Terriers of 2024

Written by Terrier Dispatch staff | Published December 2024

What an extraordinary year 2024 has been! While much has changed, one thing remains constant: Terriers continue to uplift their communities and innovate across fields like medicine, fashion, sports, philanthropy, politics, education, and more. From making transformative gifts to winning Distinguished Alumni Awards, opening restaurants, breaking barriers for marginalized communities, and harnessing the power of AI for good—they’ve made incredible contributions and earned significant recognition for their efforts. As the year draws to a close, we’re proud to celebrate just a few of the many Terriers whose dedication and accomplishments have inspired us all.

Bean

A Terrier in spirit but not in breed, BU’s official comfort dog is a golden retriever pup named Bean. Drawing an adoring audience wherever she goes, Bean’s mission is to cheer up the BU community—and receive lots of pets while she’s at it. Bean is currently completing her training at Golden Opportunities for Independence and just celebrated her first birthday on December 6. While Bean becomes fast friends with everyone she meets, her best friend is BUPD Officer Geovanni Chevere.

Chompon Boonnak (MET’13)

Co-owner of the beloved Brookline Thai restaurant, Mahaniyom, Chompon Boonnak has carved out an impressive niche in the food service industry. He began working in local restaurants as a way to make money while completing his master’s degree, but when he began bartending what started out as a part-time job became a passion. Now, Mahaniyom is known for its tapas-style dishes and exciting craft cocktails infused with Thai flavors. Boonnak’s restaurant is a city-wide favorite, earning a rare five-star review from Boston Globe food critic Devra First and making it on the New York Times list of the “25 Best Restaurants in Boston Right Now.”

Macklin Celebrini

Exhibiting excellence and character on and off the ice, in 2024, Macklin Celebrini became the second BU freshman and youngest player ever to win the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, which recognizes outstanding collegiate hockey players. The 2024 Hobey Baker recipient, who studied at BU in the College of Arts & Sciences, shares this honor with only three other Terriers before him. Celebrini was also awarded National Rookie of the Year, First Team All-American, and Hockey East Player of the Year—just to name a few. An overall first draft pick, the Vancouver native signed with the San Jose Sharks this year and recently made Sharks history by becoming the youngest player to score a 3-point game. Celebrini’s new team is currently managed by BU Men’s Ice Hockey legend and 2023 Terrier of the Year, Mike Grier (CAS’97).

Archie Cubarrubia (Sargent’01, Wheelock’02)

Archie Cubarrubia is the deputy director of postsecondary success and pathways at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where he leads the team responsible for understanding how colleges and universities can transform themselves to improve their performance and eliminate student success gaps. Cubarrubia became a passionate student leader during his first year at BU, and it was this strong foundation that would plant the seeds for his future career in higher education. Today, Cubarrubia’s work helps remove barriers to college success for low-income and underrepresented students.

Distinguished Alumni Award recipients

Awarded each year since 1946, the Boston University Alumni Awards recognize some of the University’s most active and accomplished alumni. Read on to find out more about these distinguished Terriers.

Uzo Aduba (CFA’05)

Three-time Emmy-winning and Tony Award-nominated actor Uzo Aduba has established an incredible career as an actor and humanitarian. Known for her roles in Orange is the New Black and Lightyear, 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.

Kate Barrand (Questrom’85)

Since 2015, Kate Barrand 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.

Michelle Hurd (CFA’88)

Michelle Hurd 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. As a passionate activist, she has spoken out for equity for people of color working on and off screen, was a prominent voice in the SAG/AFTRA 2023 strike, and advocates to eliminate sexual harassment and hair discrimination.

Daniel Levy (CAMED’80)

As chief of the Population Sciences Branch at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and a professor of Preventive Medicine & Epidemiology at BU’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Dr. Daniel Levy’s teaching and research has impacted countless lives. He focuses on epidemiology, hypertension, heart disease, and heart failure, and has led studies that have identified many of the known genes associated with hypertension.

Em Nguyen (COM’15)

Em Nguyen is a national news reporter for ABC News in Washington, DC, covering issues like immigration, politics, K–12 education, mental health, and hate crimes against racial minorities in the US. 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.

Marcelo Garcia (Pardee’96)

Marcelo Garcia, an expert and grassroots organizer in digital leadership, fights against online disinformation and digital violence. Garcia’s experience creating the BU Mexican Students Association at BU and interning at the Massachusetts State House inspired him to run for a seat in the Mexican Congress, where he worked on legislation around emerging technology and public policy measures related to mental health and the COVID-19 pandemic. He went on to launch the Academia Política Digital, an online university committed to providing the public leaders of the future with the tools and knowledge necessary to spot disinformation and succeed in our evolving digital world.

President Melissa Gilliam

President Gilliam’s historic inauguration during Alumni Weekend 2024 was a marquee moment for the Terrier community. With a stellar career at the University of Chicago and her recent role as provost and executive vice president at The Ohio State University, Gilliam brings top-notch expertise in medicine, public health, and the humanities. Since July, she’s kicked off two exciting initiatives—“Boston University Arts,” aiming to make BU a leading arts hub, and “Living Our Values,” a project to align our core values with the needs of a diverse community. There’s much more to come, and we can’t wait to see the BU rise to new heights under her leadership!

