H. K. Douglas Cotton Memorial Lecture
The H. K. Douglas Cotton Memorial Lecture, established by Baltimore businessman Henry Kyd Douglas Cotton, annually features business and career lectures for students of Gilman School. The program was created by an endowment that Mr. Cotton established shortly before his death in 1979. The program reflects Mr. Cotton's strong belief in education and business.
Born in 1900, Mr. Cotton attended and graduated from St. James School in Hagerstown, Maryland. He continued his education at The Johns Hopkins University where he distinguished himself by winning the cup as the most outstanding student, being elected to the Omicron Delta Kappa Honorary Society, and graduating Cum Laude. Mr. Cotton worked briefly for a Baltimore publishing company before founding Barton Cotton, Inc., a publishing and lithography firm that is noted for its promotional work for Catholic fund-raising efforts and other national organizations.
Throughout his life, Mr. Cotton was very supportive of the educational institutions that he attended. He served as president of the St. James School Board of Trustees and developed an association with Gilman while his grandsons attended the School. John Hubner Rice III '74, Douglas Cotton Rice '76, Robert Haldane Swindell III '78, Richard Carew Rice '80, Charles Trimble Swindell '81, Douglas Cotton Swindell '81, and James Parran Swindell '84 are all Gilman School graduates.
The objective of the H. K. Douglas Cotton Memorial Lecture is to create a stimulating program to acquaint Gilman students with the various careers that are available to them. Mr. Cotton, aware that there were no specific business courses offered at Gilman, felt that there was a need for a program to "...instill in our students a better understanding of the world of business and economics."
| Year | Name | Occupation | |
| 1981 | James McBride | Union Trust Bank | |
| 1981 | George Piendak | Public Finance, City of Baltimore | |
| 1981 | Henry A. Rosenberg, Jr. | Chairman, Crown Central Petroleum | |
| 1981 | Thomas Schweizer, Jr. '62 | Partner, Alex. Brown & Sons | |
| 1982 | John H. Claster '63 | Claster Television Productions | |
| 1982 | Peter L.C. George '72 | McCormick & Company | |
| 1982 | Ronald M. Shapiro | Attorney, Shapiro & Olander | |
| 1982 | Richard B.C. Tucker '47 | President, William T. Burnett & Co. (STX) | |
| 1983 | George H. Bias '72 | Process Engineer, Merck, Sharp & Dohme | |
| 1983 | H. Furlong Baldwin '50 | Chairman of the Board, Mercantile-Safe Deposit & Trust Company | |
| 1983 | Jack Moseley | President & Chairman of the Board, U.S.F. & G. | |
| 1983 | Hon. Stephen H. Sachs | Attorney General of Maryland | |
| 1984 | J. Stanley Heuisler '60 | Editor, Baltimore Magazine | |
| 1984 | Clark F. MacKenzie '59 | President, MacKenzie & Associates | |
| 1984 | Martin L. Millspaugh '43 | President, Inner Harbor, Charles Center Development Corporation | |
| 1984 | G. Remak Ramsay '54 | Actor | |
| 1985 | Douglas L. Becker '84 | Managing Principal, The Sterling Group and Senior Management Consultant, Health Management Systems | |
| 1985 | Robert G. Stewart '49 | Senior Curator, The National Portrait Gallery | |
| 1985 | Thomas J. S. Waxter, Jr. '52 | Baltimore City Councilman and Attorney, Semmes, Bowen & Semmes | |
| 1985 | David W.B. Willse '66 | President, Willse & Associates | |
| 1986 | G. Gibson Carey '51 | Manager of Corporate Training & Development, Proctor & Gamble | |
| 1986 | Dr. Richard S. Ross | Vice President for Medicine, Dean of the Medical Faculty, Professor, The Johns Hopkins University | |
| 1986 | Jeffrey E. Salkin '80 | Reporter, WBAL-TV | |
| 1987 | F. Barton Harvey III '67 | Deputy chairman, The Enterprise Foundation | |
| 1987 | Dennis C. McCoy | Former Maryland State Delegate | |
| 1987 | Robert B. Russell II '51 | Executive Vice President, Investment Counselors of Maryland | |
| 1988 | Walter D. Pinkard, Jr. '69 | President, W.C. Pinkard & Company | |
| 1988 | Rev. William Rich '71 | Chaplain, Goucher College | |
| 1988 | Edwin Warfield IV '72 | President and Publisher, The Daily Record and Warfield's | |
