CHESTERTOWN, MD—Fundraising professional Susan Thomas Denton, a member of the Class of 1969, was honored with an Alumni Citation for Excellence for her career contributions in nonprofit stewardship. In presenting the citation, Alumni Board Chair Valarie Sheppard ’86 said Denton had devoted her entire career to helping educational organizations thrive and described her as “the Mary Tyler Moore of Washington College: warm and genuinely kind, committed to charitable causes, and fiercely loyal to her alma mater.”

As an undergraduate, Denton played field hockey, joined Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, sang in the chorus, participated in student government, and belonged to then-president Daniel Gibson’s advisory board. After earning a degree in English, she went to work as a development officer for St. Paul’s School in Baltimore and subsequently as associate director of development for Johns Hopkins University.

In 1984, she established Denton and Associates, a firm that managed fundraising and special events for educational, scientific, and public policy organizations. Her clients included CASE, one of the world’s largest nonprofit educational associations, and the American Association of Community Colleges. 

Denton’s contributions to Washington College have included service on the Visiting Committee (a group of Washington College graduates who act as a sounding board for the administration) and a seat on the Board of Visitors and Governors. She and her husband, Larry, endowed a scholarship in honor of veteran history professor Charles B. Clarke ’34 and helped establish the John S. Toll Chair in tribute to the gifted physicist and visionary educational leader who led the College for a decade.

Now a resident of Oxford, Md., Denton is a member of the 1782 Society and the George Washington Legacy Society. She recently served on the committee that raised more than $2 million in private funds to expand and renovate the Johnson Fitness Center.  In addition to her continuing support of Washington College, she is active on behalf of the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, the Oxford Community Center, and the Washington Opera.