2007 Honorees

Bryan Monroe, BA 1987, School of Communications, Division of Social Sciences

President of the National Association of Black Journalists, Bryan Monroe is currently VP and Editorial Director for Ebony and Jet Magazines. His 16 year career with Knight Ridder newspapers included leadership during Hurricane Katrina, enabling the Biloxi paper to publish continuously through the storm and its aftermath. The paper received the 2006 Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Public Service, and Monroe has received multiple honors for his abundant community contributions. He has been recognized by Presstime Magazine as a top American journalist under 40 and named as one of the country’s “Media Elite” by Mediaweek.  As an active alumnus of the School of Communications, Monroe has mentored students and led classes as well as provided invaluable advice on diversity issues in journalism.

Tiina Nunnally, Graduate Studies 1977-1980, Department of Scandinavian Studies,
Division of Humanities

Tiina Nunnally, an independent scholar, freelance translator and novelist, is widely regarded as the premier translator of Nordic fiction into English.  Her long list of awards, including the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, are reflective of her reputation for translations that are poetic, comprehensive and successful in capturing the essence of the original Danish, Swedish or Norwegian. In 2004 Nunnally received an NEA Translation Fellowship and she continues to receive frequent invitations for lectures and readings. Her popular translation workshops in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington offer many students a fascinating insight into the art of literary translation.

Sharon Ramey, PhD 1974, Department of Psychology ,Division of Natural Sciences

Sharon Ramey, Professor of Child and Family Studies at Georgetown University and founding director of the Georgetown Center on Health and Education, began her lifelong commitment to disabled and disadvantaged people as a graduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences. Her subsequent research has received international attention and provided scientific support for revamping service delivery systems to mentally retarded and disabled populations.  For more than 30 years, she has been a pivotal figure in the study of child development, working on issues such as the sociology and economics of poverty, juvenile drug addiction, mental retardation and childhood disability as they impact health and human services. Her life has been dedicated to helping disadvantaged people realize their best possible intellectual, physical and personal lives.

Marcus Tsutakawa, BA 1979 & MA 1985, School of Music, Division of Arts

Marcus Tsutakawa’s career as an artist and educator reflects a commitment to excellence, as well as his family’s multigenerational commitment to community and active citizenship. Currently Director of the National Award-winning Garfield High School Orchestra, “Tsut’s” impact on students reaches beyond the practice room and concert stage.  As a former student (now an orchestra director) phrased it, “…Using classical music, we not only learned how to become musicians but ultimately to be better citizens…Through music he taught us how to work with other people, to really see how a whole is greater than the sum of its parts, in general how music imitates life.” Tsutakawa’s accomplishments are emblematic of the best possible fusion in the artist/teacher, and deeply reflective of the values inherent in a liberal arts education.