Elaine Hogaboom Ko-Talmadge ’60 is the recipient of Castleton’s 2022 Outstanding Alumni Award.
The Outstanding Alumni Award was established in 2005 by the Castleton Alumni Association to recognize alums who have distinguished themselves through their professional accomplishments and displayed exemplary service to the University, community, and/or humanitarian efforts.
Ko-Talmadge has been an ardent champion of Castleton, supporting scholarships for students. She established the Elaine H. and Sok Nam Ko International Student Scholarship at Castleton, in honor of her late husband, in 2019. It is the first endowed scholarship for international students.
From Enosburg Falls, Vermont, Castleton is a special place for Ko-Talmadge. It’s where she met her late husband, Sok Nam Ko ’58. He was Castleton’s first international student.
While supporting her husband as he sought higher education to become an oral maxillofacial surgeon, Ko-Talmadge utilized her degree to teach in Vermont, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and finally, Amsterdam, New York. After more than a decade of teaching elementary school, she received Montessori training and opened the Montessori School of Amsterdam, which she owned and operated for 16 years.
Ko-Talmadge has a deep connection to her community and a long history of service to others. She has been an active member and two-time president of the Amsterdam branch of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC), serving as a GFWC delegate to the United Nations for three terms. She has also served as a member of the Baptist Health Systems Board and Foundation and the Children’s Association.
She has received many honors, including the Zonta International Outstanding Service Award, Rotary International as a Paul Harris Fellow twice, YMCA Co-Citizen of the Year Award, Herbert Singer Community Service Award by the chamber of commerce, First Liberty Bell Award, Elks Mother of the Year, United Way Hall of Fame, GFWC New York Clubwoman of the Year, GFWC New York Jenny June Award, and the GFWC Empowered Woman Award.
In 2014, she was awarded the New York State Liberty Medal, the highest individual civilian honor bestowed by the New York State Senate.
Ko-Talmadge was celebrated at the annual Alumni Awards Luncheon on August 13.