BU alumni, students, staff, and faculty have continued to make incredible achievements, even during a year filled with challenges and hardships. These Terriers have stepped up in positions of leadership, such as becoming the first woman to lead the Kennedy Space Center or chairing the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee. When a leader was needed, Terriers also created positions of influence by starting nonprofits to combat issues like racial inequality and climate-related food insecurity. And this is only the start of all that the BU community has accomplished. As we wrap up the year, here are just a handful of the incredible Terriers that highlight the resilience and spirit of Boston University.


Janet Petro (MET’88)

After 14 years of helping to commercialize NASA’s premier launch site, Janet Petro became the first woman to lead the John F. Kennedy Space Center. Petro was named the center’s 11th director this past June and hopes to continue the progress they’ve made in utilizing facilities and assets that NASA can no longer use. Read on.


Forbes 30-under-30

Five BU alumni made the 2021 Forbes “30 Under 30” List, which honors 600 trailblazers in 20 different industries.

  • In sports, Anya Packer (CGS’12, CAS’14), an executive director of the National Women’s Hockey League Players Association and former player on the Connecticut Whale women’s professional hockey team.
  • In enterprise technology, James Graham (CAS’19), founder of Community Phone, a start-up that combines landline and wireless services to create a single point of contact and bill.
  • In education, Sean Donnelly (MET’18) founded cyber-security company Resolvn after a stint in the U.S. army.
  • In consumer technology, Saniya Shah (ENG’16), who invented Pilota, an AI-powered software that predicts flight risks and helps users choose flights based on factors like safety and flexibility.
  • In enterprise technology, Eduardo Portet (ENG’18), co-creator of Index, a dashboard builder for defining and tracking business metrics, with his childhood friend Xavier Pladevall.

Read on to celebrate the achievements of these Terriers.


Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler (MED 1864)

At the height of the Civil War and at a time of great prejudice, Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first Black woman to graduate from a U.S. medical school. Following the war, Dr. Crumpler moved down to Virginia to help care for former slaves who were refused aid by white doctors. She later returned to Boston to open her own medical practice and continue her life’s work of treating illness in poor women and children. To celebrate Dr. Crumpler’s historical legacy, Melody McCloud (CAS’77, MED’81), founder and medical director of Atlanta Women’s Health Care, pushed to give Crumpler a more prominent burial than her previously unmarked grave in Hyde Park. And thanks to national fundraising efforts, both Dr. Crumpler and her husband Arthur Crumpler were given proper granite headstones. In addition, the BU School of Medicine has set up a scholarship in her name, and this past year, the City of Boston proclaimed February 8 as Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler Day. Read on.


Eric Stine (LAW’97)

A new gift from Eric Stine will be used to ensure that LGBTQIA+ students have the financial support they need to attend law school. The Eric & Neil Stine-Markman Scholarship at BU Law, funded by Stine and his husband, was just awarded to its first recipient. “Very often we still, unfortunately, live in a world where LGBTQIA+ youth don’t necessarily receive the same reception from their families that we were fortunate enough to,” Stine says. “And often that comes at the cost of the type of education that might otherwise be available to them.” Eric and Neil aren’t done yet—they are issuing a challenge to fellow Terriers to step up and help make a change. Read on.


Ivanna Solano (Wheelock’16)

Ivanna Solano is co-founder of Love Your Magic, a Boston-area organization that works with young girls and emphasizes self-advocacy, love, and sisterhood. Solano moved to Lynn, Mass. from the Dominican Republic when she was seven. Her experiences growing up pushed her to study education in college and pursue social justice causes after graduating with her Master’s from BU Wheelock. Love Your Magic was formed in 2017 because Solano wanted to have an impact on the disproportionate criminalization of Black and brown girls in schools. Read on.


Susanne Lyons (Questrom’82)

Susanne Daisley Lyons, a business executive with an MBA from the Questrom School of Business, chaired the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee this summer. For Lyons and her fellow committee members, the past three years have been wracked by a series of crises, including the discovery of sexual abuse of hundreds of female gymnasts, widespread criticism of a rule that forbade Black athletes from expressing solidarity against police brutality and oppression, and the deadliest pandemic in 100 years. Read on.


Amit Wadhwa (CAS’99)

Amit Wadhwa studied biological anthropology at CAS. Now, he combines that training with data science and public health expertise to help track climate-related food insecurity. As a Bangkok-stationed global manager at the United Nations’ World Food Programme, he monitors weather conditions in the country to anticipate climate-related disasters and help herders and others navigate them. Read on.


Rashi Khanna Wiese (CAS’06)

As the new cohost of the CBS show Lucky Dog, Rashi Khanna Wiese makes a living rescuing shelter dogs on TV alongside her husband, Eric Wiese. The two also own and operate a dog boarding and training facility, Happy Puppy L.A., and are parents to five rescues (Winston, Archy, Rupert, Enzo, and Ella) who make frequent cameos on the show. Read on.


