SYA Has Scores of Alumni Making Their Marks on the World

Their incredible achievements are a testament to SYA’s tradition of excellence. These distinguished alumni are an inspiration to the SYA community and the world at large. From political leaders to restaurateurs, from educators to fashion designers, from authors to CEOs, here are just a few who have taken their SYA experience to places of distinction and find themselves "at home in the world." 

Arts, Entertainment and Media

Jacob Higginbottom FR'89

Painter and architect Jacob Higginbottom FR’89 grew up in a practical Maine family. His grandfather was an engineer; his parents expected him to attend an engineering school. While Higginbottom loved the art classes at Hall-Dale High School in Hallowell, Maine, most people in his life made it clear that art for pleasure was fine, but hardly a serious pursuit. Then, at age 17, Higginbottom arrived in Rennes. Read more.


Annie Katsura Rollins CN'96

For more then 2000 years, Chinese shadow play has provided entertainment for the all people of China, from emperors to farmers. Annie attended of the University of Minnestoa to study theater design and puppetry with a focus on Asian puppetry. Read more.
 

The sparkling beaded, white chiffon, one-shoulder gown worn by First Lady Michelle Obama at the Inaugural Ball skyrocketed the name Jason Wu into the stratosphere of fashion royalty. Read more.

Business and Industry

Kristoffer "Kro" Bauer CN'01

Greek Mama, Philly Special, Mighty Meat and the Kro’s Nest Special are a few of the pizzas on Olav Kristoffer “Kro” Bauer CN’01’s menu at one of his popular pizzerias in Beijing, The Kro’s Nest. The young entrepreneur already co-owns six restaurants in Beijing and is looking to add to his repertoire.  Read more.

When Michael McCarty FR’70 makes his entrance, the large room at the back of his midtown Manhattan restaurant is already thronged with a record number of School Year Abroad alumni. Outside, the first nor’easter of the fall rages; inside, the party is heating up. Lights are low, glasses clink, platters of crab cakes and chicken teriyaki skewers circulate. Read more.

When she went to the 2008 book reading in

It’s been more years than he would like to admit since David Berz ES’65 boarded the S.S. Aurelia to become part of the first class of what was then known as Schoolboys Abroad in Barcelona. Yet, Berz says, the experience still resonates through his daily life: The page-turner novels of Barcelona native Carlos Ruiz Zafon (The Shadow of the Wind, The Angel’s Game) sit on his night table, and the liturgical music from masses he attended that year gave him a taste for the church compositions that inform his CD and iPod music collection to this day.

And then, in 2004, Berz got a phone call from SYA Spain classmate Douglass Cassel, an international human rights expert and now a presidential fellow at the University of Notre Dame Law School, and director of the Center for Civil and Human Rights there. Read more.