Stephen H Spahn, chancellor of North London International School (NLIS), has received the US National Child Labor Committee’s 2011 Lewis Hine Distinguished Service Award for service to children and youth, after more than four decades of inspiring students to reach their full potential.

Also chancellor of the Dwight International Schools in Canada, China, Seoul and the US (New York), Mr Spahn received the award on 31 January at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City.

The Lewis Hine Distinguished Service Award was named after the acclaimed photographer who documented early 20th-century exploitation of child labour in the US. The award is presented to individuals in the public eye who have shown unsurpassed commitment to improving the lives of children. This year, Andre Agassi and Elaine Wynn also received the award, and past winners include Hillary Rodham Clinton, Tipper Gore, Michael Bolton, and Charles Schulz.

Stephen H Spahn has been the Dwight School’s chancellor and headmaster since 1967 and serves on the Board of the North London International School, part of the Dwight Family of Schools. He founded the International School of London in 1972.

Based at the Dwight School in New York, Mr Spahn works closely with the NLIS leadership team and is instrumental in guiding the school in all areas. An educational pioneer, he brought the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma programme to Dwight in the mid-1990s. Now, the programme is in nearly 3,000 schools across 138 countries.