Last week, D303’s Distinguished Alumni Committee recognized the 2025 class of Distinguished Alumni, inviting the four honorees to a meet-and-greet and ceremony that took place at the Lincoln Professional Center on Thursday, Nov. 13. The next day, the alumni visited North and East to meet with various classes focused around their respective career fields.
Since 1997, D303’s Distinguished Alumni Committee has recognized St. Charles graduates who have reached a high level of achievement in their field or made significant contributions to the community. Each year, the committee’s members select four alumni from their list of applications.
“Anybody can nominate somebody, the application is always open, but we typically send out a press release and resend out the nomination in January looking for nominations. And then that year’s period typically ends in the end of March,” said Lindsay Boynton, North teacher and president of the Distinguished Alumni Committee. “We usually meet in April or May to go through all the applications and kind of go through a selection process, and then the ultimate decision is decided by vote.”
Of the four 2025 alumni, Dr. Catherine Nosal was the only one who graduated from North, the rest are graduates from St. Charles High School, which was the district’s only high school before North’s opening in 2001.
“I’m very excited because [Nosal] is our first North winner since before COVID,” said Boynton. “It’s really awesome.”
Nosal is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist, serving at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, as well as working as an assistant professor at Northwestern University, consulting pediatric gynecology physician at Lurie Children’s Hospital and medical director of Women’s Health Ambulatory Services at Northwestern.
During her time at North, Nosal was a varsity swimmer and involved in student council, among other activities. She graduated in 2006.
“The lessons I learned in the halls of District 303 carried me far beyond my high school years. They carried me through college as a student athlete, medical school and into my career as a physician,” said Nosal in her speech at the Nov. 13 ceremony. “The leadership, teamwork and resilience I built in these halls continue to shape how I approach challenges today.”
Alongside Nosal in this newest class of inductees was Todd Bancroft, Anthony Harrison and James J. Miller. Bancroft is the president and CEO of Draper and Kramer Inc. and its parent company, DKH Inc. Harrison owns local screen-printing company The Hairy Ant, which partners regularly with D303 schools and programs. Miller guided NASA’s GPS and space navigation endeavors for 20 years and served as the executive secretary of the National Space Council’s Users’ Advisory Group under two presidential administrations.
With their visit to the district’s high schools on Nov. 14, the alumni got the chance to meet with students and speak about their experience in their career field. For Nosal, acting as an adviser and an encouraging source for students is important.
“At the end of the day, I’m a physician, but I’m also a professor, I’m a mentor, and it’s all about bringing the youth and bringing the next generation into this, because the work we do now is not going to mean anything unless we get people to do the same thing years from now. So it’s important to get young, interested learners on board,” said Nosal. “[It’s] really fun to talk to students and talk about career paths, goals and aspirations, and kind of just go from there.”
While grateful for the Distinguished Alumni recognition, Nosal credits her friends, family, teachers and coaches for her achievements.
“Although, sure, my name’s on [a plaque], it’s really just a reflection of all the people who stood behind me,” said Nosal. “I think it’s really about the community and the people you keep around that really push you to where you are and where you want to be, so it was not an individual thing, it never has been.”
