The TU Alumni Association honored eight exceptional alumni May 24 at the Distinguished Alumni and Deans’ Recognition Awards Banquet.
2018 award recipients
The Deans’ Recognition Awards honor alumni from each college.
| 1 Distinguished Alumni Award
Michael C. Ford ’80, vice president of global diversity and inclusion for the Boeing Company, was named a Top Executive in Diversity by Black Enterprise magazine in 2011 and 2016. He is a member of the Executive Leadership Council and the Council of Global Diversity and Inclusion Executives for the Conference Board.
| 2 Distinguished Young Alumni Award
Patrick McAvinue ’11 is regarded as one of the most innovative fiddlers in the industry. He received the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Fiddle Player of the Year in 2017, in addition to its 2015 Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year award—an honor reserved for emerging virtuosic artists.
| 3 College of Business and Economics
Alla R. Kashlinskaya ’96 is a director with KPMG LLP, the company she has worked for since graduating. She has been on the TU Accounting Advisory Board for over 15 years and has previously been named TU Department of Accounting Outstanding Alumna
| 4 College of Education
A. Karen Blair ’74 spent 42 years committed to Towson University and its students. She served in 11 different positions across four decades, including assistant dean of the College of Education and director of the M.Ed. in Reading Education program.
| 5 College of Fine Arts and Communication
Judith Dolan ’70 has designed costumes for productions in numerous companies in the U.S. and abroad. She received a 1997 Tony Award and a 1995 Drama Desk nomination for her work. In 2014, she was awarded the Ruth Morley Design Award for her career accomplishments in leadership and design.
| 6 College of Health Professions
Rear Adm. Susan Orsega ’90, chief nurse officer, leads the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Nurse Professional Affairs. She received the NIH Director’s Award in 2002 and the distinguished Uniformed Services University Graduate School of Nursing Alumni of the Year award in 2015.
| 7 College of Liberal Arts
Ray Brusca ’80 is a nationally recognized expert in human resources, employee benefits, executive compensation and mergers and acquisitions. He is the chief human resources officer at Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd., a $6 billion global manufacturer of power tools, hand tools, outdoor equipment and floor care products.
| 8 Jess & Mildred Fisher College of Science and Mathematics
Georgeine Smith ’86 is a surgical physician assistant at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, which has repeatedly been listed in the top 10 hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. She has evaluated and procured more than 1,200 livers and kidneys for transplant in addition to over 100 hearts and lungs for research.
