GW honored several graduating seniors and faculty members at the Commencement ceremony on the Ellipse Sunday.
The GW Award is given to two faculty, staff and students annually. Members of the GW community nominate individuals who they feel have made exceptional contributions to the University.
The GW Award is GW’s most prestigious award, said President Steven Joel Trachtenberg at Commencement.
This year the two student recipients were graduating seniors Matt Berger and Alexis Rice.
Throughout her four years at GW, Rice, a political communications major, served as Social Chair of Phi Sigma Sigma, Chair of Political Issues for the Program Board, and CSAS Senator for the Student Association. She also sat on the Executive Board of the GW College Democrats.
Trachtenberg called Rice the heart of the SA at Commencement.
Berger worked for The Hatchet for four years, as news editor and special projects editor. He initiated the D.C. Bureau of U-WIRE, a national college news service.
Trachtenberg jokingly asked the crowd, Is there anyone here who thought he would get this award?
Professor Ruth Marilyn Krulfeld, who teaches anthropology and international affairs, and professor Kathrun Estelle Newcomer, who teaches public administration, also received GW awards for their dedication as professors.
Staff members Lenore D. Miller, the director of the Dimock Gallery, and Clinton M. Williams, assistant director of Graduate Student Enrollment Management were also recognized.
At the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Awards dinner at Union Station Saturday night, alumni Peggy Cooper Cafritz, Jack Morton and David Wang were honored with awards.
Cafritz earned her bachelor’s degree in 1968 and graduated from GW Law School in 1971. She is a long-time Washington arts activist who, in 1968, helped create the Workshop for Careers, which was renamed the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in 1974.
Morton was an undergraduate at GW in the early 1930s. He founded Jack Morton Productions, the largest supplier of entertainment, production and speakers for conventions and corporations worldwide.
Wang served as executive vice president and director of the International Paper Co., before retiring in 1991. Prior to that he was with the Union Carbide Corporation, serving as director of corporate development and vice president-general manager. He currently serves on GW’s advisory board.
Each award recipient was presented with a bronze bust of George Washington during the Commencement ceremony.
-Ashley Heher contributed to this report.
