Alumni Awards

Paul H. Brookes ’61

2022 Distinguished Alumnus

Paul Brookes ’61 is the Chairman/Founder of Brookes Publishing, which specializes in professional resources, assessments, and training in early childhood, communication & language, and special education. The company’s offerings—print, e-books, weekly blogs, a vibrant social media presence, virtual/in-person trainings and professional development, and online management systems—have had significant impacts on the lives of children with disabilities and those whose who teach them.  

“We started the company in 1978 on our dining room table, and we developed some of the earliest books for teachers and other professionals preparing to work with children with disabilities,” Paul noted. As legislation such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) advanced opportunities for people with disabilities, Brookes became a leading provider of professional references, screeners and assessments, and research-to-practice guides for professionals working with children and their families.

The company has forged deep ties to the nation’s prominent special and early education, disability, and communication & language organizations. The history of the company states that its operating philosophy—that all people deserve to reach their potential—is reflected in the company’s diverse catalog of titles. The company’s flagship products, the Ages & Stages Questionnaires® (ASQ®) developmental and social-emotional screeners, are used in every state in the U.S. and around the world, and have been translated into more than 70 languages.

Paul’s wife, Claudia, is a noted artist who works in watercolors and oils; she is often seen in plein air painting competitions in the region. Paul and Claudia visit campus to attend choral and theater events, sometimes accompanied by granddaughter Violet, and are big boosters of the arts at St. Paul’s. As a devotee of good writing, Paul appreciates the sound instruction he received as a student from the late Bob French ’50, and he oversees the judging of student essays for the annual John Robert French ’50 Prize for Written Expression.

Carim Khouzami ’93

Outstanding Alumnus 2022

Carim Khouzami ’93 was named Chief Executive Officer at the Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., an Exelon company, in December 2019. Previously, as BGE’s chief financial officer, he was named an honoree for its “Best in Finance: CFO of the Year” award by Baltimore Business Journal in 2014. Carim worked at BGE’s former parent company, Constellation and was most recently at Exelon Utilities, where he had served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer. According to BGE’s announcement of Carim’s appointment, “he has led safety, operational, financial and customer-focused initiatives that are contributing to Exelon’s utilities setting new industry standards.”

When asked about his leadership style in an interview, Carim replied that it’s essential to be able to learn from others. “The first thing I do in every role I’ve had is to listen and learn. There are always opportunities to change and improve things, but the most important thing you can do in a new role is understand how things function,” he told the interviewer. “From listening and learning, we can chart a course for how to improve.”

At Exelon Utilities, Carim oversaw a “Shark Tank” competition to evaluate employee-generated ideas and partnered with Apple and other technology companies to develop new products to be used in the field to help situational awareness.” One that we are now piloting is a wearable technology that senses and will sound an alert if the wearer gets too close to energized equipment,” he explained. “This will help keep our field workers safer and avoid future electrical contact injuries.” 

In another initiative, Carim developed improvements in the process customers used to sign up for service using mobile and online applications. As Executive Director of Investor Relations at Constellation Energy, he was cited as the top investor relations professional in the electric utilities sector in 2010 by Institutional Investor Magazine.

At St. Paul’s, Carim was a 13-year man who wrestled, ran cross-country and played baseball, amassing ten varsity letters and serving as captain of the latter two teams his senior year. He won the St. John’s College Book Prize and was the editor of the 1993 Crusader yearbook. “I have fond memories of Tom Longstreth and John Patterson for English and Mitch Tullai for history,” Carim recalled. “They and others helped lay my foundation for concise, analytical writing—and of course Tom as our baseball coach.”

Carim is an enthusiastic advocate of his home town. He’s a lifelong Orioles fan who loves Berger Cookies and smothering most anything in Old Bay seasoning. “Many Baltimore folks have lived here their whole lives,” he says. “I think back to my classmates from St. Paul’s, and many of them have settled in Baltimore and Maryland. That speaks to the city and its charm.” 

Jeff Kukucka ’05

2022 Distinguished Young Alumnus

Jeff Kukucka ’05 earned his Ph.D. in Psychology at the CUNY Graduate Center in 2014 and is now a tenured Associate Professor of Psychology at Towson University.

His research examines the causes and consequences of wrongful convictions in the criminal justice system, with a particular emphasis on understanding and preventing human error and bias in the forensic sciences. Jeff has won several national awards for his high-impact research and civic engagement, including a "Rising Star" designation from the Association for Psychological Science in 2021 and the Saleem Shah Award for Early Career Excellence from the American Psychology-Law Society in 2020.

Since 2019, Jeff has been a member of the NIST OSAC for Forensic Science, a federal organization that develops best practices and standards for the forensic sciences. He regularly testifies as an expert witness at criminal trials and post-conviction appeals around the country and supports legislation to reform the criminal justice system. Jeff enjoys speaking about these issues with audiences of lawyers, judges, police, forensic scientists, and students around the world, and he has won several awards for his teaching and mentoring, including the Towson University Honors College Professor of the Year in 2018.

