2023 Alumni Celebration
The UC Alumni Association annually celebrates the excellence throughout our alumni family by bestowing its top awards on a select group of Bearcats. For all they do to serve their university, their communities and their fields of endeavor, they aren’t just exceptional alumni — they are Boldly Defining Next! And for 2023, we honored them through a new community art project.
The group is headlined by William Howard Taft Medal recipient Todd C. DeGarmo, a 1982 graduate of UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. DeGarmo is renowned in the architecture world for his sustainable designs, his innovative problem-solving abilities that serve both practical and aesthetic needs, and his belief in the transformative power of design to lift the trajectories of individuals and communities alike.
The mural artwork was unveiled during Alumni Week and will remain on display through March 2024. UCAA commissioned Jenny Roesel Ustick, an associate professor of practice in the School of Art within UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, and a 2005 DAAP graduate, to design and illustrate the project, which was painted on the side of a building at 1430 Vine Street in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.
Todd C. DeGarmo
DAAP '82
William Howard Taft Medal for Notable Achievement
This award is given to an alumnus of the University of Cincinnati solely on the basis of notable achievement in his or her field. The Taft Medal differs from the Robert E. Dobbs Distinguished Service Award in that it is not restricted to service to the university. The award is in honor and memory of William Howard Taft, Law 1880, Hon ’25, twenty-seventh president of the United States and tenth chief justice.
To help celebrate this honor, please consider making a gift to the Todd DeGarmo Scholarship Fund which was established to provide support for a full-time DAAP student in the School of Architecture and Interior Design.
Laurence F. Jones III
Bus '00
Robert E. Dobbs Distinguished Service Award
The Robert E. Dobbs Distinguished Service Award recognizes alumni who have rendered outstanding, faithful and selfless service to their alma mater.
To help celebrate this honor, please consider making a gift to The Laurence and Rebecka Jones Business Fellows Annual Scholarship Fund which provides an annual scholarship to a current student within the Carl H. Lindner College of Business-Business Fellows program.
Janice G. Hutchinson, MD
Med '73
Marian A. Spencer Mosaic Award
The Marian A. Spencer Mosaic Award is presented to an alumnus/alumna whose leadership enhances our shared community through cultivating collaboration, fostering inclusiveness, championing the cause of the underrepresented, and promoting equity and opportunity for all.
To help celebrate this honor, please consider making a gift to the Lucy Oxley, MD African American Medical Student Scholarship Endowment which supports African American students enrolled in the UC College of Medicine.
Christie Bryant Kuhns
A&S ’01, Law ’06
Jeffrey Hurwitz Young Alumni Outstanding Achievement Award
This award is given to a UC graduate on the basis of significant professional achievement in his or her field of endeavor, and continued service and involvement with the university and community. This award is in honor and memory of Jeffrey Hurwitz, BBA ’72, MBA ’73, former president of the UC Alumni Association’s Board of Governors.
Outstanding Alumni Awards
As part of the annual UC Alumni Celebration, we honor a select group of Bearcats representing each of the university’s 13 colleges, as well as the unique training ground of UC Athletics, with the Outstanding Alumni Awards.
Shakila T. Ahmad '82
College of Arts and Sciences
Jason N. Asic '07
College of Allied Health Sciences
John C. Drach, PhD, Phar '61, A&S '63, '66
James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy
Annette N. Echikunwoke,
A&S '18, Bus '19
UC Athletics
Clyde E. Henderson, MD '77
College of Medicine
Chelsie Hornsby '03
UC Clermont College
Joseph (Joe) King, Jr., PhD '82
College of Education, Criminal Justice, & Human Services
Doloris F. Learmonth, Esq., A&S '70, Law '78, Hon '19
College of Law
Madeleine (Mimi) T. Martin, EdD, Nur '68, '74, CECH '82
College of Nursing
James (Jim) B. Semmelman '76
College-Conservatory of Music
Frederick (Fritz) R. Steiner, PhD '72, '75
College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning
Michael D. Valentine '73
College of Engineering and Applied Science
Diane M. White, UCBA '96, Bus '97
UC Blue Ash College
Eku Williams '00
Carl H. Lindner College of Business
Thank you to our Sponsors
The Artist
Nicole Trimble, DAAP ’13, is an assistant professor of Electronic Media Communications at UC Blue Ash College and co-founder of Bright Wall Collective, a southwest Ohio-based mural and design studio. Her work has been exhibited on and in buildings in the region, in galleries throughout the U.S., and in many publications in the art world.