

The description for the Distinguished Alumnus Award is:
The Distinguished Alumnus Award is the highest award which may be bestowed upon an alumni of Psi Upsilon for bringing honor to the Fraternity by exemplifying the true spirit and meaning of brotherhood in all that they do and say, for dedicated and unselfish service in pursuit of the advancement of the Fraternity, and for demonstrating a commitment to serve the educational environment, their community, and their country. It is anticipated the recipient will have distinguished themselves in their chosen profession. Not necessarily an annual award, the Executive Council may present the Distinguished Alumnus Award at any time it deems an alumni worthy of the honor. The Executive Council shall determine the recipient of this prestigious award.
The Distinguished Alumnus Award was established in 1983, rechristened the David A.B. Brown, ΕΦ ’66 Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2020.
If you would like to nominate a brother for the David A.B. Brown Award please fill out this form.
Award Recipients
Delta
Eldred A. Halsey, Jr., Delta ’58 – Awarded 2022
Epsilon Omega
William R. Robie, Epsilon Omega ‘66 – Awarded 1992
Gamma
Morris Wolff, Gamma ’58 – Awarded 2020
Henry B. Poor, Gamma ‘39 – mid 1990s
Thomas H. Wyman, Gamma ‘51 – mid 1990s
Lambda
Murray L. Eskenzai, Lambda ’56 – Awarded 2021
Phi
R. Timothy Leedy, Phi ‘57 – Awarded 1992
Eldred A. Halsey, Jr., Delta ’58 • Awarded 2022

Brother Halsey is the son of Eldred Halsey, Delta 1919 (NYU), and like his father his undergraduate experience was interrupted for military service in the U.S. Navy. Upon Brother Halsey’s return to NYU he became the chapter’s Archon and helped lead a rebuild of the chapter after the Korean War. After graduating he became active in the Delta Corporation and later served as a Director of the Psi Upsilon Foundation.
Eldred has affected Psi U in many ways and has helped many individuals and chapters over his lifetime of commitment to the fraternity. He has organized retreats for many chapters and was instrumental in the founding of the Alpha Omicron Chapter at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Serving as a song-master at Psi U conventions for decades, Eldred’s enthusiasm at Psi U events is always appreciated.
Murray L. Eskenzai, Lambda ’56 • Awarded 2021

Brother Eskenazi has been active in the life of Psi Upsilon since his initiation as an undergraduate at Columbia. He has served for 52 years as a director and for 17 years as President of the Lambda Alumni Association.
Author of 3 Psi U songs, creator of 11 chapter coats-of-arms, and designer of the Psi U Sesquicentennial Plate and the Psi U Distinguished Alumnus Medal, Brother Eskenazi is a gifted man of diverse talents. He has served on our Foundation Board and, after 19 years on the Executive Council, is now an honorary life member.
Colombia granted him a BA in Mathematics and Engineering; New York University an MBA. He holds 3 U.S. Patents, invented “Super Scrabble”, and is also a published author.
His professional career includes roles as a Sales Engineer with International Trucks, VP of Production for a division of Bobbie Brooks Corp., VP of Centaur Industries (where he invented an electronic slot machine), and an agent to game and toy inventors.

Currently enjoying his retirement in Delray Beach, FL he is a former resident of East Rockaway, NY where Brother Eskenazi devoted over 40 years of service to his community in various appointed, volunteer, or elected positions.
Murray’s Keynote at the 177th Convention
Murray receiving this award
Morris Wolff, Gamma ’58 • Awarded 2020

Morris Wolff, Gamma ’58 (Amherst), has led a distinguished life as an attorney, professor and humanitarian including Marching with Marion Wright Edelman of the Children’s Defense Fund at the gathering on the Washington Mall in 1963 when Dr. Martin Luther King when King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
He worked with Senator Sherman Cooper of Kentucky to draft and develop new laws on civil rights and school integration, including being appointed by US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to help serve in the creation of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Most famously, he worked to free Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish Diplomat who was imprisoned in Russia in 1945 and filed a historic lawsuit in the District of Columbia against the Soviet Union which resulted in the Wallenberg family being awarded damages in the amount of 39 million dollars.
Brother Wolff has received numerous awards and accolades for his lifetime of service including the National Council of Christian and Jews annual award for humanitarian service (1983), the UN Peace Award for Humanitarian Service (1993), and the Alumnus of Distinction award from AIESEC (International Association of Students of Economics and Commerce) where he served as president for a number of years.
A Fireside chat with Morris from 2020
Henry B. Poor, Gamma ‘39 –

Henry B. Poor, Gamma ‘39, Delta/Lambda/Tau/Chi, is the past executive director of Psi Upsilon Fraternity (1978-1988) and past executive director of The Psi Upsilon Foundation (1988 – 1992). He served as the Foundation’s scholarship chairman and held the singular distinction of five chapter affiliations. Psi Upsilon’s scholarship program was one of Henry Poor’s favorite and most important projects.
So many Psi U’s have chosen to honor Henry that it is no accident that the Henry B. Poor Scholarship Fund is the largest fund in the history of the Psi Upsilon Foundation and it is the investment income generated by this money that funds the Henry B. Poor Scholarships. In the last few years of Henry’s life, before he succumbed to cancer, many Psi U’s felt it was appropriate to honor this special man who has meant so much to Psi Upsilon. Thus, this scholarship was created in his honor while Brother Poor was still alive.
Thomas H. Wyman, Gamma ‘51 –


