connections, which for the past 15 years has held retreats for women with cancer and chronic illness and women veterans. She leads songwriting workshops at the retreats, encouraging participants to join their voices and tell their stories. She also raises funds for the organization and assists in marketing the retreats.

A part-time mentor and assistant professor in historical studies and cultural studies, Lynn holds an M.A. in history from the State University of New York at Oswego.

About the Altes Prize

Named for Jane W. Altes, former long-time vice president of academic affairs and interim president of the college, the Altes Prize is awarded by the college annually to recognize exemplary community service by a college faculty member who applies his or her academic expertise to address important community issues.

Desalyn De-Souza, a faculty mentor and assistant professor in human services and human development at the Central New York Center, is the co-recipient of the prize with Lynn. De-Souza will be honored at an upcoming center event.

The award carries with it a cash prize of $2,500. As a co-recipient, Lynn is donating $1,000 of the funds to benefit Creative Health Connections and the balance will support her recording of songs written for and at retreats.

About SUNY Empire State College

SUNY Empire State College was established in 1971 to offer adult learners the opportunity to earn associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the State University of New York.

In addition to awarding credit for prior college-level learning, the college pairs each student with a faculty mentor who supports that student throughout his or her college career. Students engage in guided independent study and course work onsite, online or a combination of both, which provides the flexibility for students to learn at the time, place and pace they choose.

The college serves more than 20,000 students worldwide at more than 35 locations in the state of New York and online. Its 70,000 alumni are active in their communities as entrepreneurs, politicians, business professionals, artists, nonprofit agency employees, teachers, veterans and active military, union members and more. More information about the college is available here.

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Media contact: David Henahan, director of communications

518-587-2100, ext. 2918

David.Henahan@esc.edu

518-321-7038 (after hours and on weekends)