CANTON -- Aileen O’Donoghue, the Henry Priest associate professor of physics at St. Lawrence University, has been named a 2016 recipient of the Macsherry Family Community Spirit Award by the United Way of NNY.O'Donoghue

The award is named for Richard and the late Mary Macsherry, long-time philanthropists in the north country. It is the highest award given by the United Way of NNY, which "annually recognizes one individual and one business in each of the three counties it serves," Untied Way said in a news release. The Canton Price Chopper in October received the Macsherry award for its support of the United Way and other area nonprofits.

“Under the care of Aileen, the SLU United Way campaign has become one of our top five campaigns in the region,” said Bob Gorman, executive director of the United Way of NNY. “Of course, all the other campaigns have committees of five to 10 people. Aileen pretty much handles the SLU campaign all on her own. She is an expert on astronomy, which is fitting because she is the brightest star in the north country galaxy.”

SLU’s United Way campaign has exceeded $20,000 the past several years. This region’s other top campaigns are Samaritan Health Systems ($67,225), New York Air Brake ($57,554), Watertown Savings Bank $38,000) and Corning Inc. in Canton ($25,702).