Introducing the 2024 Best of BU Alumni Award Recipients

Posted July 2024

Each year, the Boston University Alumni Association recognizes Terriers who have gone above and beyond to make a difference in their fields with Distinguished Alumni Awards and the Young Alumni Award.

Recent recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Awards include COVID vaccine developer Drew Weissman (GRS’87, CAMED’87, Hon.’23), presidential photographer Pete Souza (COM’76), and Tuskegee airman Lt. Col. Enoch Woodhouse (LAW’55). Recipients of past Young Alumni Awards have included orchestra conductor Lina González-Granados (CFA’20), state representative Andy X. Vargas (CAS’15, Pardee’15), and celebrity chef Priyanka Naik (CAS’10). This year at Boston University’s 76th Best of BU Alumni Awards—celebrated during Alumni Weekend—we will honor the accomplishments of five exceptional alumni whose work pushes boundaries of journalism, the arts, advocacy, and medicine. 

“Boston University has helped me and so many others achieve their dreams. It is truly such a privilege to be part of this amazing community of hard-working, supportive, inspiring alumni,” says Jenny Gruber (ENG’99,’99), chief of the operations branch within the Exploration Development Integration Division at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, president of the BU Alumni Association, and a past recipient of the Young Alumni Award. “On behalf of the Boston University Alumni Council, I am honored to present the Distinguished Alumni Awards and Young Alumni Award to these remarkable individuals who have contributed so much to their respective fields.”

Distinguished Alumni Awards

Uzo Aduba (CFA’05)

Uzo Aduba (CFA’05) is a three-time Emmy-winning and Tony Award–nominated actress, best known for Orange Is the New Black and Mrs. America. She recently starred in Disney Pixar’s Lightyear and earned a SAG Award nomination for her co-starring role (with Matthew Broderick) in Netflix’s limited series Painkiller.

Aduba recently launched a production company, Meynon Media, and signed a multiyear producing deal with CBS Studios. She also works actively with the charities Stand Up To Cancer and Heifer International.

Raised in Medfield, Massachusetts, Aduba received a BU scholarship as a sprinter and majored in classical voice. She discovered her love of acting while studying with Jack Spruill at the College of Fine Arts and delivered award-winning performances at the Huntington Theatre and American Repertory Theater.

She currently stars in Searchlight’s The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat.

Kate Barrand (Questrom’85)

Since 2015, Kate Barrand (Questrom’85) has served as the president and CEO of Horizons for Homeless Children. Her expertise from years of success in business and finance and her passion for creating change drive her unparalleled work to ensure children experiencing homelessness have access to the highest-quality trauma-informed early education.

As an active advocate and policy influencer, Barrand has met with legislators in the House and Senate to promote increased wages for the childcare workforce. She convenes the Boston Early Educator Group and works closely with the Mayor’s Office of Early Childhood.

Teaming up with government agencies and nonprofit partners, Barrand has most recently served as a thought leader to address the growing needs of newly arrived migrant families facing homelessness with young children.

Michelle Hurd (CFA’88)

Michelle Hurd (CFA’88) has appeared in over 200 television programs including recurring roles in Paramount+’s Star Trek: Picard, Netflix’s YOU, and Law & Order: SVU. She has appeared in several films, on Broadway, and off Broadway.

Raised in Greenwich Village by Dr. Merlyn Hurd (CFA’55) and stage and screen actor and civil rights activist Hugh Hurd, Hurd is a passionate speaker for equity for people of color working on and off screen. She was a prominent voice in the SAG/AFTRA 2023 strike, and advocates to eradicate sexual harassment and hair discrimination.

Hurd has twice been honored as a distinguished alum of BU’s College of Fine Arts, and she was recently honored with the President’s Award by SAG/AFTRA, where she is vice president of Los Angeles Local.

Daniel Levy (CAMED’80)

Dr. Daniel Levy (CAMED’80) is chief of the Population Sciences Branch at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, director of the Framingham Heart Study, and a professor of Preventive Medicine & Epidemiology at Boston University’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.

His research focuses on epidemiology, hypertension, heart disease, and heart failure, and he has led studies that have identified many of the known genes associated with hypertension.

Dr. Levy is a recipient of the American Heart Association’s Population Research Prize and Excellence Award for Hypertension Research, and a two-time recipient of the National Institutes of Health Director’s Award. For seven consecutive years, he was named by Thomson-Reuters/Clarivate Analytics as one of the world’s most highly cited scientists. In 2023, he was named an NIH distinguished investigator.

Young Alumni Award

Em Nguyen (COM’15)

Minh-Tuyen (Em) Nguyen (COM’15) is a national news reporter for ABC News in Washington, DC. She also serves as vice president of the DC chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, where she works to advance diversity, empower minorities in newsrooms, and ensure fair and accurate coverage.

As a reporter, Nguyen has covered topical issues such as immigration, politics, K–12 education, mental health, and hate crimes against racial minorities in the United States. For her on-the-ground coverage of the January 6 insurrection in Washington, DC, she was awarded the “DC Spot Award” from Charter Communications.

Nguyen previously served as a Washington correspondent for Spectrum News. She began her career as a reporter for WCCU in Champaign, Illinois, and WICS and WRSP in Springfield, Illinois.