2021 Distinguished Alumni Award Recipients

Since its inception in 1946, the Boston University Distinguished Alumni Awards have been an important tradition that celebrates some of the university’s most esteemed and accomplished alumni. The ceremony takes place each year during Alumni Weekend, and the occasion was made even more special as we were able to honor the deserving 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients live and in person. Read on to learn more about these incredible awardees.

  • Rev. Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter, Sr. (STH’68,’70,’79) was attending a play at Boston University with his wife when heard the tragic news: Martin Luther King Jr. had died. At that moment, Rev. Carter pledged to do something significant for Martin Luther King Jr. Since then, Rev. Carter has served BU as an associate dean of Marsh Chapel and currently serves as the first dean of the MLK Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College—a school he was recruited to by Dr. King himself.
  • Rear Adm. Shoshana Chatfield (Pardee’88) started her naval career at the age of 17 when she first arrived at Boston University. Since then, she has served both the Navy and her country as a helicopter pilot, professor, and commander. Now she is the first woman to ever serve as the president of the United States Naval War College.
  • Kathleen McLaughlin (ENG’87) has served as the vice president and chief sustainability officer of the Walmart Foundation since 2013. Under her leadership, the foundation has given more than a billion dollars of aid to causes that impact those in need.
  • His Excellency Tijjani Muhammad-Bande (GRS’81) is a Nigerian diplomat, scholar, and political scientist who serves as the ambassador plenipotentiary and permanent representative of Nigeria to the U.S. A true leader, Muhammad-Bande has also served as vice-chancellor and later director-general of Nigeria’s National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies.
  • A Chef and TV personality on Food Network and the Today Show, Priyanka Naik (CAS’10) recently published her debut cookbook, The Modern Tiffin: On-the-Go Vegan Dishes with a Global Flair. The self-taught vegan chef aims to bring awareness to healthier lifestyle habits while also introducing the tastes and techniques from her Southern Indian background. Naik received the 2021 Young Alumni Award this past fall. Read on.


Carmen Fields (COM’73)

Carmen Fields, who currently hosts and produces the public affairs show “Higher Ground” (WHDH-TV), was in the vanguard of Black women journalists who propelled the long, slow struggle to diversify America’s newsrooms. After graduating from BU in 1973, Fields became one of only two female Black reporters in the Boston Globe‘s newsroom. She went on to win many awards as a local television reporter and co-anchor. She was also selected for a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, a program for accomplished and promising journalists. Read on.


Ivan Schwartz (CFA’73)

Ivan Schwartz tells stories about American history through his sculptures, which stand in museums and public spaces across the nation. In December of this year, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. unveiled Schwartz’s latest work—a seven-foot-tall bronze sculpture of President John F. Kennedy (Hon.’55). The sculpture was commissioned in honor of their 50th anniversary celebration. Read on.


Drew Weissman (MED’87, GRS’87)

While the COVID-19 vaccines and mRNA technology became new to the public in 2021, Drew Weissman and his research partner, Katalin Karikó, have been studying and developing the uses of mRNA over the past two decades. Pioneers of mRNA technology, Weissman and Karikó are now being hailed for their work and most recently were awarded the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize for their groundbreaking work in medical science. Weissman was also just named as one of the 2021 Heroes of the Year for mRNA by Time Magazine. Read on.


Lisa Taddeo (GRS’17)

In the first paragraph of Lisa Taddeo’s Animal, the novel’s protagonist watches her married lover fatally shoot himself while she dines at a restaurant. It’s downhill from there for Joan, the protagonist, in the BU alum’s acclaimed fiction debut. Taddeo began Animal as part of her thesis for BU’s Creative Writing Program. The story is, in part, inspired by Taddeo’s own struggles with losing her parents and surviving a difficult pregnancy. Before this this fearless novel, Taddeo authored #1 New York Times bestseller Three Women. Read on.


Jay Winuk (COM’82)

After his brother died in the tower collapse on September 11, 2001, Jay Winuk, president of public relations firm Winuk Communications, cofounded MyGoodDeed. In 2009, the nonprofit succeeded in having September 11 federally designated as a National Day of Service and Remembrance. He discussed this year’s 20th anniversary of the attacks with Bostonia. Read on.


Seven Junior Faculty Career Development Professorships

Each year, a number of professorships are given by the Provost’s Office to promising junior faculty. The professorships give BU faculty opportunities to grow in their field and are an integral part of the BU strategic plan to support impactful research across the university. Below are the seven assistant professors honored with Career Development Professorships for 2021.

