The Alumni Excellence Awards

Rick is making sure that no child misses a chance to excel. He’s the co-founder and executive director of Readers All, which targets first through third graders at an underperforming elementary school in Greenbelt, Maryland

Since joining AI Studio full time in 2021 as a content curator, Mejía has helped develop such AI characters as Dodo, Gladiator II, and Love is Blind, smart features that encourage user creativity.

Tyler Denk is the co-founder and CEO of beehiiv, a software company that gives businesses big and small templates for creating newsletters that communicate information and drive sales.

Teng is considered the world’s expert in magnesium isotope geochemistry, which helps scientists better understand geological process, subduction zone activity and the origin of magmas.

I like creating and innovating, and I’ve always been entrepreneurial,” says Flynn, who earned a microbiology degree at Maryland. “There’s a lot of creativity in how you set up infrastructure, recruit the right people, and put the pieces together.

She’s an atmospheric scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) in Washington, D.C., where Grimes graduated from UMD with a doctorate in the field of atmospheric chemistry – is helping to advocate for populations that long have lacked a voice in the conversation.

The statistics tell the story: Women make up just 14% of engineers in the United States, with women of color accounting for less than a quarter of that total, according to the Society of Women Engineers.

It was Dubin who, in 2007, created the world’s first vertical advertising network, called Intergi (which he renamed to Playwire in 2014), tailored initially to online video game websites.

Joshua Jeffries MBA ’11 is helping lead efforts to cut costs. The entrepreneur, health reform strategist, and employee benefit professional is pioneering what’s known as direct contracting.

The granddaughter of Eastern European immigrants, Dorothy Weinstein ’84 learned from an early the age the importance of transcending challenges to rise to her potential. That journey, and the personal mission borne of it, has always involved helping others.

Growing up in Pittsburgh, William Ryan ’90 learned an important life lesson from his father: “He always told me, ‘when you move to a new place, get a subscription to the local newspaper, put some money into the local United Way, and find out where you can help.’”

Bredekamp developed the NAEYC’s national accreditation system for high-quality early childhood education programs, which sets standards that promote positive development and learning outcomes for young children though a balance of playful, hands-on, engaging experiences and intentional teaching.