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Dee Hodge III '70 Named Recipient of JDDA Award
Ceremony to Take Place April 26, 2025
Midland School is proud to announce Dee Hodge ’70 as the 2025 recipient of the John Dreyfuss ‘52 Distinguished Alumni Award (JDDA). This award is meant to honor a Midland graduate who has supported Midland and the greater community through distinguished service. JDDA recipients exemplify the ideals and values of the school, and each year the community gathers to honor the contributions of the recipient during our annual Alums, Parents and Friends Day.
Dee Hodge III, M.D., now retired, practiced pediatrics and emergency medicine at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. He has also been a Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics in the Edward Mallinckrodt Department of Pediatrics in Emergency Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dee previously traveled around the world as team physician for the U.S. Olympic Figure Skating Team.
Dee was a Midland Trustee from 1992 to 2023. During this time, he became Board Secretary. Fellow board members note that Dee has provided over 30 years of impeccable service to the Midland School community, and he has always approached this role with perspective, willingness to tackle challenging issues, and a sense of humor.
Trustee Andrew McCarthy ‘85, P’17 explains, “Dee’s extraordinary contributions to Midland span decades. His steady continuity, strategic insight, knowledge of our institution, and devoted work have been both mindful of our founding mission and the role our school plays in the complexity of today’s world. Dee’s voice has the power to be both strategic and compassionate. Dee’s work as Secretary of the Board of Trustees, in particular, struck the exemplary balance between pragmatism and adherence to mission, while embracing the present and future needs of our students and our community. More than anything, he has been a great friend, mentor, and partner to all of us who’ve had the pleasure of his collaboration and company. We are better for his service, and this honor is a small symbol of our gratitude for his work.”
Several people noted Dee’s affinity for cycling, including a “short” jaunt up Figueroa Mountain Road during campus visits. Board Chair Tom Mone ‘72 shares, “From first knowing Dee, as an obvious role model of an upper classmate, then following his medical career from a distance, and ultimately being a fellow Midland Board Member for more than ten years together I have been inspired by his care for people, openness to the wide range of human experience and perspectives, his value-driven life, his love and caring for family and friends…and Midland. And from an entirely personal perspective, I have to thank Dee for slowing down to allow me to keep up with his cycling talents.”
During Dee’s time as a student at Midland, he was highly involved in Athletics, serving as a member of the Midland Athletics Association (M.A.A.), performing in the chorus, and helping host botanists on campus. To get to know what Dee was like as a student, read what the Midland Mirror graduation issue from 1970 said:
Dee is an individual in his own right. Dee is one of the founders of the skit committee and a devoted father to Herman, his pet paramecium, checking up through his microscope while listening to “Porgy and Bess” on his stereo. He has been a chorus member for two years and played the Admiral in this year’s performance of “H.M.S. Pinafore.” He is a dependable worker on the Mirror staff and in the library. Dee is the president and treasurer of Midland’s Black Student Union. He heads the school store this year, and his math surprises both Mr. Rich and Mr. Rhodes. He is often seen walking around the campus in his cousin’s bush jacket and saying “You know, there are a lot of strange people running around here.” He is terribly perceptive. Dee is a good student, winning the Biology award in his sophomore year. In sports, he lettered in soccer and in track as manager (“best track manager the school has ever known”—Mr. Anderson). He was captain of the J. V. basketball squad this year. Dee will attend Occidental College as a pre-medical student.
The Midland community is grateful for all that Dee has contributed, during his time as a student and as an alum. Congratulations Dee!
We look forward to celebrating the JDDA Award on April 26, 2025. We hope you can join us. Please save the date!
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