“Award/Recognition” Class Notes

Peter Mendelson (Col ’89) has been selected to represent Connecticut in VSCO’s “The Fifty,” a nationwide photography project featuring one photographer from each state. His photograph, “Boat Work,” will be displayed on a billboard in Connecticut as part of the initiative. Photographed at a marina in Norwalk, Connecticut, the image is part of Mendelson’s New England Narratives series, which explores the region’s distinctive places, traditions and everyday details. Mendelson’s work has been exhibited in galleries and art shows and recognized in international photography competitions.

Bruce H. Russell II (Col ’97 CM) was elected president of Alpha Delta Phi international fraternity at its 194th convention in Vancouver. Founded in 1832, Alpha Delta Phi encompasses 33 active chapters across North America has a total of over 56,000 initiated brothers. Russell is also the 2026–2027 president-elect of the Virginia State Bar. He will be the first attorney from west of Roanoke to hold the position in nearly 30 years, bringing a vital regional perspective as he champions efforts to increase legal access across Virginia.

He lives in Abingdon with his wife, Shannon, and their younger son. His older son, Clark Russell (Col ’30), is a first-year at UVA.

Carla Jay Harris (Com ’02) been selected for two prestigious artist fellowships for 2026–2027: the California Arts Council Mid-Career Artist Fellowship and the California Community Foundation Fellowship for Visual Artists. As a multidisciplinary visual artist working across photography, collage, drawing and mixed media, Harris honored to receive this recognition and support as she continues to develop her artistic practice.

David Susman (Col ’81 CM) has been elected a fellow of the American Psychological Association, “in recognition of outstanding and unusual contributions to the science and profession of psychology.” Susman, a clinical psychologist, currently serves as executive advisor for clinical services at the Kentucky Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities, in Frankfort, Kentucky.

Joel Curtis (Col ’72 CM) received the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Distinguished Career Award for his 43 years with the National Weather Service. Curtis, who has spent most of his career in Alaska, specializes in weather forecasting for public warnings as well as routine forecasts for marine, aviation, fire weather and other natural hazards. He has been deployed for numerous woodland fires, emergency responses and HAZMAT incidents, including the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Tom Henske (Col ’94) has returned to Grounds as a senior lecturer, teaching LASE 2559: Hoos Money Smart, a personal finance class. A former Virginia soccer player and recipient of the Ernest H. Ern Distinguished Student Award, Henske has spent several years working with UVA Athletics teams to help student-athletes build financial literacy and confidence as they navigate college, NIL opportunities and life beyond athletics.

Kyle Adams (Engr ’07) was named Barnhart Crane & Rigging’s Innovator of the Year, an annual award recognizing a sales professional who demonstrates exceptional innovation and continuous improvement. Selected from approximately 275 sales professionals across the company, the award recognizes achievements in developing new accounts and markets, growing strategic business, and introducing innovative approaches that make the organization better.

During his career at Barnhart, Adams has also had three projects submitted to the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) Job of the Year competition, which recognizes outstanding crane and rigging projects from companies across the industry. Two of those projects received Job of the Year awards.

Adams has been with Barnhart since April 2012. He and his wife, Ashley, recently celebrated 15 years of marriage and live in Fairhope, Alabama, with their five children.

Clark Fownes MacKenzie (Com ’63 CM) was inducted into the Maryland State Golf Association Hall of Fame. MacKenzie is a lifelong steward of amateur golf who has held various leadership roles in the United States Seniors’ Golf Association. He has competed in numerous senior championships in the U.S. and internationally. In 2015, he received the USSGA’s William C. Campbell Award, the organization’s highest honor. During his days as a student at UVA, he played on the Varsity golf team for three years—including two years as captain—and was elected president of the V Club, among other honors and involvements.

Scott Douglas Gerber (Law ’86, Grad ’92) received a Florida Author and Publishers Association President’s Book Award in the thriller/horror category for his most recent novel, The Trafficker.

Richard Yeager (Arch ’87 CM) was elected president of the Association of University Architects (AUA) in June. Yeager is the director of planning and facilities information systems at University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

Paulette Jones Morant (Col ’74 CM) was featured as artist of the month in a solo photography exhibition in March at the Nelson Gallery in Lexington, Virginia. The collection, Contemplation, included architectural designs, seascapes, skyscapes and portraits. One of the portraits, “Mamacita,” won second place in the Nelson Gallery’s 2026 Juneteenth show.

Gregory C. Harrell (Col ’95 CM) was sworn in as president of the Florida Court Clerks & Comptrollers for 2026-2027 on June 24, 2026, at the association’s annual summer conference in Orlando, Florida.

Jeanne M. (Lyons) Liedtka (Col ’91, Law ’94 CM) received Villanova University’s 2026 Lindback Award, which was presented at Villanova’s Commencement ceremony. Her husband, Stephen L. Liedtka (Com ’91, ’93 CM), was honored with the same award in 2022, making them the first Villanova couple to both receive this distinction. Jeanne and Stephen have also been selected by graduating seniors to deliver the university’s “Last Lecture,” in 2025 and 2022, respectively.

