Distinguished Alumni Awards
The NYU Alumni Association is proud to recognize outstanding graduates for their exceptional personal and professional achievements. Awardees are selected through a comprehensive nomination and evaluation process by the Awards Committee of the NYUAA Board. Their contributions to their communities and around the world exemplify NYU’s spirit. Each spring, honorees are recognized at the NYU Alumni Awards luncheon in New York City.
Recent Honorees
These honorees exemplify NYU's spirit through their contributions to their communities and around the world.
-
Christy Turlington Burns
GAL ’99
Founder and President, Every Mother Counts
Christy Turlington Burns is the founder and president of Every Mother Counts (EMC), an organization that has invested more than $27 million in programs focused on making pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother, everywhere.
-
Eduardo D. Rodriguez
DEN ’92
MD, DDS
Eduardo D. Rodriguez, MD, DDS, serves as the Helen L. Kimmel Professor of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and as Chair of the Hansjörg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery at NYU Langone, specializing in reconstructive and cosmetic surgery.
-
Quemuel Arroyo
CAS ’12, WAG ’20
Chief Accessibility Officer and Senior Advisor to the Chairman and CEO, MTA
Quemuel “Q” Arroyo joined the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in 2021 as the organization's first agency-wide Chief Accessibility Officer. In this capacity, Arroyo leads the implementation of policies, initiatives, and programs that reimagine and advance accessibility throughout the organization.
-
Jennifer Curry
WAG ’07, STEINHARDT '14
Founder, Change Impact
Jennifer Curry, EdD, founded Change Impact in 2017 to help social impact organizations achieve results and advance equity.
-
Rabbi Alvin Kass
STEINHARDT ’76
Chief Chaplain, NYPD
Chief Chaplain Rabbi Dr. Alvin Kass was appointed to the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in 1966, making him the most tenured chaplain in the NYPD.
Award Categories
These four awards are presented annually to alumni who embody the spirit and distinction that defines NYU.
Presented to a respected and distinguished public figure of recognized stature or identity who has clearly demonstrated a record of outstanding public service in their professional, vocational, social, and cultural endeavors, and who, by receiving this award, brings honor to the University.

Presented to a respected and distinguished graduate of any school, college, or division of NYU who has demonstrated extraordinary achievement and/or service in their professional, vocational, social, and cultural endeavors, and who deserves acknowledgement as embodying the spirit of distinction that brings pride to the University.

The Distinguished Young Alumnus award is presented to an outstanding graduate of any school, college, or division of NYU who is under the age of 40. This alumnus/a has demonstrated sustained excellence in their professional, vocational, social, and cultural endeavors, and who deserves acknowledgement as embodying the spirit of distinction that brings pride to the University.

From time to time, the President of the University bestows upon an outstanding alumnus/a the President’s Alumni Achievement Award in recognition of exemplary accomplishment in the professional sector, as well as for unwavering dedication and commitment to bettering the life of the University community.
When this award is presented, it is given during the NYU Alumni Association’s Annual Meeting, which is held at the end of each academic year.

Distinguished Alumni
Awards Directory
View past NYUAA award honorees from 2014 to today. Honorees prior from 2013 and earlier are available in a list below. To reset filters, scroll back to the default title (i.e., if using the Industry filter, navigate back to the word Industry at the top of the filter.)
-
Distinguished Alumni Award
GSAS ’90
2015
Arts, Culture, and Entertainment
-
Distinguished Alumni Award
STERN ’76
2015
Finance
-
Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service
STEINHARDT ’65
2015
Education
-
Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service
WSC ’30
2015
-
Distinguished Young Alumni Award
GSAS ’05
2015
Journalism
-
Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service
2016
Education
-
Distinguished Alumni Award
LAW ’77
2016
Real Estate
-
Distinguished Alumni Award
GSM '79
2016
Public Service
-
Distinguished Young Alumni Award
STEINHARDT ’07
2016
Arts, Culture, and Entertainment
-
Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service
LAW ’55
2017
Law
-
Distinguished Alumni Award
STEINHARDT ’77, HON ’09
2017
Arts, Culture, and Entertainment
-
Distinguished Young Alumni Award
TSOA ’09
2017
Arts, Culture, and Entertainment
-
Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service
GSAS ’78, ’82, MED ’81
2018
STEM
-
Distinguished Alumni Award
LAW ’96
2018
Public Service
-
Distinguished Alumni Award
STERN ’88
2018
Healthcare
-
Distinguished Young Alumni Award
TSOA ’04, MEYERS ’09
2018
Healthcare
-
Distinguished Young Alumni Award
TSOA ’09
2018
Arts, Culture, and Entertainment
-
Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service
LAW '97
2019
Public Service
-
Distinguished Alumni Award
CAS ’00
2019
STEM
-
Distinguished Alumni Award
ARTS ’55
2019
Arts, Culture, and Entertainment
-
Distinguished Young Alumni Award
STEINHARDT ’07
2019
Arts, Culture, and Entertainment
-
Distinguished Young Alumni Award
STEINHARDT ’07
2019
Arts, Culture, and Entertainment
-
Distinguished Young Alumni Award
CAS ’13
2019
Public Service
-
Distinguished Young Alumni Award
CAS ’05, CIMS ’06
2014
-
Distinguished Alumni Award
LAW ’98
2014
Finance
-
Distinguished Alumni Award
MEYERS ’61, HON ’96
2014
Non-Profit
-
Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service
CIMS ’57
2014
Public Service
-
Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service
LAW ’75
2020/2021
Public Service
-
Distinguished Alumni Award
GAL ’91
2020/2021
Arts, Culture, and Entertainment
-
Distinguished Young Alumni Award
GLS ’12
2020/2021
Finance
-
Distinguished Young Alumni Award
CAS ’07
2020/2021
Public Service
-
Distinguished Alumni Award
GAL '99
2023
Arts, Culture, and Entertainment
-
Distinguished Alumni Award
DEN '92
2023
Healthcare
-
Distinguished Alumni Award
CAS '12, WAG '20
2023
Public Service
-
Distinguished Young Alumni Award
WAG '07, STEINHARDT '14
2023
Non-Profit
-
Keogh Award
STEINHARDT '76
2023
Public Service
No results found.