| 1989 | Michael J. Austin '74 | Product Manager, Black & Decker | |
| 1989 | James A. Snead '68 | President, Zeiger, Hoopes & Snead Architects | |
| 1989 | J. Richard Thomas, Jr. '72 | Partner, Thomas Associates | |
| 1990 | Thomas S. Bowyer, Jr. '57 | President, Schmidt Baking Company | |
| 1990 | Gerry L. Brewster '75 | Executive Assistant to the Baltimore County Executive, Baltimore County | |
| 1990 | Mark M. Caplan '76 | Partner, The Time Group and Harbor Leasing Associates | |
| 1991 | R. Leith Herrmann '64 | Headmaster, Harford Day School | |
| 1991 | William H. B. Howard, Jr. '52 | Medical Director, Sports Medicine Center, Union Memorial Hospital | |
| 1991 | L. Bryan Koerber '79, P'12 | Technical Representative, Budeke's Inc. | |
| 1992 | J. Michael McWilliams | Partner, Tyding & Rosenberg | |
| 1992 | William M. Passano, Jr. '48 | Chairman, Waverly, Inc. | |
| 1992 | James S. Riepe | Managing Director, T. Rowe Price Associates | |
| 1993 | Charles B. Duff, Jr. '71, P'10 | Director, Jubilee Baltimore | |
| 1993 | Michael A. Sarbanes '82 | Attorney, Community Law Center | |
| 1993 | Nicholas C. Schloeder, Jr. '85, P'16 | Employment Director, Choice Jobs Programs | |
| 1993 | Robert B. Tickner '70 | Coordinator, Baltimore City Head Start | |
| 1994 | Benson E. Legg '66, P'05 | Judge, United States District Court | |
| 1994 | Bruce L. Rosenberg '72 | Teacher, Budapest University of Economics | |
| 1994 | Christopher Van Hollen '41 | International Affairs Consultant | |
| 1995 | Edward C. Kiernan | Vice President and General Manager, WBAL/WIYY Radio | |
| 1995 | George P. Stamas '69, P'06 | Partner, Piper & Marbury, Legal Counsel, Baltimore Orioles | |
| 1995 | Craig A. Vander Kolk P'04 | Plastic Surgeon, Director of The Johns Hopkins Cleft and Craniofacial Center | |
| 1996 | Rudiger Breitenecker '83 | Attorney/International Business Advisor | |
| 1996 | Peter W. Ratcliffe '83 | Architectural Technician, Donald B. Ratcliffe A.I.A., Architects | |
| 1996 | Norman Steinberg | Writer and Director | |
| 1997 | Mark R. Fetting '72, P'05 | President, Prudential Retirement Services | |
| 1997 | Lawrence T.P. Stifler '59 | President, Health Management Resources | |
| 1998 | Allen D. Moore '70, P'07 | Documentary filmmaker | |
| 1999 | Raymond L. Harris, Jr. '85 | Associate Pastor, Church of the Immaculate Conception | |
| 1999 | Gregory P.C. Lee '86 | Vice President, Global Structured Finance Group Salomon Smith Barney in New York | |
| 1999 | Charles M. Linehan '88 | Partner, New Enterprise Association (NEA) | |
| 2000 | Eric L. Bryant '88 | Assistant Director of National Filed Operations, NAACP | |
| 2000 | Louis Reed Huppman, Jr. '69 | Technical Director, Environmental Resources Management | |
| 2000 | Andrew E. Sinwell '83 | Madison Partners | |
| 2001 | David B. Irwin '66, P'08, '10 | Criminal defense and litigation, Irwin Green Dexter & Murtha, L.L.P. | |
| 2001 | Garrett A. Pfeifer '78, P'14 | Founder, Maryland Screen Printers, Inc. | |
| 2002 | Jonathon S. Jacobson '79 | Founder, Highfields Capital Management | |
| 2002 | Nicholas D.D. Pryor '52 | Actor | |
| 2003 | Michael J. Ewing '64 | President and Principal, Williams Jackson Ewing Inc. | |
| 2003 | Thomas R. Washburn '85 | Founder and President, Moxley's Homemade Ice Cream Company | |
| 2004 | Keefe B. Clemons '85 | Assistant General Counsel, Verizon Communications | |
| 2004 | Jose Aguto '83 | Legal and Policy Analyst, American Indian Environmental Office, US Environmental Protection Agency | |
| 2004 | Timothy Parker '78 | Editor, USA Today Crossword Puzzles, Assistant Pastor, Tabernacle of Deliverance Christian Center | |
| 2005 | Andrew D. Martire '89 | Head Master, Calvert School | |
| 2005 | Jonathan A. Cordish '85 | Chairman of the media/film division and advisor to the private equity investment division, The Cordish Company | |
| 2006 | Michael R. Ward ’76 | Managing director of Nobska Ventures and co-founder and partner of Nobska Group | |
| 2006 | Edward B. Brody ’82 | Owner of ARUP, Inc., | |
| 2006 | Joshua H. Levinson ’89 | Owner of Charm City Run |