2018 Recipients of the Distinguished Alumnus Award

Robert Barbera, Engr ’74, ’78, A&S Faculty
Dr. Robert J. Barbera is a Fellow and Co-Director of the Center for Financial Economics in the Economics Department of Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. A famed economist, Dr. Barbera commands an impressive resume of nearly 30-years on Wall Street, including roles at Mount Lucas Management Corporation, Investment Technology Group Inc., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., E.F. Hutton, and Capital Investment International. Dr. Barbera also served as a Staff Economist for U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas and an Economist for the Congressional Budget Office.
Kenneth Christopher Beard, Med ’90
Chris Beard was the first graduate (1990) of the anatomy doctoral program (which became the Center for Functional Anatomy & Evolution) in the Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy. For 25 years, Beard was Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology and Mary R. Dawson Chair of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh where he established an international reputation by leading expeditions to Wyoming, Mississippi, Libya, Turkey, and China.
Mark Davis, A&S ’74
Dr. Mark Davis is the Director and Avery Family Professor of Immunology at Stanford's Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection. He is credited with identifying the first T-Cell receptor genese, considered foundational science in the field of immunology, and is now focused on identifying new models for the study of human immunology. 
David Feinberg, Bus ’00
Dr. David Feinberg is the president and chief executive officer at Geisinger, one of the nation’s largest health services organizations. The system includes 13 hospital campuses, 2 research centers, the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, more than 30,000 employees, and a health plan that serves approximately 600,000 members. Prior to this, Feinberg was the president and chief executive officer of the UCLA Health System.
Charles J. Homcy, Med ’73, A&S ’70, Trustee
Dr. Charles Homcy, M.D., has significant experience building and leading successful biotech companies and has played an integral role in the launching and building of several portfolio companies, including Global Blood Therapeutics, MyoKardia, TOPICA Pharmaceuticals and CytomX. Currently he is focusing on the formation of companies discovering and developing novel therapeutic approaches as a Venture Partner of Third Rock Ventures.
Joanne Jordan, Med ’81
Dr. Joanne Jordan is the Joseph P. Archie, Jr. Eminent Professor of Medicine and serves as the SOM’s Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development. As Principal Investigator and Director of the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project (JoCo OA) for over 27 years, her research focuses on racial/ethnic and gender disparities in osteoarthritis and chronic illness in rural North Carolina.
Michael Klag, BSPH ’87, Former Dean
During his 12-year deanship of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Michael J. Klag guided the School to unprecedented growth, developed innovative and life-changing research programs and continued to elevate the School as a pacesetting institution of global influence and impact. He made the world’s best public health education accessible to a new global audience by growing the School’s online platforms to develop massive online open courses (MOOCs), which have attracted 5.2 million enrollees in just over four years.
Alain Labrique, BSPH ’99, ’07, Faculty
Alain Labrique’s research focuses on understanding the mechanisms at the systems, population and pathogen levels that lead to maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity, specifically targeting underserved populations in Sub-Saharan African and South Asia, with a concentration on his native Bangladesh. Today, over 150 Health projects across every division of Hopkins are linked through the JHU Global mHealth Initiative, which Alain founded in 2012.
Margaret Larsen, Ed ’70
Margaret Larsen is the recently retired President and CEO of Special Olympics Texas (SOTX), overseeing a budget growth from $1.3 to $16 million. SOTX has 58,000 athletes participate in 360 competitions featuring 22 sports annually, and under Larsen implemented a research program providing information about Special Olympics athletes and their families, helping SOTX staffers provide tailored programming.
Debraj Mukherjee, BSPH ’08
Neurosurgeon Raj Mukherjee works to improve treatment outcomes, decrease disparities, and expand access to neuro-oncological care for children and adults with brain and spine tumors. Through residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, he has become a leading national voice at the intersection of neuro-oncology, public policy and the surgical sciences.
Henry Perry, III, BSPH ’71, Faculty, Med ’74, A&S ’76
Henry B. Perry, III is a recognized expert in community-based primary health care, child survival interventions, and NGO-led field programs. His experiences as a student across three Hopkins schools were foundational to his interest in community-oriented primary health care, which led him to develop the innovative census-based, impact-oriented (CBIO) methodology while in the mountains of Bolivia in the 1980s. Through guidance provided by Perry’s organization, Curamericas Global, CBIO has been implemented in seven countries, reaching 1.4 million people over the past 35 years.
Keshia Pollack Porter, BSPH ’06, Faculty
Keshia Pollack Porter’s research uses injury epidemiology and health impact assessments (HIA) to advance policies that create safe and healthy environments where people live, work, play, and travel. Pollack Porter leads the CDC-funded Physical Activity Policy Research Network Plus (PAPRN+), a national network of Centers advancing policies that promote physical activity, and has demonstrated the potential for HIAs to improve lives in her own work with the Health Impact Project.
Rhonda Richetta, Ed ’06
Dr. Rhonda Richetta is the principal of City Springs Elementary/Middle School, a Baltimore City public charter school operated by the Baltimore Curriculum Project that includes one of the highest Free and Reduced Meals Service (FARMS) rates in the district. City Springs was once a failing school in Baltimore City; however, Richetta implemented restorative practices at City Springs in 2007 resulting in a tremendous transformation in school climate and significant reduction in school suspensions.
Vivian Rudow, Peab ’57, ’60, ’79
Vivian Adelberg Rudow has been a winner of ASCAP Plus awards for 29 years; won First Prize in the 14th International Electroacoustic Music Competition, Bourges 1986, Program Division; and, in 1982, was the first Maryland-based composer to have an orchestral piece premiered in Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Adelberg Rudow believes that pop music rhythms and vocabulary are our folk music of today, and so is one of the very few composers who has the skills to compose in classical acoustic, electro-acoustic music, and the combined genres.
Fadia Shaya, BSPH ’94
Fadia Tohme Shaya’s work focuses on building strategic partnerships with community, patients, providers and health systems to promote fair access to medications and medical devices and the proper use of prescription drugs. She currently leads a large federal-state funded program on preventing substance abuse and the misuse of prescription drugs, and has built a program of evidence-based research that is customized to diverse populations.
Donald Swanson, A&S ’64
Dr. Donald Swanson has led an impressive career as a field geologist, defining the way contemporary volcanologists gather data and predict volcanic events.  Dr. Swanson played a critical role during the Mt. St. Helens eruption, helped to map previously unidentified volcanoes in the North American Cascade region, and was the long-time director of the Hawaii Volcano Observatory.
Victor Vogel, III, A&S ’74, BSPH ’86
Victor Vogel, III is currently the director of the Cancer Service Line and of the Breast Medical Oncology/Research at the Geisinger Health Plan.  He is a recognized authority on breast cancer, having served as National Vice President for Research at the American Cancer Society and a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh.
David Zamierowski, Med ’68
Dr. David Zamierowski, recipient of two Bronze Stars for his service in Vietnam, has invented surface dressings and surgical wound devices for which he now holds more than 50 patents. Inventor of the V.A.C. external wound dressing, employed as a surgical adjunct to stabilize traumatic wounds in the military, Dr. Zamierowski also successfully launched the Prevena surgical incision dressing.