{"id":37199,"date":"2023-06-09T20:17:24","date_gmt":"2023-06-10T01:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/?p=37199"},"modified":"2023-06-09T20:17:24","modified_gmt":"2023-06-10T01:17:24","slug":"review-committee-recommends-alumni-for-2023-alumni-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/2023\/06\/09\/review-committee-recommends-alumni-for-2023-alumni-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Review Committee Recommends Alumni for 2023 Alumni Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Alumni Awards Review Committee has <\/span>recommended<\/span><\/a> candidates for the 2023 Alumni Awards. After reviewing many nominees, the Committee has chosen Dr. Angel A. Alvarez (\u201898) to receive the Alumni Titan Award and Elizabeth \u201cSpike\u201d Malecha (\u201890) to receive the Alumni Distinguished Leadership Award.<\/span><\/p>\n

Established in 2006, the Board of Trustees\u2019 Alumni Awards Program is intended to recognize IMSA alumni \u201cwho deliver outstanding contributions to their fields of endeavor, to IMSA, and to the citizens of Illinois, our nation and the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After nomination, alumni and their accomplishments are reviewed by the Committee. The Committee looks for alumni who have \u201cmade significant civic or community contributions\u201d or displayed \u201cextraordinary courage and selflessness under challenging circumstances.\u201d The Committee also ensures that an alum\u2019s \u201cachievement\/leadership is consistent with IMSA\u2019s mission to nurture creative, ethical, scientific minds that advance the human condition\u201d and its \u201cvision to become a recognized global leader in STEM.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When the selection process is complete, the Committee recommends an alum for each of the Alumni Awards. To officially receive their awards, nominees must confirm their acceptance and attend an IMSA assembly in October.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alumni Titan Award<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Committee has recommended Dr. Angel A. Alvarez, a class of 1998 IMSA graduate, for the Alumni Titan Award. Dr. Alvarez is currently a Research Assistant Professor of Neurology and Manager of Stem Cell Core at Northwestern University\u2019s Feinberg School of Medicine.<\/span><\/p>\n

In their recommendation, the Committee highlights Dr. Alvarez\u2019s \u201cdesire to give back and contribute to being a positive force in the lives of current and future IMSA students.\u201d As an alum, Dr. Alvarez has remained highly involved in the IMSA student experience, from advocating for \u201cequity and excellence in education,\u201d to volunteering for career panel events, to mentoring SIR students.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, Dr. Alvarez gave the 2023 IMSAloquium keynote speech. He has also participated in many of IMSA\u2019s talks with alumni, such as the Equity in STEM, Synergy between Academics, and Strategic Improvement Plan Engagement Alumni Conversations. Further, he has been a panelist for the Senior Transition Program, a member of the Admissions Review Committee, and a Parent\u2019s Association Council Speaker. As a cabinet member of the IMSA Alumni Association, Dr. Alvarez is involved in alumni affairs as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alumni Distinguished Leadership Award<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

For the Alumni Distinguished Leadership Award, the Committee has recommended class of 1990 alum Elizabeth \u201cSpike\u201d Malecha. Having graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1994, Malecha served in the US Navy on active duty until 2006 before transitioning to the Navy Reserve in 2009. <\/span>Currently<\/span><\/a>, she is assigned to the US Naval Forces Europe-Africa\/US 6th Fleet.<\/span><\/p>\n

During her service, Malecha\u2019s achievements have included becoming one of the first women to fly fighter jets and the first woman to complete <\/span>TOPGUN<\/span><\/a>, a navy program that teaches participants fighter strike techniques and certifies them to teach these techniques to their units. Malecha was also the first woman to serve as an instructor for the Strike Fighter Weapons Schools Atlantic and Pacific and to serve as an F-14 training officer.<\/span><\/p>\n

While an active member of the navy, Malecha was <\/span>involved<\/span><\/a> in the development of many training plans, which were used to prepare aircrews for deployment as a part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and other operations. As a member of the reserves, Malecha has continued her leadership in flight instruction at corporations such as Fidelity Technologies and Lockheed Martin. In her current position as Organizational Deputy Director of the US Navy Reserves, Commander of Naval Forces Europe in Naples, Italy, Malecha \u201cleads, supports, and mentors a 100-person team of Naval Reservists to supplement maritime mission operations for U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command,\u201d among other responsibilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Committee <\/span>recognizes<\/span><\/a> Malecha as an \u201cenergetic leader and self-starter, top instructor and mentor, combat-proven aviator, and builder of organizational excellence.\u201d They write that \u201cher knowledge, skills, and judgment make her a sought-after expert, partner, and trusted confidante.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Congratulations to Dr. Angel Alvarez and Elizabeth Malecha on their many accomplishments!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Alumni Awards Review Committee has recommended candidates for the 2023 Alumni Awards. After reviewing many nominees, the Committee has chosen Dr. Angel A. Alvarez (\u201898) to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":576,"featured_media":37306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1019,2724],"tags":[1209,3500,1031,4188],"coauthors":[3434],"class_list":["post-37199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-imsanews","category-news","tag-alumni","tag-award","tag-imsa","tag-titan"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/576"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37199"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37371,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37199\/revisions\/37371"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37199"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=37199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}