Andover Athletic Hall of Honor Inaugural Inductee Class of 2008 Becky Dowling Adams 1994 Inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame fours years ago, Becky Dowling Adams began playing basketball in the seventh grade. During her four years on the PA basketball team, the team lost only three games. “Our greatest accomplishment was coming together as a team and as a family,” said Adams during her Hall of Fame induction. Following Andover, she became a Division I athlete at the U.S. Naval Academy, graduated, trained as a naval aviator, and now flies F-18s. She was deployed aboard the USS George Washington for six months in support of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. “Because of our teamwork, VFA-83 and the USS George Washington were able to do our jobs successfully while defending the freedom of this great country,” she said. Adams went on to become the first female graduate of Top Gun, the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor (SFTI) program. She is currently the training officer in VFA-105 on board the USS Harry S. Truman, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom in the Arabian Gulf.
George H.W. Bush 1942 Known to his PA classmates as “Poppy,” George H.W. Bush was the president of his senior class, secretary of the student council, president of the community fundraising group, a member of the editorial board of the Phillipian, and captain of both the varsity baseball and varsity soccer teams. Bush has long been considered one of Andover’s greatest soccer players. He went on to captain the baseball team at Yale and played in the first two College World Series. Between his time at PA and Yale, though, Bush was determined to serve his country. The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred during his senior year at Andover, and at that point, Bush decided his path after graduation. In 1943—following significant training, and three days before his 19th birthday—Bush was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve and became its youngest naval aviator. With a storied political career that spans half a century, Bush’s most prominent position was that of our nation’s 41st president. Last year, he was awarded the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award by former first lady Nancy Reagan.