Some notable College of Humanities and Social Sciences alumni attended a special ceremony at George Mason University on Friday Oct. 5 to be recognized and honored for their achievements.
The occasion was the college’s Distinguished Alumni Reception, where 12 departments and programs recognized exemplary alumni. Those honored had been nominated by department chairs, faculty and staff, based on criteria that included professional accomplishments, awards, philanthropy, service and contributions to the college and university community.
William Carter, BA '91, government and international politics, wrote a nomination letter for news anchor Nicole Livas, BA '90, communication, who won the Distinguished Alumni Award for the Department of Communication. Carter mentioned Livas' character, traits, work on campus as a student and her tireless efforts throughout a professional career covering cities in Ohio, Rhode Island and Virginia.
"Nicole’s illuminating charisma, proactive leadership skills, and steely-graced tenacity have served her well on the airwaves," Carter said. "Those leaner years and smaller markets were not short on some of our country’s most fascinating stories; from the sad and sobering one-year anniversaries of the Virginia Tech killings and World Trade Center attacks to being one of the first journalists herself arriving at the Kennedy Compound to report on John F. Kennedy, Jr.’s death. Nicole had a job to do, help the public understand what just happened."
Each award winner was recognized with similar detail.
Jack Censer, dean of the college, spoke at the event and introduced each award-winner.
“I am very proud of the many ways our alumni make a difference at local, national and international levels every day,” he said. "They are active in their communities in research, business, the arts, government, public service, health and education."
He added, "The tremendous achievements of our alumni are a vital piece of our success as a university."
The complete list of winners is as follows:
Department of Communication
Nicole Livas, BA ‘90
Department of Economics
Nancy Pfotenhauer, MA '87
Department of English
Maria Bachman, MA ‘91
Department of History and Art History
Jessica Finnefrock, MA '00
Department of Philosophy
Ali Manouchehri, BA ‘99
Department of Psychology
Nancy Cooke, BA '81
Department of Public and International Affairs
Terri Cofer Beirne, BA '88
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Richard Walker, MA '96
Global Affairs Program
Catherine Welch, MA '11
New Century College
Jessica Zucal, BA ’01, MS ‘09
Women and Gender Studies Program
Anahit Kay Yaghoubian, BA '03
WGMU Award – Beth Kauffman Award for Creativity
Brandon Katz, Communication, ‘14
October 10, 2012