A celebration honoring the career achievements of six distinguished graduates will kick off this year’s GW Alumni Weekend, which starts on Oct. 27. The four-day extravaganza will continue through Oct. 30 with more than 60 events that include a concert with a ’90s cover band, the annual Taste of GW food festival, reunions celebrations for classes that end in 1 or 6, museum tours and more.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Awards, the highest form of recognition given annually by the university and the George Washington Alumni Association (GWAA) to a graduate. The six 2016 recipients of the award are:
• Corinne Ball, J.D. ’78 - Partner at Jones Day: Ms. Ball is co-head of Jones Day’s New York Office's Business Restructuring & Reorganization Practice and leads the firm's European Distress Investing Initiative. Her 30 years of experience include leading a team of attorneys representing Chrysler with its successful chapter 11 reorganization. She is also director of the American College of Bankruptcy and the American Bankruptcy Institute.
• Andre Nahmias, M.D. ’57 - Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health at Emory University: Dr. Nahmias joined Emory University in 1964, rising to become professor of pediatrics. He founded the International Interdisciplinary AIDS Foundation in Geneva in 1984 and was a consultant to many U.S. and international organizations.
• Baroness Joanna Shields, MBA ’87 - UK Minister for Internet Safety & Security: Baroness Shields is a technology industry veteran and parliamentarian currently serving as the UK Minister for Internet Safety & Security and a life peer in the House of Lords. She was previously Digital Economy Adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron & Chair of TechCityUK. She started her 25-year career in Silicon Valley and helped build world leading companies: EFI, RealNetworks, Google, Bebo, Aol & Facebook. In 2014, she founded WeProtect.org, a global initiative uniting 63 governments, NGOs & industry to protect children from sexual abuse & exploitation online. She received an honorary degree from GW last May.
• Daniel Weiss, B.A. ’79 - President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art: As the fifth president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dr. Weiss is responsible for all day-to-day operations of the institution, including oversight of 1,500 employees in all areas of museum administration. Previously, Dr. Weiss served as president of Haverford College and Lafayette College and dean of the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts & Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University.
• Lt. General Nadja West, M.D. ’88 – 44th Surgeon General of the United States Army and Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Command: Dr. West has served in a variety of leadership positions that span the globe and has commanded at the Army Community Hospital, Army Medical Center and Regional Medical Command levels. Before being named surgeon general, she served as the U.S. Joint Staff surgeon.
• Hussain Nadim, B.A. ’10 - Founding Director of Peace & Development Unit, Ministry of Planning, Development & Reforms of Government of Pakistan: Named a Forbes 30 Under 30 Global Leader in Law and Policy for his work, Mr. Nadim is recognized as one of the leading experts on security and defense. He has also served as a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., and an adjunct fellow at the International Center for Study of Radicalization (ICSR) at King's College London. Mr. Nadim will be receiving the Recent Alumni Achievement Award, given to graduates of the last 10 years who have attained notable achievements in their field.
“GW Alumni Weekend is the biggest opportunity each year for our graduates to connect back to their alma mater, and with one another,” said Jeremy Gosbee, B.A. ’98, M.B.A. ’02, president of the GW Alumni Association. “I can think of no better opportunity to also honor the achievements of these six GW graduates, who stand as shining examples of how our 275,000 alumni are making an impact around the world.”
Past recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award include NBA champion Arnold “Red” Auerbach, B.S. ’40, M.A. ’41; Nobel Prize winner Julius Axelrod, Ph.D. ’55; and former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, M.B.A. ’71.
Alumni Weekend will continue after the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Awards, with more than thousands of people expected to attend. Last fall, more than 2,000 graduates return to campus for Alumni Weekend.