Alumni Award: Adrian “Whip” Walser ’32

It's not easy to sing his praises in a few words when 3,000 could hardly suffice. His was an all-inclusive undergraduate career, including membership on the 1930 intercollegiate waterpolo championship team. Whip obviously got his feet wet early, and they've rarely been dry since: a youthfull stint as a seaman on freighters, four years in the cruise department of Thomas Cook & Sons, wartime duty with the marines in the Pacific Islands, canoeing in the Northwest a la Lewis and Clark, a scuba-diving license at age 72, and he still swims a dozen laps a day.

The founder, principal owner, and still chairman of the board of a manufacturing company with international markets and winner of the coveted government "E" for excellence, he has waded ashore in just about every country on the globe. Whip has served on private and government trade commissions in Central America and Africa, and he's logged time as a government advisor in Washington, D.C. His dozen or more passports, with all their stamps and extensions, would more than paper his freshman dorm room in Sanborn.

But whatever his foreign ports of call, Whip has rarely been more than a good paddle away from his College. He has served her as class president, class secretary (and Class Secretary of the Year in 1980), club secretary enrollment interviewer, and Alumni Council member. He has only missed one reunion in 60 years, and he heads north every fall for class mini-reunions.

There's rumor that Whip has slowed down some at age 82. Tell us about it! He still goes to the office, and he and Addie continue to trip the light fantastic around the world. Witness the fact that the two recently enjoyed their 13 th Elderhostel program. Has Whip considered the Iron Man Triathlon?

For all that Whip has been to this place and to peoples and projects the world over, we are proud and privileged to present him with the Dartmouth Alumni Award.