“Award/Recognition” Class Notes

C. Diane Smock (Law ’79 CM) received the first—and to date only—Extraordinary Achievement Award from the Upstate Mediation Center of Greenville, South Carolina. A former judge, Smock recognized the organization’s vital role in both the community and the court system. Stepping in during a critical period, she volunteered to lead the center on an interim basis, guiding its stabilization and renewal. Through strategic collaboration with local grant partners, she secured essential operating support and helped launch new programs designed to generate sustainable revenue, ensuring the center’s continued service as a valuable community resource.

Frank Block III (Engr ’07, ’09, ’12 CM) has been named the 2026 Federal Engineer of the Year by the National Society of Professional Engineers. At the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, he leads responses to major medical device recalls, including a series of respiratory device recalls affecting over 2.8 million devices, and helped prevent 38 million defective syringes from reaching U.S. patients.

Eugene Resnick (Col ’10 CM) has been selected as a finalist for the Social Action Award from the British Council‘s Study in UK Alumni Awards 2026. Resnick is an alumnus of The London School of Economics and Political Science and a graduate of a United Kingdom university.

Thomas Siu (Law ’21), a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps, was named Junior Officer of the Year for fiscal year 2025 at Defense Service Office Southeast in Norfolk, Virginia. He has served on active duty since 2021 and at Defense Service Office Southeast since 2023, where he represents those charged at courts-martial. He will transfer to the Navy’s appeals unit this summer.

Don Slesnick (Col ’65 CM) was honored with the eponymous Don Slesnick Civic Vision Award by the Coral Gables Art Cinema at their annual gala. Slesnick, the former four-term mayor of Coral Gables, Florida, received the award from current mayor, Vince Lago. The award reads, “With gratitude for his vision, leadership, and enduring legacy.”

Andrew G. Lee (Col ’85, Med ’89 CM) was honored with a 2026 Voluntary Clinical Faculty Award from the Baylor College of Medicine chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha, a national medical honor society. He was first inducted as a student member of Alpha Omega Alpha at UVA School of Medicine in 1989 and is now the Herb and Jean Lyman Centennial Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology at the Blanton Eye Institute at Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas.

Victoria “Tori” White DeJarnette (Col ’10 CM) was awarded the KPMG Silver Award for her pivotal role in successfully launching KPMG’s new enterprise technology platform, a foundational global initiative driving the firm’s strategic multi-year business transformation. She orchestrated the efforts of seven teams, synthesizing their diverse plans into a cohesive roadmap for a seamless launch. In addition to her strategic direction, leadership praised her agility in adapting to shifting priorities, noting her “work and commitment were vital to our success.”

Bob Witeck (Col ’74 CM) received the Arne Sorenson Vanguard Award at Out & Equal’s global summit in October 2025. Out & Equal, the world’s largest LGBTQ+ business and professional organization, presented him with their lifetime achievement honor for his work to recognize the LGBTQ+ community in every aspect of business. Witeck is the co-founder of the first gay-owned business certified by the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, and author of Business Inside Out, the first book on gay marketing.

Rita Dove, Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing, was officially inducted into the American Philosophical Society. She had been elected a member of the American Philosophical Society three decades ago, but was able to participate in person for the first time at the society’s 2025 autumn meeting. The American Philosophical Society is the oldest honorary society in North America, founded in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin. It counts among its members numerous U.S. presidents as well as Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and many other luminaries of the 18th through the 21st centuries.

Byron Dickson (Arch ’63 CM) participated in the 2025 Spirit of Virginia Award ceremony at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia, on June 10. Dickson was the project designer of the memorial, which was dedicated in 2001. In recognizing the staff and volunteers of the National D-Day Memorial Foundation, Governor Glenn Youngkin said, “Their educational programs and commitment to remembrance inspire future generations, and it’s an honor to recognize their contribution and service to Virginia and our nation with this award.”

Anant Das (Com ’19 CM) was honored as one of the recipients of the 2025 Norman Vincent Peale Award for Positive Thinking as lead executive producer and general manager of In My Own Little Corner Productions. In My Own Little Corner Productions produced both a professionally filmed musical and a documentary about the making of the aforementioned musical. The two films share the story of Broadway, TV and film actor Chryssie Whitehead as she confronts her Bipolar II diagnosis.

Michael Cascio (Col ’72) produced and co-directed a critically acclaimed documentary on the artist Edward Hopper for American Masters on PBS, the latest entry in a career that has brought Cascio four Emmys, two Oscar nominations, and a “Producer of the Year” award. His work includes award-winning documentaries such as Inside 9/11 and The 90s: The Last Great Decade? for the National Geographic Channel, Biography, Titanic: Death of a Dream and Investigative Reports for A&E, and At the Heart of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal for HBO, which received the prestigious Television Academy Honors. In addition to producing documentaries, Cascio has held executive roles at A&E, Animal Planet, the National Geographic Channel and NBC News. He was cited in Entertainment Weekly “It List” as one of the most creative people in the entertainment industry. He also was a backstage janitor at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, which he chronicled in a first-person article in the Sunday New York Times.