College awards Middlebury Select Board Chair John Tenny an honorary degree

MIDDLEBURY, Vt.-Middlebury College awarded Middlebury Select Board Chair John Tenny an honorary bachelor of arts degree on Saturday, June 5, at a convocation ceremony held in Mead Chapel as part of the College’s reunion activities.

Middlebury College President John M. McCardell Jr. said, “The degree is a fitting recognition of someone who has exemplified public service for many years.”

Tenny said, “I certainly feel the degree is a great honor. I’m grateful to my friends from the Middlebury College class of 1969 for nominating me and to the College for considering me and making the award.”

Tenny is currently serving a three-year term until March 2006 as chair of the town’s select board, a position he has held since he was first elected by his fellow board members in 1997. Tenny joined the board in September 1995. He also served on the Middlebury Design Advisory Review Committee from 1989-1995 and the Middlebury Public Works Committee from 1991-1995. In 1995, he joined the board of the Addison County Community Trust, a nonprofit organization that rehabilitates single-family homes and mobile home parks for use as low-income housing, and has served as the president of the board since 1995. According to Tenny, the trust has renovated more than 300 units of affordable housing for use in Addison County, the largest number of units provided by any agency in the county.

A resident of Middlebury, where he has lived for 31 years, Tenny is the vice president and co-owner of Mill Bridge Construction, a Middlebury-based construction company.

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