OXFORD - Four Oxford Academy and Central School graduates whose contributions to science, education and community service will be honored Friday, July 24, during the school’s 2026 Hall of Distinction ceremony.

This year’s honorees are Dr. Jacqueline Brown, Dr. Elizabeth Costello, Dr. Alan Dutton and Sue Hubbard.

The event will begin at 5 p.m. with a social and an opportunity to view memorabilia from the honorees. Each honoree will have an exhibit table featuring high school or career materials. The Hall of Distinction Committee will also present an exhibit recognizing past honorees, history related to Oxford Academy and a PowerPoint presentation by Vickie House.

Dinner is catered by Nina’s of Norwich AND will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Oxford High School cafeteria. The cost is $35 per person and $20 for children younger than 16. Past honorees and invited guests are welcome.

The public ceremony will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will include presentations about the honorees and acceptance speeches.

For dinner reservations or additional information, contact Michele Rice at the district office at 607-843-2025 or mrice@oxac.org, or Carl Koenig at 607-244-8432 or Carlkoenig@stny.rr.com.

Jacqueline Brown

Dr. Jacqueline T. Brown, MD attended Oxford Academy and Central School and graduated with the class of 2006 as Valedictorian. While in high school, in addition to maintaining a very high academic standard, Jackie participated in many activities. She played Varsity Field Hockey and ran Track and Field. She was also part of the music program playing both the piano and the oboe.

Jackie began her college education at Colgate University where she continued to play Division I Field Hockey for several years. She graduated Summa Cum Laude and then began her medical journey in Rochester where she earned her medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. Following medical school, Jackie completed her residency and advanced fellowship training in hematology and oncology. This vigorous training grounded her in both patient care and clinical trial design.

Dr. Brown is a board-certified medical oncologist, clinical researcher, and Assistant Professor based in Atlanta, Georgia. She serves within the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Emory University School of Medicine. She treats patients at the prestigious Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. Dr. Brown specializes exclusively in genitourinary malignancies. Her clinical practice focuses on bladder, kidney, prostate, and testicular cancers. As an active clinical investigator, Dr. Brown translates laboratory discoveries into targeted combinations and identifying predictive biomarkers to measure immunotherapy efficacy.

She has also authored numerous peer-reviewed papers in high-impact medical literature publications.

Beyond her research, Dr. Brown is deeply dedicated to improving the quality of life for older oncology patients. She frequently speaks at national forums, analyzing complex treatment pathways—such as second-line therapies following advanced bladder cancer treatments. She also explores medical ethics. Dr. Brown shapes the future of oncology through her dual roles in the clinic and the lab.

Jackie, and her husband, along with their two young daughters, ages two and six, live in Atlanta, Georgia.

Elizabeth Costello

Elizabeth Costello graduated from Oxford Academy in 1995, where she was a dedicated student and active in school life. The valedictorian of her class, she served as the student government treasurer and was a member of the National Honor Society, Operation Enterprise, the Challenge Team, and the French Club. Her time at Oxford shaped her professional path. Mr. Constantine's Microbiology class propelled her into the sciences, inspiring the research career she enjoys today, while his Invertebrate Zoology class instilled in her a deep appreciation for the natural world. A trip to France and Switzerland led by Mr. and Mrs. Niederer broadened her horizons, ultimately guiding her toward a career focused on global human health.

Beyond academics, Elizabeth was a, three-sport varsity athlete, participating in field hockey, basketball, and softball. She was a member of the Section IV championship field hockey team, which competed at the NYSPHSAA regional level—a sport she went on to play in college. Elizabeth fondly credits coaches Mackey and Smith for creating a positive, encouraging environment that shaped her understanding of true team leadership, both on the field and well beyond it.

Dr. Elizabeth K. Costello is a research scientist in the Department of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, where she has been a member of Prof. David A. Relman's laboratory since 2009. As part of a team of researchers, she has contributed to foundational work that has helped change how we understand the complex microbial ecosystems within the human body.

Her work focuses primarily on the human microbiome, looking closely at how our microbial communities assemble, evolve, and interact with diet, host genetics, and environmental factors. She was the lead author of one of the most comprehensive molecular characterizations to date of bacterial community variation across human body habitats, a landmark 2009 paper in the journal Science, and she later helped establish how ecological principles could be systematically applied to study the human microbiota, including widely cited work on ecological theory and the human microbiome, also published in Science. This work provided a framework for understanding both the resilience and instability of these microscopic communities.