Lisa Green (CAS’03)

Lisa Green’s passion for art led her to work at Sotheby’s after she graduated. When she later shifted to entrepreneurship and then private equity, her belief that “art is for everyone” stayed with her. That’s why she and her husband, Mitchell, recently created the Lisa and Mitchell Green Endowment for Humanities Faculty. Green’s gift provides benefits to the humanities faculty at the College of Arts & Sciences, especially those in the Department of History of Art & Architecture, with the goal of increasing access to art studies at BU.

Rhonda Harrison (ENG’98,’04, GRS’04)

Rhonda Harrison is an inspiration for those focused on creating more diverse STEM workplaces. She made history as the first woman and Black person to earn a PhD in bioinformatics in the country. The field of study was in its infancy when Harrison earned her doctorate. After several years in her field, she became founder and CEO of Biopharmix Consulting and currently serves as an independent diversity, equity, and inclusion speaker. She has contributed much of her knowledge to work on some of the most groundbreaking projects in bioinformatics, including the world’s first fruit fly genetics database.

Dennis Hinson (Wheelock’74)

Dennis Hinson—a deacon, a golfer, and a world traveler with three sons and nine grandkids—turned his BU education into a 30-year career as a public-school educator and administrator. Known for his leadership and camaraderie, Hinson made lifelong friends and met his wife, Bonita (Wheelock’76), at BU. That’s why it was so important to him to volunteer his time and give back to his alma mater by helping organize his class’s 50th Reunion, held over Alumni Weekend 2024. As cochair of the Class of 1974 reunion committee, Hinson encouraged his classmates to return to campus and helped fundraise for the 1974 Class Gift, demonstrating the collective impact of the class in support of future generations of BU students.

Kathy Jaunich (Wheelock’64)

A former trustee and current Wheelock Dean’s Advisory Board member, Kathy Jaunich understands the importance of early childhood education—and the impact a gift can make. This year, she and her husband, Bob, joined with other donors to endow the Lucy Wheelock Fellowship Fund, established in honor of the trailblazing educator whose name graces BU’s Wheelock College of Education and Human Development as well as former Dean David Chard, who oversaw the 2018 merger with Wheelock College. In keeping with Lucy Wheelock’s mission, the fund will provide tuition assistance to early childhood graduate students and ensure the best and brightest people have access to this critical field.

General B. Chance Saltzman (CAS’91)

General B. Chance Saltzman is chief of operations for the US Space Force, leading the newest branch of the armed forces. Established in 2019, the Space Force protects and defends American interests in, from, and to space. Saltzman’s mission is to secure the space frontier during this critical time of emerging military technology and space exploration, and he does so with a command of more than 14,000 active-duty military and civilian members, 77 spacecraft, and 6 military bases across Florida, Colorado, and California. He draws on his history degree from the College of Arts & Sciences—where he was honored this year with a CAS Distinguished Alumni Award—to meticulously document his procedures and decision making, underscoring his role as one of the people creating the foundations of this new branch of service.

Casey Soward (MET’09)

As the new president and CEO of the Boch Center, home of the Wang and Shubert Theatres, Casey Soward is shepherding a Boston arts institution. He came to the job after a long stint at the Cabot Performing Arts Center in Beverly, MA, where he raised funds to renovate the 104-year-old theatre and brought in acts like Donny Osmond, Herbie Hancock, and Elvis Costello, as well as children’s performers. Before his success at the Cabot, Soward served as director of production and performance at the BU College of Fine Arts School of Music, booking concerts and other events at venues ranging from the Tsai Performance Center to Carnegie Hall.

Mary Alice Stephenson (CGS’87, COM’90)

After spending years at the height of haute couture, including as an editor at Allure and fashion director at Harper’s Bazaar and Marie Claire, Mary Alice Stephenson kept wondering what deeper purpose she could serve. The answer was GLAM4GOOD, a nonprofit she founded that puts her fashion industry connections to good use by partnering with brands with surplus clothing and beauty products to create transformative experiences for individuals who need a hand. One example: this year, Stephenson and GLAM4GOOD worked with BU’s Newbury Center to distribute some 15,000 items of clothing and toiletries to first-generation students on campus.

Dr. Louis Sullivan (CAMED’58, HON’90)

Dr. Louis Sullivan, former US Secretary of Health and Human Services under the George H.W. Bush administration, received the inaugural Dean’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Alumni Awards Ceremony. Coming to Boston in 1954 from the heavily segregated South, Dr. Sullivan felt welcomed at BU as the only Black student in his class. He was a professor of medicine and codirector of hematology at Boston University Medical Center before serving as the founding president and dean of the new Morehouse School of Medicine. During his appointment as secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Sullivan served as co-chair of the president’s commission on HIV and aids, and subsequently as chairman of the president’s commission on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. He is currently chairman of the Sullivan Alliance to Transform the Health Professions, an organization that works to increase racial and ethnic diversity in healthcare professions in the US.

Nick Toso (CGS’04, Pardee’06)

With the creation of the app Rolli, Nick Toso changed the game for journalism. Toso spent 10 years at CNN En Español, wearing many hats and working his way up to bureau chief. During his tenure there, he noticed how challenging it was to find qualified subject-matter experts for stories under tight deadlines. He rolled up his sleeves and brought forth Rolli, an online database of vetted sources for journalists. The app includes an AI search process that empowers journalists to choose from an array of experts in a fraction of the time it might otherwise take. Journalists save time and energy, and the public gets access to reliable and trustworthy information from experts who can help them make informed decisions.