Building community, one alumni tradition and connection at a time

Some alumni stay connected to their university through memories. Others do it through service.

Over the past 15 years, Nancy Carlson (MGT ‘93) has helped build that connection for others—creating spaces for alumni to gather, strengthening relationships across the Case Western Reserve community and quietly helping traditions take root and thrive.

That work has earned Carlson the Daniel T. Clancy Alumni Service Award from the Alumni Association of Case Western Reserve University. The award recognizes an alum who has contributed sustained, significant service to alumni programs over at least 15 years.

Carlson’s relationship with CWRU began when Eaton Corporation sponsored her enrollment in the Executive MBA program. She still recalls the camaraderie of those weekend classes: accomplished professionals with full-time jobs, strong personalities.

What stayed with her was the experience of working toward a common goal alongside peers from diverse backgrounds.

After graduation she joined a Weatherhead committee that granted a full-ride scholarship and later became a member of the former Weatherhead Alumni Board.  That led to 
broader service on the CWRU Alumni Association Board of Directors. During two
full terms on the board, Carlson served five consecutive years as secretary, supporting four different board presidents.

Her impact has been felt in Arizona. Inspired by the earlier leadership of Daniel Clancy (LAW ‘62), Carlson helped reactivate the CWRU Phoenix Alumni Chapter and launch “Good Times @ Goodyear Park,” a baseball spring training event that has become one of the university’s most enduring regional alumni traditions.

She credits the event’s success to its atmosphere—a casual setting above third base where alumni of different generations and disciplines interact and make connections. 
Over time, the ballgame has helped bring new volunteers into the Phoenix chapter, including new leaders who first attended as guests—a seemingly simple step that sometimes is overlooked.

To generate interest in alumni activities, Carlson said, “It takes an individual ask from another alum. A lot of people would be interested if somebody reached out personally.”

Carlson said her service was never about recognition, but about staying connected and involved with the university. That belief in personal connection—and her years of turning it into action—is at the heart of the Daniel T. Clancy Alumni Service Award.