The College of LAS will recognize seven individuals during the 2026 alumni awards celebration in April. This year's honorees are researchers, philanthropists, and political thinkers who have made incredible impacts in their fields and communities.
Alumni Achievement Award
Rosemary A. Joyce
PhD, ’85, anthropology
Rosemary A. Joyce is an international voice in contemporary debates, politics, and ethics in anthropology and archaeology focusing on Mexico and Central America. Through field research in Honduras and more recently in Mexico, Joyce has examined “the way things make people and people make things” in the context of social histories, gender, and inequality. She is a professor of anthropology at the University of California, Berkley.
Mikki Kendall
BA, ’05, history
Mikki Kendall is a writer, diversity consultant, and public speaker, who has been invited to PBS News, NPR, the Chicago Public Library, the American Library in Paris, WGN, and WNYC. She is the New York Times-bestselling author of “Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot” and has published essays around the world.
Marchoe Northern
BS, ’97, chemical engineering
Marchoe Northern joined Procter & Gamble upon graduation from the University of Illinois. She also holds an MBA from the University of Chicago. She is the president of Procter & Gamble’s Fabric Care, North America business, leading the company's largest category and most iconic brands, including Tide, Downy, and Gain. She is a member of the P&G Executive Leadership Team, Global Leadership Council. Northern was named one of the 2022 Ad Age’s Leading Women, is a member of The American Chemistry Council Board and the University of Illinois Foundation.
Humanitarian Award
Connie Frank
BA, ’65, English
Connie Frank has created a history of extraordinary civic leadership and philanthropic vision across education, the arts, community well-being, and medicine, having established transplant clinics at UCSF and UCLA. Frank envisioned the university’s Connie Frank CARE Center as a vital resource for students in need of guidance, advocacy, and support. The center is a hub for students to find individualized non-clinical case management, basic needs support, assistance with problem-solving, and access to emergency resources in times of distress or crisis.
Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Kalia Coleman
BA, ’07, political science
Kalia Coleman has worked throughout her career to promote diversity and equality in the legal system. Coleman is a former federal prosecutor who is now partner at a law firm. She was named one of the Top Women in Law by the Law Bulletin Media and JTB 5 under 40. Coleman serves on the board of directors for Legal Prep Charter Academy and Youth Guidance and as a leadership advisory committee member for the Art Institute of Chicago.
Sasha Ebrahimi
BS, ’16, chemical engineering
Sasha Ebrahimi has garnered a strong reputation in research and mentoring as a scientific leader at GSK within the emerging drug delivery platforms team. His breakthrough research in the field of antibody drug conjugates, oligonucleotide-based therapeutics, and diagnostic tools to detect clinical markers of disease has led to distinctive awards and honors including the American Institute of Chemical Engineers 35 Under 35 in 2023 and the Wunderkind award from STAT News in 2024.
LAS Dean's Quadrangle Award
The LAS Dean's Quadrangle Award was inaugurated in 2000 to honor extraordinary friends of the college. Honorees have demonstrated profound support for the college’s diverse mission and personified the unique benefits and responsibilities that define a liberal arts and sciences education.
Norman Whitten
Norman Whitten is a professor emeritus of the Department of Anthropology whose leadership, scholarship, and gifts have had a lasting impact on the college. Through his previous roles as head of anthropology, director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and curator at the Spurlock Museum, Whitten strengthened interdisciplinary research, enriched teaching, and expanded cultural resources for LAS students and faculty. His lifetime of generosity has helped sustain programs that enrich learning and scholarship across the college.