Thomas H. Wyman was a former chairman and chief executive of CBS Television. Before coming to CBS, Wyman had stints with Nestle Co., Polaroid Corp. and the Green Giant Co., where he served as president and chief executive until it was acquired by Pillsbury in 1979. He joined CBS the following year.
Later, he served on several corporate and philanthropic boards, including those of Amherst College, his alma mater, and the United Negro College Fund.
Survived by his third wife, Deborah Whiting Little, an Episcopal priest whom he married in November (he was divorced from his first wife, and his second wife died in 2002); three sons; a daughter; 11 grandchildren; and three sisters.
Thomas resigned his membership in the Augusta National Golf Club to protest its refusal to admit women. He remained a member of the Country Club of Brookline and The Charles River Yacht Club of Cambridge.
A moving tribute delivered at Amherst by Allan S. Lerner, Gamma ’51
William R. Robie, Epsilon Omega ‘66 – Awarded 1992

By honoring William R. Robie, Epsilon Omega ’66 with this award, we are recognizing his unselfish dedication and service to the Psi Upsilon Fraternity. Brother Robie has demonstrated a commitment to serve the educational environment, his community, and his country. Through his actions, Brother Robie redefined the spirit of brotherhood for Psi Upsilon.
Since being initiated by the Epsilon Omega chapter at Northwestern University, Brother Robie has be intimately involved with Psi Upsilon. As an undergraduate, Brother Robie served as chapter president, steward, and secretary of the Epsilon Omega Chapter. Brother Robie continued his dedication to Psi Upsilon after graduation as General Chairman of the 1969 Psi Upsilon Convention. Brother Robie was also a member of the Epsilon Omega Alumni Association Board of Directors and Chairman of the Building Fund Campaign.
In 1969 he expanded his efforts on behalf of Psi Upsilon beyond the Epsilon Omega by being elected to the Executive Council. After moving to Virginia, Brother Robie continued his commitment to the undergraduate brothers by serving as alumni advisor to the Nu Alpha chapter at Washington and Lee University and then later as the Alumni Advisor to the Phi Beta chapter at the College of William and Mary. Brother Robie also served as the President of the Psi Upsilon Alumni Association of Virginia.
Brother Robie’s commitment to the fraternal movement has not been limited to the fraternity or just to Psi Upsilon. He has served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Psi Upsilon Foundation and as a chairperson of the By-Laws Committee.
He has been a delegate to the National Interfraternity Conference annual meeting, has served on several NIC committees, and is a founding member of the National Capital Interfraternity Forum.
All of these noteworthy achievements have been undertaken against the backdrop of an impressive law career. Brother Robie served in the United States Department of Justice, during which time he variously held the positions of Counsel to the Associate Attorney General, and Director of the Office of Attorney Personnel Management. Brother Robie holds the singular distinction of serving ass the Chief Immigrations Judge, Executive Office for Immigration Review, U.S. Department of Justice. Since graduation from Northwestern University Law School Brother Robie has been an active member of several professional associations. As a member of the American Bar Association Brother Robie has served as Vice Chairman of two committees and as President of the Federal Bar Association. He has taken on these heavy responsibilities while being a true leader within Psi Upsilon.
His legacy to us all is the six years he served as President of the Executive Council of Psi Upsilon Fraternity. During Brother Robie’s tenure the Fraternity installed two new chapters (the Kappa Phi and Phi Beta) and reactivated three chapters (The Sigma, the Epsilon, and the Mu). We adopted a comprehensive Risk Management policy to protect the safety of our members and made liability insurance available to all of our chapters.
Brother Robie has guided the Fraternity with distinguished leadership and deep and abiding Fraternal devotion. It is with deep gratitude that we bestow upon him this award.
R. Timothy Leedy, Phi ‘57 – Awarded 1992

The unfortunate early passing of R. Timothy Leedy, Phi ’57 on March 23, 1991 did not allow the Executive Council of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity to recognize him for his distinguished fraternal service in Psi Upsilon. While we are proud ro award him the Distinguished Alumnus Award it is with great sorrow that we must do it posthumously. Brother Leedy’s devotion to our order will forever be an example to future brothers of the true spirit of Psi Upsilon.
Throughout his life Bother Leedy demonstrated a commitment to serve the educational environment, his community, and his country. A frequent attendant at Psi Upsilon Conventions and gatherings, he was widely respected for his soundness of judgement, his strength of conviction, and his straightforward approach. Brother Leedy served Psi Upsilon most notably as a member of the Psi Upsilon Foundation Board of Directors for fourteen years and as Vice-President of the Foundation for eight of those years. Brother Leedy was active in many facets of the Foundation including the Nominating Committee and the Scholarship Committee. It was his serves on the Scholarship Committee that marked him as a brother with the true spirit of Psi Upsilon. Through the Scholarship Committee Brother Leedy was able to assist many undergraduate brothers with the completion of their education. This devotion to scholarship reminds us how important learning is to the Psi Upsilon experience.
While serving the Foundation Brother Leedy had a distinguished career in the magazine publishing industry. At the time of his death he was senior Vice President and publisher of “Financial World” magazine. Prior to that he help senior advertising positions with Fortune, Time, and Discover magazines for twenty-five years and was associate publishers of Manhattan Inc. before it became M Inc.
We are touched by few people in this life, and even fewer in death, but Brother Leedy touched all of us in both ways. It is with great humility and gratitude that we bestow upon him posthumously this award.
- If you’re interested in nominating someone for the Distinguished Alumnus Award you can do so HERE.