º£½ÇÉçÇø

Saddam Azlan Salim, BS Public Administration ’12, MPA ’15, is Alumnus of the Year. While growing up in his native Bangladesh, Salim and his family experienced severe drought followed by the flood of 1998, the country's most extreme and long-lasting flood of the century. His family came to the United States when he was 10. After experiencing homelessness shortly after moving to the United States, his family settled in Fairfax County, Virginia, where Salim attended Falls Church High School and then º£½ÇÉçÇø. He now works in federal financial management and consulting. In November 2023, he was elected to the Virginia Senate and represent the 37th District.

Janis P. Tupesis, BA Biology ‘95, received the Alumni Service Award. He is a faculty member in the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and vice president of the International Federation for Emergency Medicine. He is recognized for his global work on emergency health care and education and received the 2018 Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award from the Global Emergency Medicine Academy. Among his roles, Tupesis serves as a volunteer technical consultant at the emergency, trauma, and acute care program in the World Health Organization’s Department for Management of Noncommunicable Diseases, Disability, Violence, and Injury Prevention. 

Merone Hailemeskel, BA Economics ’15, MPP ’17, received the Graduate of the Last Decade (G.O.L.D.) Award. She is the digital director and communications associate for former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama. Hailemeskel also worked on the first lady’s Reach Higher initiative, where she led research efforts and awarded more than $250,000 in grants to support public school teachers and school counselors, and the Better Make Room campaign, which encourages students to complete their education past high school. She was previously communication and digital director at Common App, supporting their 900 member colleges and universities. 

Leeya Mehta, director of George Mason’s Alan Cheuse International Writers Center, is Faculty Member of the Year. She is a prize-winning poet, fiction writer, and essayist whose short fiction and poetry have appeared in publications nationally and internationally. Mehta received the 2024 College of Humanities and Social Sciences Faculty Civic Excellence Award for her work within the classroom and the curation of the Baldwin100 project that celebrated the centennial of James Baldwin's literary contributions. The project collaborated with 16 Washington, D.C., area organizations to produce 28 events and exhibitions featuring dozens of visual artists, musicians, and writers and received two American Graphic Design Awards.

Haley White, BA Art History; BS Business Management ’25, is Senior of the Year. As a student, the Lynchburg, Virginia, native helped lead the Costello College of Business Day of Service event, which included packing 3,000 pounds of donated food. White was the design lead for the Mason Chooses Kindness Guidebook, served as a teaching assistant, and was the creative mind behind many posters and flyers on campus. She co-wrote numerous articles and was featured in the Costello College’s brand launch video. She plans to spend time working in North Carolina and traveling following graduation. Read more about her.

In addition to the five honorees, 18 alumni received Distinguished Alumni Awards from their school, college, or affinity alumni chapter at this year’s September event.