Distinguished Alumni Honorees 1987 - 2013
View recipients of Distinguished Alumni Awards prior to 2013.
Name | School | Award Year | Award |
---|---|---|---|
Charlotte K. Frank | STEINHARDT ’00 | 2013 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Jane L. Rosenthal | GAL ’77 | 2013 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Lauren A. Burke | LAW ’09 | 2013 | Distinguished Young Alumni Award |
The Honorable Raymond J. Lohier | LAW ’91 | 2013 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Daniel Barry | GSAS ’83 | 2012 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Vasiliki Karlis | DEN ’92 | 2012 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Jacqueline Murekatete | CAS ’07 | 2012 | Distinguished Young Alumni Award |
Alan Greenspan | STERN ’48, ’77, GSAS ’50 | 2012 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Matthew Sapolin | WSC ’93, WAG ’96 | 2012 | President’s Alumni Achievement Award |
Jill Claster | WSC ’52, GSAS’54 | 2011 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Lonnie R. Bristow | MED ’57 | 2011 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Melissa Kushner | WAG ’06 | 2011 | Distinguished Young Alumni Award |
Kenneth R. Feinberg | LAW ’70 | 2011 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Abraham H. Foxman | LAW '65 | 2009 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Maria Bartiromo | WSC '89 | 2009 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Kelly Kennedy Mack | STERN ’02 | 2009 | Distinguished Young Alumni Award |
Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika | STEINHARDT ’80 | 2009 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Charles Simic | WSC '67 | 2008 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Patti Scialfa | GAL ’75 | 2008 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Richard Cash | MED ’66 | 2008 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Jonathan Lippman | WSC ’65, LAW ’68 | 2008 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Allen S. Keller | MED '88 | 2007 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Eduardo J. Martí | WSC ’64, '66, GSAS ’71 | 2007 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Kathleen A. Corbet | Stern '89 | 2007 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Christopher H. Shays | STERN ’74, WAG ’78 | 2007 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Carole Bayer Sager | STEINHARDT ’65 | 2006 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Harry T. Stewart, Jr. | TANDON ’63 | 2006 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Lee Archer, Jr. | GSAS '56 | 2006 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Roscoe C. Brown, Jr | STEINHARDT ’49, ’51 | 2006 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
The Honorable Carol Bellamy | LAW ’68 | 2006 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Peter David Lax | WSC ’47, CIMS ’49 | 2006 | President’s Alumni Achievement Award |
Abraham Lackman | WSC ’71 | 2005 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Marvin Leffler | STERN ’42, ’51 | 2005, 2022 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Ray Suarez | WSC ’78 | 2005 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Dr. Dorothy I. Height | STEINHARDT ’33, ’35, HON ’75 | 2005 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Ismail Merchant | STERN ’60 | 2004 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Lee M.E. Morin | GSAS ’78, ’82, MED ’81 | 2004 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
The Honorable Dennis Jacobs | GSAS ’65, LAW ’73 | 2004 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Calvin Ramsey | STERN ’59 | 2004 | President’s Alumni Achievement Award |
Eric Kandel | MED ’56 | 2003 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Philip Coltoff | SSSW ’64 | 2003 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Stanley Kasten | WSC '73 | 2003 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Raymond W. Kelly | LAW ’74 | 2003 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Alec Baldwin | TSOA ’94 | 2002 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Joyce Frances Brown | STEINHARDT ’71, ’80 | 2002 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Ruth Gruber | WSC ’30 | 2002 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Charles B. Rangel | STERN ’57 | 2002 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Jerome M. Hauer | GAL ’75 | 2000 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Martha Craven Nussbaum | WSC ’69 | 2000 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Betty Weinberg Ellerin | WSC ’50, LAW ’52 | 2000, 2022 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service Distinguished Alumni Award |
Clive J. Davis | WSC ’53 | 1999 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Rita E. Hauser | LAW ’59 | 1999 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Robert S. Ledley | DEN ’48 | 1999 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Yale J. Kamisar | ARTS ’50 | 1999 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Louis J. Freeh | LAW ’84 | 1999 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Raymond Lump | STEINHARDT ’50 | 1999 | President’s Alumni Achievement Award |
Cynthia Ozick | WSC ’49 | 1998 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
