Marie Pereto-Hedin has been passionate about developing programs that engage and inform senior alumni and strengthen their connections to Tufts. Marie is President of the Tufts Senior Connection, a shared interest group sponsored by the Office of Alumni Engagement, created to focus on the needs and interests of our alumni over 55. She joined the Senior Connection Board in 2015 and served as Secretary before assuming her current role in 2022.
Marie has had a lifelong connection with Tufts, starting with enrolling as a freshman in 1964, the first in her family to attend college. Music became a major part of her Tufts experience. She sang with the concert choir and was inducted into the music honor society, becoming president her senior year. She coordinated Sunday afternoon chamber concerts that showcased the broad range of musical talent at Tufts.
As an alumna (J68) and a grateful scholarship recipient, Marie has sought ways to give back. She has been a member of her Class of 1968 Reunion Committee for the past 45 years, and she is the administrator of her class Facebook page.
Marie enjoyed a satisfying 27-year career with the New England Telephone Company where she wrote software code, designed software projects, taught programming, and managed programmers, rising through the management ranks overseeing a workforce located in Boston and New York. Along the way, she held positions in recruitment, public relations, and event planning.
Her next career was with a start-up software company as a consultant and teacher, working with several large corporate customers, designing technical curricula and writing technical manuals.
In retirement, Marie put her talents to use by volunteering in her community. For ten years, she worked with fourth graders at a local elementary school, encouraging their passion for reading, even developing her own curriculum. She supported children for whom English is a second language. She continued teaching Sunday school in her local church, developing programs for local youth in Dorchester, MA, and serving on the church leadership team with a focus on finance. She embraced her love of music and singing as a member of the Quincy, MA, Choral Society for more than 20 years, and still supports the group by writing press releases and working the front of the house at concerts. Since 2020, Marie has been a board member of her 666-unit condominium association on Cape Cod, and currently chairs their Capital Projects and Finance Committee.
Marie Pereto-Hedin, J68