“Award/Recognition” Class Notes

Cassandra L. Hill (Col ’94 CM), who has served as dean of Northern Illinois University College of Law since July 2019, received the 2021 Association of American Law Schools Section Award for the Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning, and Research. The award, sometimes described as a lifetime achievement award for legal writing education, recognizes Hill for her significant contributions to the field of legal writing and research. Prior to joining NIU Law, Hill served as an administrator and faculty member at Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University. Most recently, she served as the associate dean for academic affairs. She also was appointed by the then-university president to serve on a three-member leadership team with the law school’s acting dean. In addition, she held positions as associate dean for research and faculty development and director of legal writing.

Richard “Shark” Forsten (Com ’85, Law ’88 CM) began his third five-year term on the Appoquinimink School District School Board where he has served as board president for the last six years. Shark is a partner in the Wilmington, Delaware, office of Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr, where he practices in land use, commercial real estate and litigation. He and his wife live in a 182-year old historic farmhouse south of Middletown, Delaware, and his golf handicap remains much too high.

David Meredith (Com ’03), CEO and board director of Everbridge, was awarded Best CEO by the 2020 Comparably Awards for large companies. Everbridge, Inc., the global leader in critical event management, was awarded Best Company Culture.

Everbridge CEO David Meredith was listed in the Best CEO category including honorees such as Zoom’s Eric Yuan, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Apple’s Timothy Cook, and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.  Everbridge received exceptionally high ratings from its employees including an overall A Rating for Company Culture and a CEO Rating of A+.  The awards reflect sentiment ratings of employees based on 20 core metrics (e.g., leadership, environment, compensation, team, outlook, career growth, work-life balance, and benefits.) View the full list here.  Everbridge ranked top 50 in the largest company category, including Adobe, Apple, Google, Microsoft and Zoom, for Best Company Culture.

Michael D. Huffstetler (Arch ’87) was invested in the 2021 class of the Society of American Military Engineers Academy of Fellows. The academy recognizes members who have rendered dedicated and outstanding service to the society, military engineering and the architecture, engineering and construction professions. 

J. Hagood Tighe (Col ’87 CM) was named president-elect of the South Carolina Bar. Based in Columbia, South Carolina, Tighe is a partner at Fisher Phillips and co-chair of the firm’s wage and hour practice group, In this role, Hagood will further the bar’s mission to serve more than 17,000 members and the public by advancing the legal profession through high quality education, continuous innovation and facilitating improvements in the administration of justice. He will assume the role of President of the South Carolina Bar in May 2022. 

Michael Scott Doyle (Col ’75, Grad ’81 CM) was received the highest award conferred by Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, and was inducted into the Order of Don Quijote. Doyle is a professor of Spanish in University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Department of Languages and Culture Studies. The award is conferred annually upon only 1-3 people worldwide and past honorees include renowned literary figures such as Carlos Fuentes, Carmen Laforet Fernando Arrabal. 

Robert “Bob” Rose (Com ’60) received the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award for his more than 10,000 hours of volunteer and community service work through 2020. Approved by the White House and Florida governor’s office, he was recognized at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, in April 2021. After graduating from UVA, Rose continued his education with graduate work at George Washington University. He spent more than 33 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C., in addition to positions in the steel and electronics industry. He has pursued a variety of public volunteer and community service activities over the years concerning the environment, animal welfare, education, and more. He has participated in numerous community board functions including county planning and town council positions. He has also established a Sustainable Environmental Grant Program through the Community Foundation of Sarasota, Florida, for the benefit of future generations.

Lily Hakim (Com ’08) was at the forefront of the finances for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Hakim led the financial management of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine research and development program, including clinical trials, for which emergency use authorization was received from the FDA. She worked alongside Pfizer’s senior leadership and scientists to provide for the allocation of funds necessary to meet rapidly changing estimates and needs.

As the COVID-19 vaccine R&D finance lead, Hakim monitored and facilitated rapid expenditure approvals for logistics, materials, and personnel around the world. Hakim believes that finance should be a partner to the business, not be a barrier. This included management of financial resources for the initial clinical trial of ~44,000 participants at several international sites and additional clinical trials that followed. She additionally managed the financial needs of Pfizer’s Pearl River R&D facility and related laboratories operating throughout the pandemic.

In December, Hakim was promoted and named director, executive operations working within Pfizer’s Office of the CEO. In this new role she works side-by-side Pfizer’s most senior leaders supporting strategic decisions.

Throughout her career, Hakim has deployed accounting implementations and held conversations on complex accounting matters while being commended for explaining these matters in a way that non-financial individuals can understand. She furthers her passion for the subject by teaching accounting, business writing, and public speaking in her spare time.

Hakim received her master’s degree in accountancy from the University of Virginia (COMM ’08), graduated magna cum laude from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in applied economics and management, and is a CPA licensed in New York.

Jordan Gilliam (Col ’16) was listed as a Top 40 Under 40  lawyer by National Black Lawyers. Gilliam is an attorney based in Stites & Harbison’s Lexington, Kentucky, office. He is a member of the real estate and banking service group. Gilliam assists clients with wide-ranging real estate needs, including land acquisition, zoning, development and leasing matters.

JoAnne Marie Mancini (Col ’90 CM) was awarded the 2020 Peggy O’Brien Book Prize for the best book in American Studies 2017-2019 for Art and War in the Pacific World: Making, Breaking and Taking from Anson’s Voyage to the Philippine-American War. Mancini is also the author of Pre-Modernism: Art-World Change and American Culture from the Civil War to the Armory Show and, with Keith Bresnahan, is the co-editor of Architecture and Armed Conflict: The Politics of Destruction. She lives in Dublin, Ireland.

Chris Conlan (Col ’20) founded Conlan Scientific, a fast-growing nationally recognized authority in delivering AI/ML-based financial data science solutions. The company was recognized by Clutch Research as the top artificial intelligence development services firm in the Washington D.C., region.

Diane Smith Wilkin (Col ’77) was named the 2021 Pennsylvania Art Educator from the National Art Education Association. This award, determined through a peer review of nominations, honors an outstanding member from each state or province association whose service and contribution to art education merits recognition and acclaim. Wilkin worked with the Bristol Township SD for 24 years as a high school art educator and also served her state organization in numerous positions, including president, and most recently completed three years representing 13 states as Eastern Region Vice President for NAEA. The award was presented during the [Virtual] NAEA 2021 National Convention.

Andrew G. Lee (Col ’85, Med ’89 CM)  was selected as a 2021 recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Awards established by the University of Texas Medical Branch McGovern Academy of Oslerian Medicine. The awards recognize faculty who excel in teaching students and residents in clinical settings, modeling the ideals of compassionate, scientifically sound, patient centered care, exemplified by Sir William Osler.” He writes, “I am proud to receive this award and nothing has been more challenging as an educator than teaching during a quarantine, a lockdown and a global viral pandemic.”

Kim Curtis (Col ’00 CM) was appointed to the Virginia State Historical Records Advisory Board, a gubernatorially appointed board that serves as the central advisory body for historical records planning and related projects developed and carried out by the state.