  • Chris Chao Su was made the East Asia Studies Career Development Professor, a professorship established by a Taiwan-based alumnus in 2015. Su has conducted postdoctoral research on digital media use across China, the United States, and Europe, and looks to find more similarities than differences across these countries.
  • Michael Wallace is an assistant professor of anatomy and neurobiology in the School of Medicine. Wallace was awarded the Peter Paul Career Development Professorship, established by BU trustee and board member Peter Paul (Questrom’71). As written in his nomination letter, “Mike is poised to discover exciting new targets for the treatment of depression,” through his research.
  • Abdoulaye Ndao is a College of Engineering assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering. His research in interactions between light and matter helped him become the 2021 Reidy Family Career Development Professor, established by BU trustee Richard D. Reidy (Questrom’82) and his wife, Minda G. Reidy (Questrom’82,’84).
  • Kira Goldner was awarded the Shibulal Family Career Development Professor, named for BU trustee S. D. Shibulal (MET’88). Goldner is the second tenure-track faculty member appointed to the two-year-old Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences and utilizes game theory ideas to design algorithms.
  • Eshed Ohn-Bar is an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, Eshed Ohn Bar was awarded a Peter J. Levine Career Development Professor, established by Peter J. Levine (ENG’83), for his research in autonomous and assistive robotic systems.
  • Ashok Cutkosky is also a recipient of the Peter J. Levine Career Development Professor, and his research in machine learning helps to “remove the guesswork currently required in building and training machine learning models,” according to his nomination.
  • Ana Fiszbein, a College of Arts & Sciences assistant professor of biology studies gene regulation in mammals, specifically the molecular processes behind a type of protein generation. Her work includes a $300,000 grant from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center that could yield possible breast cancer therapies.


Demir Sabanci (CAS’93)

Demir Sabanci is the founder, chairman, and president of Sedes Holding, A.S., a real estate and retail company based in Turkey. Like many, Sabanci struggled with the devastating effects that the pandemic had on his business. But he learned how to adapt and overcome his losses. His advice to others in the field? “Stay flexible and agile,” he says. “Don’t be afraid to act and make mistakes. But be sure to learn from them, so that in the next round, you will be sure to do even better.” Read on.


Leanne Yinusa-Nyahkoon (CGS’98, Sargent’01,’03,’09)

Leanne Yinusa-Nyahkoon, an occupational therapist at Boston University who has devoted her career to health disparities research, is working with the Gabby System Project on a digital health tool that provides healthcare support to Black women before contraception. “We all need to work toward creating equitable outcomes,” she said. Read on.


Matthew Levin (Questrom ’14)

Growing up near Chicago, Matthew Levin’s fondest childhood memories involve visiting different Major League Baseball stadiums with his father. All grown up now at 28, Levin still gets to watch a lot of Baseball—only now it’s from an office. Levin was recently appointed vice president/chief financial and technology officer of the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox, or the WooSox, as they are being called after relocating last year from Pawtucket, R.I. Read on.


Roseann Bongiovanni (CAS’99, SPH’01)

With COVID-19 descending last year on Chelsea, Mass., third-generation resident Roseann Bongiovanni’s big worry was how her disadvantaged neighbors could provide for themselves during two-week quarantines. Last March, with vaccines rolling out, GreenRoots, the environmental and public health advocacy group that Bongiovanni directs, sent out trusted community members as door-to-door ambassadors. They informed residents where to get vaccinated, addressed questions, booked appointments, and in some cases took people to get their shots. Read on.


Sam Weinberger (CFA’21)

If you’ve walked through Brighton, MA lately, you may have noticed something a little different about Boston University’s newest teaching hospital, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center (SEMC). We’re talking about the 5-foot-tall, 100-foot-long mural now gracing the retaining wall on Washington Street, painted by artist Sam Weinberger. The series of 18 technicolor portraits of healthcare workers is one of the longest projects Weinberger says he’s ever done—and the most colorful. “I love to use lots of color in my artwork,” Weinberger explains. “Color alone can change so much about someone’s mood—if you’re walking down the street, there’s so much difference between walking past a concrete wall versus something that’s full of blues and yellows.” Read on.


Classes of 2020 and 2021

In a time unlike any other, the Classes of 2020 and 2021 have shown their resilience in the face of great adversity. When students were sent home at the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020 undergraduates had unknowingly spent their last college days on campus in the middle of March, and rising seniors in the Class of 2021 were left wondering if a final year at BU would even be possible. Yet, through hours of virtual classes, COVID tests, quarantine, and patience, both of these groups persevered with strength and tenacity.

The Class of 2021 was able to hold an in-person ceremony, as scheduled, this past May. Although it didn’t look like past ceremonies, the class was more than worthy of praise for all their accomplishments. Completing more than a year of online classes in BU’s Learn From Anywhere format, the Class of 2021 has adapted to all challenges thrown at them with poise and spirit.

And more than a year after their original graduation was scheduled, the Class of 2020 reunited on Nickerson Field for their well-deserved commencement. On October 3, 2021, more than 1,800 grads traveled back to their alma mater for a proper celebration of all they have done.

The history-making celebrations wouldn’t have been complete without the BU Alumni Association’s traditional “Step on the Seal” event, where recent graduates from all over the world got their photos taken atop the BU seal. It was one of the most eagerly anticipated events—more than a year in the making—but the Classes of 2020 and 2021 finally had their day in the sun on Marsh Plaza.