The St. Joseph Public Schools Foundation will honor four distinguished alumni next month.
Charles T. Goodsell, Class of 1950, Hunter Hughes III Class of 1961, Suzanne Burgoyne Class of 1964 and Phil Maki, Class of 1969 will be named as recipients of the 2026 Distinguished Alumni Award at the school’s May 17 commencement.
According to Bob Ehrenberg ’71, SJPS Foundation Board Secretary and Distinguished Alumni Chair, the Foundation has honored distinguished SJHS alumni since 2012. These individuals have excelled in their professions and made significant contributions to their community.
The achievements, strength of character and citizenship of the Distinguished Alumni serve as a valuable model to inspire and challenge current students. Nominees are accepted in the following categories: Professional Achievement, Community Service and Volunteerism, with selection being based on the following criteria:
- Graduate of St. Joseph Public Schools for 10 or more years
- Demonstrates a high level of achievement in his/her field and has made significant contributions
- Exhibits inspirational leadership, character and service
Charles T. Goodsell, Class of 1950
Charles T. Goodsell, graduated from SJHS in 1950. He then attended Kalamazoo College, where his father served as college chaplain and interim college president. Charles graduated magna cum laude with BA degree and was awarded the William G. Howard Memorial Prize in political science and the Oakley Prize for highest grade recorded for a college course. Charles then enlisted and served in the US Army Counter Intelligence Corps in Berlin from 1954 to 1956. He then obtained his Ph.D. from Harvard.
Charles began his academic teaching career as an assistant professor of public administration at the University of Puerto Rico. Then, after being a research associate at Princeton, he taught political science at Southern Illinois University from 1966 to 1978. Charles began his teaching career at Virginia Tech University as a professor of public administration and public affairs. He was a founding faculty member and director of Virginia Tech’s Center for Public Administration and Policy and continued to teach at Virginia Tech until he retired in 2002. During his career, Charles was also a distinguished visitor at Cleveland State University, Carleton University and the University of Texas at Austin.
Charles published 13 books, 90 scholarly articles and 24 book chapters over his 60-year career. He was considered one of the nation’s foremost advocates for American public service. He died in November 2024 and is survived by two daughters and five grandchildren.
Hunter Hughes III, Class of 1961
After graduating from SJHS in 1961, Hunter Hughes received his B.A. in 1965 from the University of Virginia. In 1965 he entered the Navy, retiring as a Lieutenant in 1967, and then pursued his J.D. at the University of Virginia, graduating with honors in 1970.
During 45 years of private practice, Hunter served as lead trial counsel in hundreds of cases, including nationwide class and mass tort actions. He also acted as lead counsel in arbitrations and proceedings before state and federal agencies.
Since 1997, Hunter has been recognized as one of the leading mediators in the United States. He has mediated over 1,000 legal actions with a 90% success rate, with a focus on ERISA, employment, mass tort, business, and insurance coverage disputes. His mediation practice is now based out of San Diego,
He has written numerous articles on alternative dispute resolution and mediation and served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Virginia Law School, teaching negotiations and economic behaviorism. He has been a speaker throughout the country at seminars and conferences on various topics, including trial practice, alternate dispute resolution, settlement strategies and negotiation skills.
Hunter is a retired Distinguished Fellow in the American College of Civil Trial Mediators and has been selected for inclusion in multiple editions of “Best Lawyers in America,” “America’s Leading Lawyers for Business,” and “Who’s Who in American Law & Politics.”
Suzanne Burgoyne, Class of 1964
After graduating from SJHS as Co-Valedictorian in 1964, Suzanne Burgoyne attended Michigan State
University on an Alumni Distinguished Scholarship, graduating with a B.A. in 1968. She then received a Fulbright to attend the national theatre institute of Belgium, followed by an MA in Theatre at Ohio State and a Theatre Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.
Suzanne is an artist/teacher/scholar whose work has included teaching, research, publishing books and articles, theatrical directing, journal editing, play translation, and leadership roles in national professional organizations. Dedicated to proving the educational value of theatre, Suzanne participated in two interdisciplinary national programs, a Kellogg National Fellowship for leadership training/interdisciplinary
studies, [9/81-8/84,] and a 2000/2001 Carnegie Scholarship from the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Leaving Creighton University in Omaha to teach at the University of Missouri in 1989, Suzanne co-founded the Mizzou Interactive Theatre Troupe, drawing upon Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, which uses theatre as a pedagogical method to explore social justice issues. Over the years, five theatrical productions that Suzanne directed at Mizzou were selected for regional performance by the American College Theatre Festival. She also served as editor of Theatre Topics , a journal published by The Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Winning numerous awards, she was named the 2003 Outstanding Teacher of Theatre in Higher Education by the Association. In the early 2000s, Suzanne collaborated with Mizzou engineering professors on grant projects using theatre exercises to develop student engineers’ creativity.
Suzanne continued her teaching career at Mizzou until her retirement as Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor Emerita.
Phil Maki, Class of 1969
After graduating from SJHS in 1969, Phil Maki earned a BA in Economics from Kalamazoo College and an MBA in Finance from the University of Michigan. He is a Certified Public Accountant, first working for
American National Bank in Kalamazoo before moving to Chicago to work for Price Waterhouse Coopers.
Phil then returned to St Joseph in 1986 to work for Southshore Companies, retiring as CEO in 2020.
Phil has been active in organizations which have impacted and improved life in St Joseph. From 1990 to 2012 he was active in Cornerstone Alliance, chairing the organization 2011-2012. From 2005-2011, he was a member of Bluffside Development, Inc. (Silver Beach Center and Carousel). He has served on the City of St. Joseph Planning Commission and is a past member of the St. Joseph Public Schools Foundation
Board of Directors and currently serves on the Foundation’s Paul W. and Rose Suchovsky Memorial
Scholarship selection committee. Since 2013 Phil has been on the Board of Directors of the Berrien
Community Foundation, serving as Chair in 2022. Phil received the Ernestine M. Raclin Community Leadership Award in 2011 from 1st Source Bank and The David R. Whitwam Award from Cornerstone Alliance in 2015.
