2005 Liff Spirit Award Honoree

Eugenie Beal

Founding Chair, Boston Conservation Commission
Fouding Member, Emerald Necklace Conservancy

Genie-Beal Eugenie Beal is one of those venerable Bostonians who need no last name. She is known affectionately throughout the city simply as “Genie”. Since she became the first chair of Boston’s Conservation Commission in 1970, she has worked to cultivate, protect and enhance Boston’s open space and make it a “greener city.” For the past 20 years she has led Boston Natural Areas Network, first as president and now as chair. She is best known for this effort and for her role in creating the Boston Greenspace Alliance and the Arboretum Park Conservancy.

During the 1990’s, Beal, a self-proclaimed “parkie”, worked closely with Justine Mee Liff and secured a grant which helped start the Emerald Necklace Conservancy. Currently Beal serves as a member of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy’s Stewardship Council and as a board member of the Arboretum Parks Conservancy, Friends of the Public Garden and Boston Botanical Garden on the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

Norman Leventhal

Founder, The Beacon Companies

Norman-Leventhal Norman Leventhal is also one of those venerable Bostonians who needs no last name. He is known respectfully throughout the city simply as “Norman.” A founder of The Beacon Companies, Leventhal has been widely recognized for his significant contributions to Boston’s built environment, including Center Plaza, Rowes Wharf, South Station, One Post Office Square and the Hotel Meridien as well as his many philanthropic endeavors. Leventhal founded the Friends of Post Office Square, which lead to the creation of Post Office Square Park, and became a city-wide model for public-private partnerships that have enhance many of Boston’s public spaces. The Park at Post Office Square, named for Leventhal in 1997, is known nationally as setting a new standard for urban parks and creating a beloved urban oasis for office workers, tourists and city residents.

Leventhal has recently founded the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library to house his own collection of historic maps of Boston as well as the 350,000 maps already in the library’s collection. The new center will make these maps accessible to the public and in particular to the school children throughout greater Boston.

Past Recipients

2022
Kathy Abbott
President and CEO, Boston Harbor Now

2019
Kathryn Ott Lovell
Commissioner, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation

2018
Kelsey Wirth
Founder, Mothers Out Front

2017
Whitney Hatch
Chairman, DCR Stewardship Council

2016
Ropes & Gray
Celebrating 150 Year Anniversary

2015
Mark Volpe
Managing Director, Boston Symphony Orchestra

2014
Elizabeth Barlow Rogers
Founder, Central Park Conservancy

2013
Thomas M. and Angela Menino
Mayor and First Lady, City of Boston

2012
Malcolm Rogers
Ann and Graham Gund Director,
Museum of Fine Arts Boston

2011
Valerie Burns
President, Boston Natural Areas Network

2010
Charles Ansbacher
Conductor and Founder,
Boston Landmark Orchestra

2009
Michael and Kitty Dukakis
Former Governor and First Lady,
Commonwealth of Massachusetts

2008
Joan and Ted Cutler
Philanthropists

2007
Agnes “Diddy” Cullinane
Founder, Black and White Boston

2006
Henry Lee
Founder, Friends of the Public Garden

2005
Eugenie Beal
Founding Chair, Boston Conservation Commission
Founding Member, Emerald Necklace Conservancy

Norman Leventhal
Founder, The Beacon Companies