Jeff won the Thomas N. Longstreth Citizenship Award at graduation and was the form leader his senior year, having the highest twelfth-grade academic average. “I have nothing but good things to say about my time at SP,” says Jeff. “I had so many good teachers who taught me not what to think, but how to think. So many of the skills and values I developed at SP—like thinking critically, communicating clearly, working with others, and most importantly, "fighting the good fight"—shaped me into the person I am today, not to mention the many lifelong friendships I continue to enjoy.”

Catherine Lee McAuliffe

2022 Honorary Alumnus

Catherine McAuliffe was the executive assistant to three St. Paul’s headmasters: John T. Ordeman, Robert Hallett and Thomas Reid. Her career at St. Paul’s spanned 26 years.

But Cathy was far more than an able assistant to the leadership of St. Paul’s. Her lifelong commit to the environment and campus sustainability practices had a significant influence on the school community and led to greater awareness of environmental protection among students and faculty. To recognize her work, St. Paul’s established the Catherine McAuliffe Environmental Stewardship Endowment Fund at her retirement in 2010. As a further testament, the Cathy McAuliffe Award for Environmental Sustainability is given annually to a faculty/staff member or a student whose work reflects Cathy’s commitment to those efforts.

Cathy was a cofounder in 2008 of the St. Paul’s Green Committee, whose mission is to make our campus as green as possible. She rallied the campus around the goal of “Blue + Gold = Green.” She was an active member of the “St. Pauli Girls,” a social club that met periodically off campus to discuss important school business (much to the amusement of the St. Pauli Girl brewery, which sent them some product).

But there was much more to Cathy than her passion for the environment and her colleagues. At her memorial service, former Headmaster Robert Hallett spoke about her ability to manage numerous tasks not only for him but for 26 trustees. “Cathy had a very disarming quality about her. She charmed everyone and nothing was too difficult to manage,” said Mr. Hallett. “She was a high wire act, juggling many balls at once. In a stroke of pure genius, she realized the wisdom of gathering the trustees’ assistants together for an annual luncheon. It was about putting names with faces. But it was more than that; it became another means to create friendships, efficiency, and loyalty.”

"Her warm personality and caring nature made her a friend to many in the St. Paul's community, touching many lives during her time here," said a St. Paul's announcement of her death. A peach tree, planted on the east side of Brooklandwood in tribute to her years of service, still produces fruit each summer.

Brett T. Porter

2022 Honorary Alumnus

Brett Porter was hired in the fall of 1990 by St. Paul’s as the school’s first full-time athletic trainer.  During his 21 years in Brooklandville, he taught physical education in all three divisions and sports medicine and health in the upper school. No impact was more significant than Brett’s role as head athletic trainer for nearly 50 different teams in 14 different sports, encompassing grades 6-12.

Brett established a level of care for our athletic department that was second to none.  His reputation for focused evaluation, treatment and rehabilitation made him a sought-after mentor for Towson University’s undergraduate athletic training program as a lead preceptor. Brett forged strong relationships with both local orthopedic physicians such as Dr. Les Matthews ’69 and a network of local sports medicine clinics such as MedStar Union Memorial and Towson Sports Medicine, all for the benefit of Crusader athletes. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he worked with Dr. Stephen Pollock,  a well-known cardiology specialist and former SP parent, to secure the school’s first set of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) that are now distributed liberally around campus.

Brett was an integral member of the SP coaching staff on numerous MSA/MIAA Championship teams throughout his time with the Blue & Gold.  He was a key member of the MIAA Athletic Trainers’ group and a volunteer for state-level youth and high school athletic events. Brett created policies and procedures for coaches to be certified in First Aid/CPR/AED to ensure that teams had access to a  superior level of care.

A member of the Tonawanda band of the Seneca, a part of the Iroquois Confederacy, Brett graduated from Rush-Henrietta High School in 1984, where he was a standout in swimming & lacrosse and a member of several water polo teams that competed in the Empire State Games. He is a BOC Certified Athletic Trainer nationally and in Maryland and a member of both the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and the Maryland Athletic Trainers’ Association.

Brett received his B.S. with a concentration in Athletic Training in 1988 from SUNY-Brockport, where he was a member of the Golden Eagles Swim Team, swimming the individual medley and backstroke. He served as a Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer at Loyola University Maryland. Brett is married to Sara Porter, who has taught Spanish in our lower school for 23 years. Daughter Kate is SPSG class of 2021; son Eli is SP Class of 2022. Brett is an avid sports fan who likes to read and spend time with his family. Generations of Crusader athletes are glad he spent with them, too.