Dr. Costello has also been a key contributor to long-term studies exploring the maturation of the infant microbiome during the first 1,000 days of life, as well as the microbiota of pregnant women. Her collaborative research at Stanford has explored the microbial ecosystem of the female genital tract and how certain non-Lactobacillus-dominated bacterial communities are tied to adverse health events like preterm birth. Her multi-faceted research has provided insights into how the maternal microbiome shapes the initial colonization of microbes in infants, including studies on how birth methods (such as vaginal delivery versus cesarean section) affect a baby's developing microbiome. Her interests range widely, extending beyond humans to comparative microbiome studies in marine mammals and other animal systems—work that reflects the broad applicability of ecological theory to host-associated microbial communities.

Before establishing her career at Stanford, Dr. Costello built a rigorous scientific background. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences, with a concentration in Microbiology, from Cornell University in 1999. She then pursued her graduate studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she completed her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 2007, focusing on microbial diversity in extreme environments including alpine tundra and high-elevation volcanic ecosystems. Following her doctoral work, she remained at the University of Colorado, Boulder, for postdoctoral research, where she turned her focus to the human microbiome, before relocating to Stanford in 2009 as a Walter V. and Idun Berry Postdoctoral Fellow.

Throughout her career, Dr. Costello has engaged in research that has earned competitive funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Gates Foundation. Today, as a senior scientist in the Relman laboratory, she leads and supports research initiatives—including a study of vaginal microbiome recovery following childbirth in South African women—coordinates international collaborations, and mentors postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and undergraduate researchers. She continues to publish research that helps bridge the gap between ecology, clinical medicine, and global human health.

Elizabeth and her husband Robert live in Emerald Hills, California.

Alan Dutton Class of 1971

Alan Dutton graduated from Oxford Academy in 1971. He was valedictorian of his class and had regents exam scores of over 95 in Latin 2, 9th-grade algebra, and 11th-grade chemistry. He was president of the National Honor Society and won a national merit scholarship. While at Oxford, Alan participated in JV football, track and cross-country teams, and was in the Blackhawk Band, Drama Club, and French Club. He was a finalist in the 1968-69 American Legion oratorical contest.

Alan feels that his job at the Victory Grocery Market during 11th and 12th grades reinforced his inclination to work hard. He says that attitude stayed with him through college and his career.

Alan related that his first mentors were Mr. Paul and Miss Snedeker, who encouraged his creativity and critical thinking in 9th and 12th grades English classes. Mr. Nelson’s algebra and Mr. Vartulli’s chemistry course gave him basic knowledge and tool sets that he used throughout his career. His declared major in college applications was chemistry, although he really then wanted to be an oceanographer. At the University of Rochester, he started in a B.S. Geology-Biology joint-degree program, but received a B.A. with high distinction in Geology in 1975.

At The University of Texas at Austin (UT), which awarded him a Ph.D. in geological sciences in 1982, his focus was groundwater hydrology. The first 22 years of Dr. Dutton’s career were at UT’s Bureau of Economic Geology, which is the Texas geological survey. He worked from 2004 to 2016 at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Geological Sciences Department, where he was chair for seven years and held the Amy Shelton and V.H. McNutt Distinguished Professorship in Geology. Since his retirement, UTSA has appointed him as an Emeritus Associate Professor; he continues to give guest lectures drawn from his case studies.

Dr. Dutton groups his research into two areas. He says his most meaningful work focused on the availability of groundwater in some of Texas’ major aquifers. His second area of groundwater research related to geological disposal of low-level and high-level nuclear wastes. He gave expert-witness testimony at judicial hearings of the license application for Texas’ low-level radioactive waste disposal site. His studies have been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Geological Survey, Texas Water Development Board, citizen-led regional water planning groups, river authorities, a groundwater conservation district, and the City of San Antonio’s water utility.

Dr. Dutton reported that his best scientific articles have been referenced or cited in ~520 publications by other scientists. He counts 12 of his articles as having more than 12 of such ‘citations’ and five having more than 50.

Dr. Dutton’s favorite undergraduate courses to teach at UTSA were geochemistry, geology for engineers, and groundwater hydrology. His graduate courses included environmental hydrogeology, physical hydrogeology, groundwater modeling, and a water-resources seminar. He was the supervisor of 16 M.S. theses and doctoral dissertations, and of several undergraduate independent studies.

