Sycamore Education Foundation names 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients

SYCAMORE – The Sycamore Education Foundation recently named Virginia Sherrod, Wright B. George and Chad McGehee as the recipients of the 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award.

The awards are presented annually to Sycamore High School alumni. Recipients are alumni who have maintained a high standard of excellence and have made contributions to their fields. The award also serves as a tribute to graduates’ personal, community or professional achievements, according to a news release.

Virginia Sherrod

Sherrod graduated from Sycamore High School in 1972. She was a member of the school’s Pep Club, Girls Athletic Association and Future Homemakers of America. Sherrod also was a homecoming court representative.

“As a student at Sycamore High School, Virginia demonstrated not only academic excellence but also a deep sense of community and kindness,” foundation members said in a news release. “Her passion for learning, combined with her commitment to helping others, set her apart.”

She became the Sycamore Moose Lodge 1506’s first African American acting administrator and the first Black woman on Sycamore’s City Council.

Sherrod is a League of Women Voters board member, a DeKalb County Democrats vice chair, a SIMBA/SIMA elder, and a Rooted for Good – formerly DeKalb County Community Gardens – board member.

Wright B. George

George was junior class president, an ROTC member, named a Little Seven all-conference linebacker in 1960, and earned two varsity football and varsity wrestling letters.

“Raised by a single mother and grandmother, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, the Boy Scouts Troop 16 and, most of all, the high school and grade school administrators, teachers and coaches provided the needed structure for Wright’s upbringing and development,” foundation members said about George. “Seventh-grade teacher Mr. Norman W. Graper was instrumental at a critical time in that process.”

George graduated from Sycamore High School in 1961. He received a mathematics and economics degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1966.

He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. George completed undergraduate pilot training and was assigned the C-141 Starlifter Transport plane for military airlift command. He flew Air-Lift, Air-Evac and mortuary combat support missions for four years. George was awarded a Vietnam Service Medal with two Bronze Star and the Air Medal with an Oak Leaf Cluster on Aug. 26, 1971. He also served as an instructor pilot rating and flew international missions in the U.S. Air Force Reserves for three years.

George attended the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration in 1971. He was a pilot for Eastern and United Airlines for 30 years and the Eastern Airlines Pilots Pension Trust Committee chairman. George began the real estate investment company DEC Management in 1979. He also is a member of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. George is retired and lives in Fort Myers, Florida, and Vail, Colorado.

Chad McGehee

McGehee graduated from Sycamore High School in 1999. He works as a performance coach, meditation teacher, and scientific collaborator in elite performance and rigorous meditation training. McGehee is the co-founder of Inner Edge Meditation, Center for Healthy Minds at UW-Madison honorary research affiliate, and University of Wisconsin athletic department’s meditation training director.

“Through his trainings, talks and consulting, he supports individuals, teams and organizations,” foundation members said of McGehee. “He uses a teaching approach that incorporates findings from his cutting-edge research along with accessible ways to integrate meditation practices into overall training. He is passionate about the benefits of meditation training for individuals and teams interested in greater performance and well-being.”

McGehee is a meditation training and high-performance environments research expert. His training has been featured in NPR, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, on ESPN, and co-authored in scientific journals. McGehee also has been integrated in K-12 education, athletics, Fortune 500 companies, FBI SWAT teams, and the Hostage Rescue Team in Quantico, Virginia.