The Alumni Office at the School of Information Studies (iSchool) held its 2nd Annual Alumni Awards & Recognition Program event during Syracuse University’s Orange Central alumni weekend festivities on Friday afternoon.
The Awards & Recognition Program serves to highlight members of the iSchool community and showcase their contributions and talents. This year’s event recognized 11 Syracuse University alumni, each selected for their involvement in their community or career field, and their close ties with the iSchool.
“We started the program last year as a way to highlight the great work of our alumni,” said Kim Pietro, Assistant Dean for Advancement at the iSchool. “Syracuse alumni are doing wonderful work for their community, for their industry, and for the iSchool’s current students. They’re involved with us in many different ways; they advise and mentor our students, recruit them for jobs and internships and host them for company visits, and this is a good way to recognize what they give back.”
This year, the following alumni were recognized:
Dean’s Award – The Rosen Family
The Dean’s Award is given to individuals who have demonstrated exemplary service to the iSchool or University. Awardees have achieved broad recognition for extraordinary creativity, advancement of knowledge or technology, performance, or the advancement of mankind through application of their Syracuse education.
Alice Rosen ’83, Bruce Rosen ’83, and David Rosen ’11, G’12 have been steadfast supporters of Syracuse University, and in particular the iSchool. Alice serves on the Board of Advisors at the School of Education, Bruce is a board member for Syracuse University Hillel, and David has served in several roles with Big Apple Orange, the Syracuse University Alumni Association in New York City, and is currently serving on the Generation Orange Leadership Committee.
Bridge to Success Alumni Award
Recognizes individuals that have excelled early in their careers and have shown potential for continued success. These awardees have received recognition as emerging leaders through their professional and community achievements, and serve as outstanding role models for current and future iSchool students.
Evin Robinson ’12 G’14and Jessica Santana ’11 G’13 are co-founders of New York On Tech, a non-profit organization with a mission to prepare the next generation of technology leaders emerging from New York City by creating pathways for students to thrive in technology and innovation.
Innovation Alumni Award
This award recognizes an individual that has shown creative and innovative ways to improve a process or business model unique to their organization. This may be technology, customer or process driven.
Kim Rose G’99 serves as Chief Information Officer for Crouse Hospital in Syracuse. In her role as CIO, she works with senior leadership to provide vision and strategic direction in the continued development and implementation of Crouse’s system-wide health information technology operations, as well as developing capability to enhance information sharing between Crouse and community physicians.
Impact of the Year Award
This award celebrates an individual who has made a significant contribution to the iSchool in the past year. The contribution may be through volunteer activities with the iSchool, the Alumni Office, partnership with faculty, or other form of engagement.
Kenny Rosenblatt ’96 is President and Co-Founder of Arkadium, a provider of interactive website content, such as data visualizations, games, quizzes, and polls, to digital publishers and newspapers. Rosenblatt has hosted Syracuse University students at his company’s headquarters in New York City on numerous occasions, and has been an enthusiastic alumni participant in iSchool programs, including the EntreTechNYC immersion trip.
Outstanding Alumni Service Award
This award recognizes the service of volunteers who have had a major impact on the University, its schools, colleges, departments, or faculty, or to the iSchool Alumni Office.
Joshua Frost ’08, Michael Hoffman ’93, Ben Romy ’12, and Marc Squire ’11, all employees of Major League Baseball’s Advanced Media division, have worked closely with iSchool staff and faculty to plan and host the annual MLB Challenge. This contest allows current students to tackle real-world problems in the sports and technology industry, pitch their ideas to current MLB.com employees, and apply their coursework to a business issue.