Three earn 2026 Alumni Award of Distinction

The Alumni Council of Phillips Academy has selected Marna P. Borgstrom ’72, Nnaemeka Egwuekwe ’91, and Evan W. Thomas III ’69 as the 2026 Andover Alumni Award of Distinction recipients. First presented in 2012, the annual award honors individual members of the alumni body for making “a positive impact on diverse peoples and places, society, and ultimately our world.”

Honorees will receive their awards on Friday, October 30, during All-School Meeting. While on campus, the recipients will also visit classes and meet with students for lunch.

Marna P. Borgstrom ’72

Marna Borgstrom served as CEO of Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale New Haven Health from 2005 until her retirement in 2022. Also a lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health, she chaired the board of the Healthcare Institute and served as chair of both the Coalition to Protect America’s Healthcare and Vizient.

Borgstrom credits her father, an ophthalmologist who regularly made house calls, as her role model for a career devoted to expanding equitable access to health care in underserved communities. She oversaw the construction of the Children’s Hospital at Yale and led the acquisition of underfunded and underperforming hospitals in Bridgeport, New Haven, and New London, Connecticut. She expanded access to care by developing local health centers in underserved neighborhoods and championed more equitable health care for residents across the state.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Borgstrom guided Yale New Haven Health with steady leadership, empowering and supporting frontline workers. Drawing on decades of experience, Borgstrom often reflects on the distinction between the current United States “sick care” system and the potential for a truly effective health- care system. She emphasizes the importance of investing not only in health-care delivery but also in social infrastructure—education, housing, and community resources—that supports healthier lives. At Yale New Haven Health, this philosophy informed initiatives such as providing safer housing for employees and investing in educational programs like New Haven Promise, which supports students from high school through college and encourages them to return to serve their communities.

Borgstrom has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Yale School of Epidemiology and Public Health Distinguished Alumni Award in 2018; she also holds five honorary doctorates. The first female CEO of Yale New Haven Health, Borgstrom served on the board of the American Hospital Association and, in 2020, was named one of Modern Healthcare’s “100 Most Influential People.”

Nnaemeka Egwuekwe ’91

The son of a Nigerian father and an American mother, Meka Egwuekwe grew up in South Memphis, Tennessee. He taught himself computer programming and has since dedicated himself to creating pathways to careers in computer science for people of color. Egwuekwe was keenly aware that Memphis youth, most of them from underrepresented communities, were unable to access potentially life-changing education in computers and technology. To close the digital divide and increase the Black middle class in Memphis, he co-founded CodeCrew in 2015. The nonprofit empowers children and adults to be leaders and producers in technology and computer science. In the past seven years, CodeCrew has mentored more than 18,000 students through its innovative programs and events, with topics ranging from web and mobile app development to robotics and drone programming.

Of the nearly 1,000 kids CodeCrew serves weekly, 93 percent are Black and Latino youth, and 42 percent are girls. A very high percentage of CodeCrew class or event participants consider studying computer science. After completing the CodeCrew training course, adults in the organization’s program are being placed in computer science jobs earning, on average, well over $70,000 per year—more than tripling their former incomes. Focused on closing the digital divide and expanding access to information technology for all, Egwuekwe has a long-standing commitment to education and the empowerment of his community. His high level of civic engagement reflects a deeply intentional approach to his work and a clear understanding of the importance of serving a broader public purpose.

Egwuekwe attended East High School in Memphis before graduating from Phillips Academy. He then graduated early from Morehouse College with a BS in computer science and went on to earn an MA in computer science from Duke University. Egwuekwe serves on the boards of the National Civil Rights Museum, Greater Memphis IT Council, UMRF Ventures, Castalia Baptist Church, and LeBonheur Children’s Hospital’s National Leadership Council, and formerly served on the board of the Abbot Academy Fund. He lives in Memphis with his wife and two daughters.

Evan W. Thomas III ’69

Evan Thomas is a highly respected journalist, author, and educator whose distinguished career has had a lasting impact on American political reporting and historical scholarship. For more than 30 years, he was a writer and editor at Time and Newsweek magazines, including a decade as Newsweek’s Washington bureau chief and later as editor at large. During his tenure, he wrote more than 100 cover stories and led coverage of pivotal national moments and events; his work contributed to Newsweek receiving multiple national magazine awards, including recognition for coverage of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the 2004 election, and general excellence in 2002 and 2004. To date, Thomas is the author of 11 nonfiction books that bring to life influential figures and defining moments in American history with clarity, depth, and insight; several of them became New York Times bestsellers. His works include The Wise Men (with Walter Isaacson), The Man to See, The Very Best Men, Robert Kennedy, The War Lovers, Ike’s Bluff, Being Nixon, Road to Surrender, and the bestselling biographies John Paul Jones, Sea of Thunder, and First: Sandra Day O’Connor. His 12th book, The Hour Strikes, written with his wife, Oscie Thomas, will be published in December 2026.

Beyond print journalism, Thomas has been a trusted public voice through television and radio commentary, appearing on programs such as Morning Joe, CBS Morning News, Fresh Air, PBS’s Charlie Rose, and The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and serving as a longtime panelist on Inside Washington. His commitment to thoughtful analysis and public discourse extends to academia. Thomas taught writing and journalism at Harvard and Princeton, where he served as Ferris Professor of Journalism from 2007 to 2014. Through his writing, teaching, and public engagement, Thomas exemplifies intellectual rigor, civic responsibility, and a lifelong dedication to understanding and explaining the forces that shape our world.