by Mike Matzinger
Jay S. Bottorff, hailing from Dearborn Heights, Michigan, is the 2026 National Alumnus of the Year.
Since earning his Eagle Scout rank in 1988, Jay’s nearly-40-year journey of Scouting service has been transformative. Just within the past decade, Jay has revolutionized the way alumni throughout the nation and beyond are engaged.
Through his leadership of Council Support on the Scouting Alumni National Committee, he has become the architect of the modern movement’s infrastructure. Jay built several pivotal tools for the recent collective success of Scouting Alumni, including the Scouting Alumni Reunion Planning Guide, Camp Alumni Association Toolkit, Scouting Alumni Guidebook, and Council Support Database. His anchoring principle and vision remains the empowerment of local councils.
Under his servant leadership of a capable volunteer team, we have witnessed the number of councils lacking an Alumni or NESA committee plummet from 86 to just 32. Jay expanded Scouting Alumni’s visibility as the Lead Adviser for Alumni at the 2024 National Order of the Arrow Conference. Notably saving the organization an estimated $135,000 in labor costs, Jay has personally handled nearly 14,000 inquiries and over 35,000 follow-up responses as a faithful member of NESA’s National Email Response Team.
Jay, a cornerstone of the Scouting Alumni community, has brought countless individuals from across the country back to the campfire.