Thornton Academy's 2003 Distinguished Alumni Award was presented posthumously to Hugh McCulloch of the Class of 1825.

McCulloch was the only man to ever serve as Secretary of the Treasury under three Presidential administrationsÑthose of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson and Chester A. Arthur. He launched the system of national banks and got the national debt under control immediately following the Civil War.

McCulloch was born in Kennebunk in 1808 and attended Bowdoin College for two years after graduating from TA. He was a teacher before getting his law degree.

Some say McCulloch was an economic pessimist, but he took on the country's finances with no fear. He presided over paper currency although he was a big advocate for a return to the gold standard.

When he was appointed Secretary of the Treasury by President Lincoln, McCulloch was stunned. According to mrlincolnswhitehouse.com, McCulloch said at the time that "it was an office that I had not aspired to, and did not desire." He accepted nonetheless.

McCulloch supported President Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction policies and opposed suffrage for freed blacks, according to the American National Biography. After he left his political career, McCulloch joined the financier Jay Cooke in establishing the firm of Jay Cooke, McCulloch and Company as the London branch of Cooke's company. He served another term as Secretary of the Treasury under Chester A. Arthur from 1884-85, then retired to his Maryland farm, where he died in 1895.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is sponsored by the TA Alumni Association, and recognizes the outstanding lifetime achievements of Thornton graduates in the hopes of fostering aspiration in graduating seniors and undergraduates. It is awarded each year at Baccalaureate.

Last year's recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award was David S. Pate '76. To read more about Pate, or other Distinguished Alumni Award recipients, follow this link.