Mary Louise Leisher Leipheimer, head of Middleburg's Foxcroft School since 1989, has been honored by the Indiana University of Pennsylvania with their Distinguished Alumni Award for her contributions as an educator and for her leadership in academia.

A 1966 graduate of IUP, she was honored for having achieved distinction in her field and for her loyal and active service to her alma mater.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest award given by the Alumni Association.

Head Mistress Leipheimer continued her education in graduate studies in English and in guidance at the University of Virginia, and in reading at Eastern Michigan University. She also received counseling training at the Northfield Institute in Massachusetts.

She began her career as an English teacher at Mercer High School, Mercer, Pa. in 1966 and the following year joined Foxcroft as an English teacher. She also served as the English Department chairwoman, before serving five years as the director of Emmanuel Preschool in Alexandria, Va.

She returned to Foxcroft in 1983 to serve as director of admission and later served as director of development and as assistant head for external affairs.

Leipheimer serves on the board of directors of the Virginia Association of Independent Schools and the National Association of Principals of Schools for Girls. She is a member of the Headmasters Association and a past chair emerita and board member of the Secondary School Admission Test Board. She also previously served on the board of directors of The Association of Boarding Schools and was the founding co-chair of the National Coalition of Girls' Schools.

In 2004, the Mary Louise Leipheimer Scholarship was established by a Foxcroft family to honor Leipheimer and to support a student who "demonstrates the qualities, often overlooked in young people, most exemplified by Leipheimer: honor, dedication, loyalty, humor, grace and an understanding heart."

In 2008, another Foxcroft family, who had funded a new gymnasium on the campus, chose to honor her by naming it the Mary Louise Leipheimer Gymnasium. The Foxcroft Board of Trustees named her the recipient of the 2008 Anne Kane McGuire Award for Distinguished Service, its highest honor.

She also serves on the vestry at St. James' Episcopal Church and on the Board of Visitors for the Margaret Paxton Memorial for Convalescent Children. She previously served as chairwoman of the board of directors for the Piedmont Child Care Center in Upperville, Va..

She was named to Who's Who in Executives and Business in 2000 and was the 1999 recipient of the William B. Bretnall Award, given by the Secondary School Admission Test Board annually to the leading educator who has contributed significantly to the field of independent school admission.

Leipheimer and her late husband, Robert E. Leipheimer, a 1965 graduate of IUP, are the parents of one son and grandparents of two children.