April 4, 2012

On Saturday, April 14, the Board of Governors of the Catholic University Alumni Association will honor a group of distinguished graduates at the Alumni Awards Gala . The event will be held in the Great Room of the Edward J. Pryzbyla University Center.

The gala, hosted by the Alumni Association, will cap a weeklong celebration of the University's Founders Week , and complete its yearlong 125th anniversary celebration.

Those receiving awards include:

  • Kevin Ryan , B.A. 1989, The James Cardinal Gibbons Medal Recipient Kevin RyanA nationally and internationally recognized child advocate, Ryan is the president and CEO of Covenant House, one of the largest charities in the Americas, helping more than 50,000 homeless and trafficked children and teenagers annually in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala. He is the co-author of "Almost Here," which will be published in October 2012. The book chronicles the extraordinary true journey of six formerly homeless teenagers in the United States and Canada as they overcome abuse, violence, and heartbreak to achieve their dreams.
  • Thomas Beckett, M.E.E. 1981, Alumni Achievement Award Recipient BeckettBeckett is an independent consultant, a veteran, a retired federal executive, and a registered engineer in Virginia. His government career spanned 37 years with Naval Reactors, the joint program of the Departments of the Navy and Energy, where he had responsibility for the nuclear reactors aboard all U.S. nuclear-powered warships. He received the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award in 2002, the Catholic University Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award in 2004, and the Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 2006. He received his bachelor's degree in engineering from Duke University in 1969.
  • Ann Brogioli, B.A. 1989, Alumni Achievement Award Recipient BrigioliBrogioli has served the Washington, D.C., community since 1993 with six years in child welfare and 13 years as a social worker in the public school system. For the past 12 years she has been at Hart Middle School in Ward 8, where she is both a school social worker and a coach. In 2006, she was honored by Covenant House Washington for her outstanding service to the youth in D.C. Brogioli received the Washington, D.C., Mayor's Change Agent Award in 2009. She was a member of the CUA women's basketball team from 1985 to 1989. She received her M.S.W. from the University of Maryland at Baltimore in 1993.
  • Annette Tyree Debisette, RN, Ph.D. 1999, Alumni Achievement Award Recipient DebisetteTyree Debisette is a senior nurse officer in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, serving as the national training officer for medical device and radiological health training programs in the Office of Regulatory Affairs, Division of Human Resource Development. She served as the director for the Division of Nursing, senior adviser to the associate administrator for health professions, and chief for advanced nurse education at the Division of Nursing, Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions, Department of Health and Human Services. She received her B.S.N. and M.S. degrees in nursing from Syracuse University. Debisette has faculty appointments at CUA's School of Nursing, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Graduate School of Nursing, and Walden University School of Nursing.
  • Siobhan Fallon Hogan, M.F.A. 1985, Alumni Achievement Award Recipient FallonFallon Hogan has been seen in many films over the past 20 years. These include noteworthy character parts in films such as Men In Black, Forrest Gump, The Negotiator, Charlotte's Web, Holes, Fools Rush In, and The Bounty Hunter. Fallon Hogan's television credits have included appearances as a former cast member on Saturday Night Live, a recurring role on Seinfeld, and guest roles in 30 Rock, The Golden Girls, and Law and Order. Her stage credits include playing Phoebe in the New York Shakespeare Festival's As You Like It as well as being a member of David Mamet's Atlantic Theater Company. Currently, she can be seen in the newly released films We Need To Talk About Kevin, Another Happy Day, and Nickelodeon's Fred. Fallon Hogan received her B.A. in 1983 from LeMoyne College.
  • Joseph Houldin, M.C.R.P. 1979, Alumni Achievement Award Recipient HouldinHouldin is CEO and founder of the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center (DVIRC), an economic development organization established in 1988 to assist advanced manufacturers throughout the Philadelphia region grow business value. Houldin has led the charge to develop the area's talent pool through the Applied Engineering Technology educational program. This initiative, formed in partnership with Pennsylvania's academic, business, and government leaders, has become a national model for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. DVIRC is also piloting new services that support revenue growth for small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises. Houldin has a bachelor's degree from Villanova University.
  • Samuel Mok, M.A. 1982, Alumni Achievement Award Recipient MokMok is the managing member of Condor International Advisors, LLC, a management consulting firm that specializes in representing American companies and international clients doing business in the American market. Previously, he served as chief financial officer of the U.S. Department of Labor from March 2002 to May 2007. Before that he was CFO and comptroller of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Mok earned a B.S. degree in accounting from Fordham University. He also graduated from the U.S. Foreign Service Institute and the U.S. Army Institute of Administration at Fort Benjamin Harrison. He is a certified internal auditor, certified government financial manager, certified internal controls auditor, and served as the national president of the Association of Government Accountants.
  • Rev. James Shea, Ph.B. 1997, Ph.L. 1998, Young Alumni Merit Award Recipient SheaFather Shea was inaugurated as the sixth president of the University of Mary on Sept. 19, 2009, at the age of 34. He is the youngest college or university president in the United States. He entered the seminary for the Diocese of Bismarck, earning a bachelor's degree and a pontifical master's degree at CUA. He studied classical Greek at the University of Texas at Austin and continued at the Vatican's North American College, studying theology at the Gregorian and Lateran universities in Rome. He is an alumnus of the Institutes for Higher Education at the Graduate School of Education, Harvard University. Father Shea has worked with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity at the Gift of Peace AIDS Hospice and taught religion at two inner-city elementary schools in Washington, D.C. In Rome he served as chaplain at Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital and also at the Rome campus of the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas. Following his ordination to the priesthood in 2002, Father Shea returned to North Dakota and served several parishes as an associate pastor and pastor, while also teaching. He has served on the National Advisory Council to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Governor's Commission on Education Improvement for the State of North Dakota.
  • Joseph A. Kenny Jr., B.A. 1976, George J. Quinn, Class of 1950, Distinguished Service Award Recipient KennyKenny served on the Alumni Association's Board of Governors from 2003 to 2011, as Awards Committee cochair from 2004 to 2011, and on the Executive Committee from 2009 to 2011. Kenny has held diverse assignments at the State Department, which included working in several overseas embassies. He is currently the executive director of the State Department's Office of Medical Services. While on overseas assignments, Kenny's dedication to the Alumni Association was evident as he called in to board meetings at all hours. His enthusiasm for engaging fellow alumni in support of the University set an example for new alumni governors. He is married to Sharon Boynton Kenny, B.A. 1976, and is father of current CUA student Joseph.

MEDIA: For more information about the awardees, contact Katie Lee or Mary McCarthy in the Office of Public Affairs at 202-319-5600 or cua-public-affairs@cua.edu.

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