Notable Alumni

Greene Street Friends School's alumni pursue many different career paths and interests. We are highlighting a few individuals here whose life and work reflects the influence of their educational foundation.

Lydia Artymiw '65, concert pianist and Distinguished McKnight Professor of Piano at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, continues her dual careers. This year she is the recipient of the 2015 University of Minnesota's Distinguished Graduate Teaching Award. She is the first professor in music performance to receive this award.

Most recently, she performed as soloist in Beijing, Shanghai, and Xiamen, China, in Seoul and Gwangju S. Korea, in Hong Kong, and in Lviv, Ukraine, along with performances in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Pensacola, Phoenix, San Francisco, Nashville, El Paso, and Great Barrington. 

Susan Carson Brown ’57
Susan Carson Brown ’57 served as the first President of Greene Street’s Alumni Association, helping to plan the School’s 150th anniversary celebration.  A graduate of Stevens School and Moore College of Art, Susan taught elementary art in the Centennial School District for 37 years.  She notes, “I remember so clearly all of my teachers, experiences and extra-curricular activities.” Vivid moments include being a raindrop in her first grade class play, held at the Women’s Exchange at Germantown Avenue and Washington Lane, making butter from cream in second grade and the way her sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Marsh, would read from Great Expectations at the end of the day. Now retired, she enjoys hiking and biking in the west, painting and time with her grandson, Levi.  “Greene Street Friends has meant many things to me; friendships, caring engaged teachers, and a Quaker grounding that has kept me on track all of my life. I believe Greene Street today strives to develop a sense of service, community, tolerance and friendship within its small, committed and inviting campus. I feel so fortunate to be a part of the Greene Street Friends community.” 

Rosalyn Wiggins Berne ’69 is a professor, bioethicist, and author.  Her books include Nanotalk: Conversations with Scientists and Engineers about Ethics, Meaning, and Belief in the Development of Nanotechnology (2005), Waiting in the Silence (2012), When the Horses Whisper (2013), Creating Life From Life: Biotechnology and Science Fiction (2014), Waking to Beauty: Encounters with Remarkable Beings (2016). When not writing, Rosalyn teaches at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Virginia.  "Today's Greene Street is a community school; a place for neighborhood children, and not just for the privileged ones. The joyful sound of excited children still prevails, only now, more than ever it seems, those voices come from a very broad diversity of families."