---
title: Alumni Association News
date: 2025-01-15T09:54:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://terp.umd.edu/alumni-association-news-22"
section: Articles
---
# Alumni Association News

*January 15, 2025* — by [Alumni Association Staff](/authors/alumni-association-staff)


*gold star on red background*

# Letter From the Senior Executive Director


*Jessica Roberts headshot*



# The Alumni Excellence Awards


Graduates of the University of Maryland are leaders and trailblazers across a wide range of disciplines. Whether advancing knowledge as scholars and researchers, driving innovation as entrepreneurs or shaping the future as educators, our alums have a lasting influence on the state, nation and world. The Alumni Excellence Awards celebrate the extraordinary achievements of a select group of Terps. Meet the 2024 awardees. Learn more at [alumni.umd.edu/excellence](https://alumni.umd.edu/about/the-alumni-excellence-awards).


## RISING TERP AWARD


The following alums are an inspiration to the next generation of Terp leaders. All under the age of 30, they have already made significant professional accomplishments.

**Catalina Mejía Arenas ’18**  
*Gen AI Bilingual Content Manager, Meta*  
Mejía uses generative artificial intelligence to reshape consumer engagement, content personalization and advertising at one of the world’s biggest companies.

**Rick Tamno ’17, M.P.P. ’20**  
*Program Assistant, Global Refuge*  
*Co-founder and Executive Director, Readers All*  
Tamno assists immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees through his work with Global Refuge, while also working to teach literacy to underserved children through his volunteer organization.

**Tyler Denk ’16**  
*Co-founder & CEO, beehiiv*  
Denk was named to Forbes’ 2023 and 2025 “30 Under 30” lists for creating beehiiv, a software company that provides businesses with templates for creating email newsletters. It has 7,500 active newsletters with 35 million unique readers.


## ENTERPRENEUR AWARD


These Terps are fearlessly disrupting their industries as successful entrepreneurs who have notably contributed to their respective fields.

**Joshua Jeffries MBA ’11**  
*Managing Director, Risk Strategies Co.*  
Jeffries is an entrepreneur, health reform strategist and employee benefit and human resources system expert. He’s managing director of a Bethesda-based risk management consultancy and insurance brokerage.

**Summer Bazemore M.S. ’02**  
*Systems Engineer & CEO/Owner, Ey3 Technologies*  
Bazemore, founder and CEO of a cybersecurity and systems engineering consultancy, has provided internships to and mentored 30 students and young adults from Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Prince George’s County.

**Jayson Dubin ’97**  
*CEO & Founder, Playwire*  
Dubin leads a software company that helps online publishers and app developers boost their advertising revenue. Its programs allow businesses to customize ads to users.


## RESEARCH AWARD


The University of Maryland is one of the world’s premier research institutions. This award recognizes three alums for their transformational research and its impact.

**Daniel Flynn ’81**  
*Professor, Florida Atlantic University*  
Flynn is a former vice president for research at Florida Atlantic University. He now helps biotech companies, clinical research practices and universities develop and commercialize intellectual property.

**Fang-Zhen Teng Ph.D. ’05**  
*Professor, University of Washington, Seattle*  
Teng is a leader in nontraditional isotope geochemistry, considering the role of potassium and magnesium, for example, and their potential impacts on medical innovation and rare metal mining.

**Courtney Grimes Ph.D. ’21**  
*Atmospheric Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund*  
Grimes is an atmospheric scientist at the nonprofit environmental advocacy group, where she considers the impacts of air pollution on marginalized communities. She is the first African American to graduate from UMD with a doctorate in atmospheric chemistry.


## LEGACY AWARD


This distinguished award honors alums who left a positive legacy in their community, celebrating their personal and professional lifetime achievements.

**Sue Bredekamp ’72, M.A. ’76, Ph.D. ’85**  
*Former Director of Professional Development, National Association for the Education of Young Children*  
Bredekamp is a pioneer in early childhood education, having authored the seminal “Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs” in 1987. The work continues to inform teachers on the academic and developmental needs of children from birth through age 8.

**William Ryan ’90**  
*Board President, Building African American Minds*  
Ryan, an emeritus professor of atmospheric science at Pennsylvania State University, has spent the last decade as a volunteer and board president of an Easton, Md.-based nonprofit that provides academic enrichment in a safe, caring and structured environment.

**Dorothy Weinstein ’84**  
*Adjunct Instructor of Clinical Research and Leadership, George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences*  
Weinstein has spent her professional life advocating for local, state and national health policies. She collaborated with the American Diabetes Association in influencing Congress to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.



# The Maryland Awards


Each year, we honor the exceptional achievements of seven distinguished alums at A Celebration of Terps: Featuring the Maryland Awards. Presented during an intimate ceremony this past November, these prestigious awards recognize exemplary Terps who have excelled in public service, launched innovative companies and made groundbreaking discoveries. Learn more at [alumni.umd.edu/maryland-awards](https://alumni.umd.edu/about/maryland-awards).


**Joy Bauer ’86**  
*Hall of Fame Inductee*

**Jeanette Epps M.S. ’94, PH.D. ’00**  
*President’s Award*

**Evan Lutz ’14**  
*Outstanding Young Alumnus Award*

**Oneyda Hernandez ’23**  
*Do Good Award*


**Jim Spencer ’90**  
*Spirit of Maryland Award*

**Sharon L. Akers ’78**  
*Tyser Gottwals Award*

**Sylvie DeLaHunt ’14, M.S. ’16**  
*Elaine Johnson Coates Award*




**Issue:** [Winter 2025](https://terp.umd.edu/editions/winter-2025)


**Types:** [Post-Grad](https://terp.umd.edu/category/post-grad)