The 2025 Best of BU Alumni Award recipients

Each year at the Best of BU Alumni Awards, the Boston University Alumni Association (BUAA) recognizes Terriers who have demonstrated exceptional leadership in their respective fields. For their contributions, these individuals receive the Distinguished Alumni Award and Young Alumni Award—the highest honors bestowed upon alumni by the University. View the 2024 Best of BU Award recipients.

This year, at the 77th Best of BU Alumni Awards during Alumni Weekend, the BUAA will recognize six esteemed alumni. From producing beloved films and shaping the civil rights movement to advancing justice and spearheading innovations in technology and medicine, the 2025 honorees exemplify the spirit and excellence of Boston University.

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Distinguished Alumni Awards

Peter S. Del Vecho (CFA’80)

A producer at Walt Disney Animation Studios, Peter Del Vecho has produced major films including Frozen, Frozen II, The Princess and the Frog, Raya and the Last Dragon, and Wish.

After graduating from Boston University, Del Vecho worked in theatre production for more than a decade, including at the famed Guthrie theater in Minneapolis. He joined Disney in 1995, beginning in production management before becoming a producer.

Del Vecho has received several prestigious awards, including the Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature for Frozen, the Producers Guild Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures for Frozen, and the BU College of Fine Arts Distinguished Alumni Award. For his work on The Princess and the Frog, he received three Oscar® nominations, including Best Animated Feature.

Rebeca Carrillo Martinez (LAW’92, Hon.’25)

Since 2020, Rebeca Carrillo Martinez has served as chief justice of the Texas Fourth Court of Appeals, the first appellate court in the nation with an all-women bench. She was elected to the court in 2012 and reelected in 2018.

The first in her family to attend college, Martinez earned her bachelor’s degree from Southern Methodist University before completing her law degree at BU School of Law. She clerked at a prestigious Boston law firm before serving with US Magistrate Judge Eduardo de Ases in the Southern District of Texas and with Justice Federico G. Hinojosa on the Texas 13th Court of Appeals. Martinez also ran a private practice for 20 years.

Martinez has received the American Judges Association’s Harold V. Froelich Award for Judicial Courage and BU Law’s Faculty Award, and in 2021 she was named “Judge of the Year” by the State Bar of Texas Hispanic Issues Section. She currently chairs the State Bar of Texas Judicial Section and serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board for BU Law.

Reshma Kewalramani, MD, FASN (CAS, CAMED’98)

A passionate doctor, teacher, mentor, philanthropist, and STEM advocate, Dr. Reshma Kewalramani is the chief executive officer and president of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a Fortune 500 global biotechnology company.

Dr. Kewalramani trained in internal medicine and nephrology before entering the biopharmaceutical industry, where she has dedicated her career to discovering and developing new medicines. She joined Vertex in 2017, serving as senior vice president, executive vice president, and chief medical officer before becoming CEO in 2020.

Dr. Kewalramani serves on the boards of the Biomedical Science Careers Program and Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Dean’s Advisory Board. Among her many accolades, she is a recipient of the Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award, the International Institute of New England Golden Door Award, and the New England Council’s New Englander of the Year Award.

Russ Wilcox (CAS’13)

As CEO of ArtifexAI, Russ Wilcox applies AI and natural language processing to inform and transform urban planning. Throughout his career, he has led the adoption of AI and natural language processing technologies at both startups and established companies.

An expert in the responsible use of AI, Wilcox has represented the United States as a delegate, served as a data strategist for political campaigns, and advised policymakers at the state and federal levels. He has published AI insights in Forbes, delivered TEDx talks, spoken at the World Economic Forum, and lectured at UCLA and Northeastern University.

Wilcox earned his bachelor’s degree in physics with honors from BU and received the University of Michigan’s Rackham Merit Fellowship for his achievements in geophysics and inverse problems. He is a member of the American Society for AI, a national organization dedicated to advancing responsible AI.

Clarence B. Jones, Esq. (LAW’59)

Clarence B. Jones is a civil rights leader and lawyer who was the personal attorney, political advisor, and draft speechwriter for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (GRS’55, Hon.’59). Among his many achievements, Jones wrote the first draft of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech for the 1963 March on Washington. Jones also helped preserve and disseminate the handwritten pages of Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” while Dr. King was still imprisoned.

In 1967, when Jones joined the investment banking and brokerage firm of Carter, Berlind & Weill, he became the first African American named an allied member of the New York Stock Exchange. Later, he was appointed scholar-in-residence at the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University.

Jones is the coauthor of several books, including The Last of the Lions, Behind the Dream, and What Would Martin Say? In 2024, President Joe Biden awarded Jones the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.

Young Alumni Award

Hang Qin (CAS’16)

A serial entrepreneur, Hang Qin has founded several startups in education and technology. One of his companies, Banbuniuniu, uses an AI-powered education platform to help elementary students improve their mathematics performance. Qin also founded CollegeDirect, an award-winning initiative that connects students and alumni from top universities to networking and mentorship opportunities.

To help advance the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Qin created the BetterWorld Global Youth Model United Nations Conference, a gathering that engages youth from around the world. He has also grown TEDxSanya into one of Asia’s most influential TEDx communities, with videos of its speakers amassing more than 60 million views.

In 2020, CollegeDirect won the Chunhui Cup entrepreneurship competition hosted by China’s Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science and Technology. Qin also received the William B. Castetter Alumni Award of Merit from the University of Pennsylvania in 2024.