David S. Loeb | STERN ’51 | 1998 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Peter Westbrook | STERN ’75 | 1998 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Philippe de Montebello | GSAS ’76 | 1998 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Rudolph W. Giuliani | LAW ’68 | 1998 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Dinshaw J. Patel | GSAS ’68 | 1997 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Henry A. Grunwald | WSC ’44 | 1997 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Jerry L. Cohen | STERN ’53, ’59 | 1997 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Louis K. Salkind | GSAS ’90 | 1997 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Scott Elliott | GAL ’93 | 1997 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Norman Goodman | ARTS ’47, LAW ’50 | 1997 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Ang Lee | TSOA ’84 | 1996 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Judy Blume | STEINHARDT ’61 | 1996 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Michael A. Waldman | LAW ’87 | 1996 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Max M. Kampelman | ARTS ’40, LAW ’45 | 1996 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Cathy E. Minehan | STERN '77 | 1995 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Marcia Gay Harden | TSOA '88 | 1995 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Sheila G. Lukins | STEINHARDT ’70 | 1995 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Thomas E. Sanders | STERN '60 | 1995 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Fernando J. Ferrer | ARTS ’72 | 1995 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Betty Comden | STEINHARDT ’37 | 1994 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Harriet Skye | GAL ’93 | 1994 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
John Alexander Simpson | GSAS ’42, ’43 | 1994 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Mark H. Brooks | STERN '92 | 1994 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Melvyn I. Weiss | LAW ’59 | 1994 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Tabitha Soren | WSC '89 | 1994 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Yale Strom | GAL ’84 | 1994 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Lewis Rudin | STERN ’49 | 1994 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Alan Menken | ARTS '72 | 1993 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
LeRoy T. Walker | STEINHARDT ’57 | 1993 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Susan Cartsonis | TSOA '84 | 1993 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Tamar Schlick | GSAS ’85, ’87 | 1993 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Tony Kushner | TSOA '84 | 1993 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Judith Smith Kaye | LAW ’62 | 1993 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Edward G. Kaufman | DEN '43 | 1992 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Ellen D. Baer | STEINHARDT ’73, ’82 | 1992 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Luis R. Cancel | STEINHARDT '87 | 1992 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Paul J. Tagliabue | LAW '65 | 1992 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Susan Seidelman | TSOA '76 | 1992 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
John Brademas | 1992 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service | |
Carl P. Carlucci | WAG ’86 | 1991 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Catherine Cowell | STEINHARDT ’83 | 1991 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
George C. Wolfe | TSOA ’84 | 1991 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Henry Kaufman | ARTS ’48, STERN '58 | 1991 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Racquel Z. LeGeros | GSAS ’57, ’67 | 1991 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Walter F. Loeb | WSC ’49 | 1991 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Laura Novoa de Anriquez | LAW ’59 | 1991 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Donald Forman | STERN ’48, LAW ’56 | 1990 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Dorothy Strickland | STEINHARDT ’58, ’71 | 1990 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Julie Kazimiroff | DEN ’80, GSAS ’87 | 1990 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Nancy Uscher | STEINHARDT ’80 | 1990 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Wayne Shorter | STEINHARDT ’56 | 1990 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Preston Robert Tisch | 1990 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service | |
Robert B. McKay, Posthumous | 1990 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service | |
Avram Robert Westin | ARTS ’49 | 1989 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Pamela J. Maraldo | STEINHARDT ’75 ’86 | 1989 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
J. William Middendorf II | STERN ’54 | 1989 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Alan Greenspan | STERN ’48, ’77, GSAS ’50 | 1988 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Frances Berko | STEINHARDT ’46 | 1988 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Spike Lee | TSOA ’82 | 1988 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Edward I. Koch | LAW ’48 | 1988 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |
Milton Babbitt | WSC ’35 | 1987 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Oliver Stone | TSOA ’71 | 1987 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Robert M. Hayes | LAW ’77 | 1987 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
Robert Packwood | LAW ’57 | 1987 | Distinguished Alumni Award |
John S. R. Shad | LAW ’59 | 1987 | Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service |