Lauren McQuistion (Arch ’11) has been awarded a 2026 Graham Foundation Grant to Individuals to support “Skyline: Rereading an Architectural Tabloid,” a collaborative research project with colleagues at the University of Minnesota and Texas Tech Univesrity. Their work examines the publication Skyline and the architectural culture it helped shape in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Their project was selected from more than 600 applications. McQuistion has just completed her first year as a tenure-track assistant professor of architecture at the University of New Mexico.

Thomas Gorman (Col ’82 CM) recently celebrated his 40th year of continuous, full-time employment.

Allen Groves (Law ’90 CM) received the Chancellor’s Medal for his transformative contributions to the student experience at Syracuse University while serving as senior vice president and chief student experience officer. The Chancellor’s Medal is Syracuse University’s highest honor. Groves has been in the role since 2021.

Jill Corso McNabb (Col ’90, Darden ’99 CM) was awarded honorary membership in the American Pharmacists Association. This honor, one of the organization’s highest recognitions, celebrates individuals whose work has made a significant impact on public health and the pharmacy profession. McNabb, a longtime technology leader at the intersection of pharmacy and innovation, has spent more than two decades shaping product strategy, data-driven solutions and startup growth across the healthcare landscape. She has been a founding team member of several pharmacy-focused ventures, including Pharmacy Profiles, Synerio, and RxAlly, helping bring forward new tools that support pharmacists and improve patient care. Beyond her work in pharmacy technology, McNabb is a committed STEM education advocate and volunteer leader helping to build the new Northern Virginia Science Center.

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 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 public health emergency 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 U.K. 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 from the city’s current mayor. 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.

Charles Napier (Col ’81 CM) came out of semi-retirement last year to serve as director for the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority. His team was honored to receive the 2024 Governor’s Award for Excellence in recognition of outstanding public service to Pennsylvania.

Gabrielle Rhodes Crawford (Col ’00 CM) was named Advanced Practice Provider of the Year for the Centra Medical Group Sept. 25. This recognition honors one advanced practice provider who truly exemplifies excellence in patient care, leadership and teamwork. Crawford has worked in the general surgery and trauma department at Centra Health in Lynchburg since 2015 and currently serves as the lead advanced practice provider. After graduating from UVA, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Lynchburg College, now University of Lynchburg, and an Master of Science in Nursing from James Madison University. She and her husband, Kenneth Crawford (Col ’01 CM) are the proud parents of two sons, Kenneth II and Kingston, and a daughter, Austin. Kenneth II is a senior at Appalachian State University.

Myron Santos (Col ’01 CM) has been accepted as a member of American Cinema Editors, an honorary society that celebrates excellence within the art of motion picture editing, promotes mutual respect among peers and supports diversity and inclusion within the profession. Myron, his wife and their 10-year-old daughter live in Los Angeles. He is also a member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and is on the board of the UVA Entertainment Club of Los Angeles.

Andrew G. Lee (Col ’85, Med ’89 CM) is proud to receive The 2025 UVA Walter Reed Distinguished Achievement Award. The award recognizes professional accomplishments, outstanding innovation and exemplary leadership in the field of medicine.

Sara A. Austin (Col ’87 CM) was granted fellowship in the College of Community Association Lawyers (CCAL), which provides a forum for the exchange of information among experienced legal professionals working for the advancement of community association governance. Austin, who is the founder of Austin Law Firm, earned this national recognition due to her outstanding leadership and commitment to the advancement of the legal principles and practical tools necessary for community associations to thrive. Among other professional positions, Austin is a past president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

Spencer Francis (Engr ’03 CM) celebrated 22 years with Bowman Consulting Group (NASDAQ: BWMN) and commemorated Bowman’s 30th anniversary by ringing the NASDAQ opening bell with other Bowman leaders. Francis has helped grow Bowman from a regional Washington, D.C.-based engineering firm into one of the top multidisciplinary design firms in the United States. Francis is currently executive vice president and division manager at Bowman. He and his wife, Kirsten (Dodd) Francis (Col ’03 CM) live in Richmond with their three daughters.

Deborah E. Sheetenhelm Hammond (Arch ’82 CM) has been selected as the regent of the William Henshaw chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Hammond traces her ancestry to Peter Mantz of Frederick, who aided independence efforts in the Revolutionary War. She has also recently become a member of the Captain James Gibson chapter of the United States Daughters of 1812, being descended from soldiers who fought in the War of 1812.

Hammond continues her second career as a novelist, with a new novel, Death in a Perfect Village, due in the autumn. Her previous novel, Death in Lewes, is a murder mystery set in Lewes, Delaware. All of her novels are available on Amazon.com in both Kindle and paperback versions.

Trey Cox (Law ’95) has been named a finalist for Texas Lawyer’s Texas Lawyer of the Year. So far in 2025, he has helped secure over $3 billion in verdicts and dismissals on behalf of clients. On the plaintiff side, he led two high-profile trial wins: a $667 million jury verdict for Energy Transfer against Greenpeace and a $46 million compensatory award for Gala Capital Partners. On the defense side, Cox obtained two major summary judgment victories, defeating over $2 billion in securities claims against Energy Transfer and securing dismissal of $400 million in fraud claims against GE Vernova.