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2008 Commencement Speaker and Granite State Award Recipient

T. Holmes Moore

T. Holmes Moore has devoted his life to education and public service in New Hampshire. After graduating from New Hampton School in 1938, Moore interrupted his undergraduate studies at Middlebury College to serve in the Naval Air Corps during World War II. Following the war, he resumed his studies at Middlebury College and earned his undergraduate degree in 1946. 

Moore returned to New Hampton School to teach, and over the next four decades served the school as teacher, headmaster, and president. Under his leadership, New Hampton School flourished, growing both in terms of buildings and programs. Though he officially retired in 1992, Moore is a member of New Hampton School’s Board of Trustees and remains an active and effective advocate for the school.

In addition to his service to New Hampton School, Moore has worked on behalf of various organizations throughout his community and the state, including the New Hampshire Music Festival, the New Hampton Community Church, the Gordon Nash Library, and the Mayhew Program, a non-profit program for at-risk New Hampshire boys. Over the years, he has served as New Hampton’s town moderator, trustee of trust funds, and chair of the town’s economic development committee. He has also served as moderator for Newfound Area School District and New Hampton Community Church.

A fervent believer in bringing educational opportunities to those in rural parts of the state, Moore is an advocate for public television, and served New Hampshire Public Television’s Public Broadcasting Council in a variety of roles—including president—for more than a decade. He was also the president of NHPTV’s Board of Governors for seven years.

Moore has received numerous honors for his distinguished service, including the University of New Hampshire’s Charles Holmes Pettee Medal in 1982. In 1986, he was listed as a New Hampshire Notable in a 1986 book by the same name, published for the New Hampshire Historical Society. In 1997, New Hampton School honored Moore’s leadership by dedicating the T. Holmes Moore Center, which houses the school’s student center as well as arts and athletics facilities.

President Sara Jayne Steen said Moore’s lifetime of dedication to education and service gives him a unique and valued perspective in addressing the class of 2008. “Bud Moore has devoted his life to transforming others’ lives and making New Hampshire a better place to live, learn, and work,” she said. “He is a distinguished leader and a man of major accomplishment.”