In retirement, Alan got into quilting. He uses graphics software to make paper patterns from photos and maps. His first quilt rendered images of his cats, sailboat, and lake-side cabin in the Adirondacks. Twin-bed-size quilts no. 2 and 3 rendered maps of bedrock geology and land-surface elevation in the area around that cabin.

Alan has always been proud of his upbringing and education in Oxford, saying that he recognizes and appreciates that his skills were nurtured and encouraged at Oxford Academy, which is what made his later accomplishments possible. He has tried to pay it forward during his teaching and research career.

Alan and his wife, Shirley, live in Austin, Texas and summers in the Adirondacks.

Sue Hubbard

Susan Hubbard: A Lifetime of Devotion to Family, Classroom, and Community

For 73 years, Sue Hubbard has been a cherished part of the Oxford community. Whether you know her as family, friend, teacher, or neighbor, Sue has touched countless lives. Sue has spent her life lifting others up.

Sue was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Don and Joan Howard in 1952. After moving to Oxford when she was a toddler, she grew up on Albany Street along with her siblings, Richard, Steven, and Elyse. A proud graduate of the Class of 1970, Sue followed her passion for guiding young minds and nurturing future generations. She earned her Associate Degree in Liberal Arts from Broome Community College and went on to graduate from Keuka College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education. Her career began at Norwich City Schools, where she spent three years teaching pre-first and second grade. In 1977, she found her true calling at Oxford Academy as a kindergarten teacher, beginning a distinguished three-decade long career.

Sue was a comforting, foundational presence for generations of children. Every Oxford child knew Mrs. Hubbard. Always looking for ways to better serve families, she proudly launched the town’s Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK) program in 2001. After thirty years at Oxford Academy Elementary School, Sue retired in 2007. Following her retirement, she assumed the role of lead teacher for the UPK program at the Norwich YMCA, guiding the program for six years.

Sue’s dedication to Oxford extends far beyond the classroom walls. She is a familiar, comforting face around town, always stepping up to help those in need. Whether she is coordinating holiday meal deliveries or volunteering her time at many community organizations, Sue gives selflessly. Her smile while flipping pancakes at the American Legion or her kind greeting when you enter Common Sense are just a few ways her presence is felt throughout Oxford. Her leadership also extends to systemic advocacy, where she serves on the Board of Directors for Greater Opportunities, Inc. and lends her voice to the Head Start Policy Council.

Of all her achievements, Sue’s greatest joy is the beautiful family she has built. Alongside her husband, Tom Hubbard, she raised three wonderful children: Jonathan Carey, Kathryn Reidenbach, and Shannon O’Donnell. Today, she is the cherished “Grammy” to seven grandchildren: Juliana, Delaney, Jack, Abby, Evelyn, Eleanor, and Maeve.

Through boundless kindness, fierce dedication, and a steadfast love for her hometown, she hasn’t just lived in Oxford—she has made it a warmer, brighter place for everyone.

Past Hall of Distinctions honorees

2016

Dr. Deena Manon Castellion, Joseph F. Coleman, Kimberly Smith Colvin, Ph.D., David B. Emerson, Lewis Hayden Ford, Robert L. Marshman and Suzy Maholchic-Nelson, Ph.D.

2017

Brian W. Bartle, R.Ph., Dr. Mat Boname, Colby Cooper, Thomas Emerson, J.D., and Jeanne E. Race.

2018

Lt. Col. George Anthony Bancroft, Lt. Col. John Jamieson Bancroft, Charlotte F. Stafford, Barbara Tompkins and Mary Weidman.

2019

Joel Crandall, Dr. Jennifer O’Reilly-Anderson, Lukas Korver, retired Lt. Col. Gregory Johnson and Father Richard O’Connor.

2021

Margo Barrows, James Markovich, Col. Matthew Redding, Cmdr. Heather Shattuck of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps and John Tracy.

2022

Pam Chesebro, Thomas Loughren, John Jackson, Dr. Craig Reynolds and Terry Stark.

2023

Joyce Ardron, Mary Audrain Parker, Neil Bartle, Jeanne Marshman and Francs Wilcox.

2024

Heather Bartle, Charles Stratton, Paul Tytler and Dennis Walsh.

2025

Gary Eldred, Ann Hodge, Dr. Linda Small and Dr. Kay Marshman.

- Information from the Oxford Academy and Central School Hall of Distinction Committee.