Leonard Raley ’78
Leonard Raley ’78, president and CEO of the University System of Maryland Foundation Inc., will receive the 2013 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Alumni Association, which is presented to an alumnus or alumna who exemplifies continued professional development, success in his or her field, and a commitment to Towson University. This award was established in 1958.
Raley was chosen for his outstanding leadership and effective oversight of close to $1 billion in assets on behalf of 12 institutions within the University System of Maryland (USM) and five Maryland community college foundations.
The Alumni Association will also present the Deans’ Recognition Awards, annual tributes to TU alumni who have distinguished themselves through superior professional growth and accomplishment in their fields. One recipient is selected by the dean of each of the university’s colleges. Honorees represent commitment and excellence in a diversity of professional disciplines.
The following alumni will receive the Deans’ Recognition Awards for 2013:
- Michael C. Ford ’80 is the vice president of global diversity for Hilton Worldwide, where he works with corporate and divisional leadership to implement strategies that leverage diversity to grow the business across the company’s portfolio of brands. Ford will receive the award from the College of Liberal Arts.
- Pepper Mintz ’89 will receive the award from the College of Business and Economics. After six years in Los Angeles, Mintz has returned to Baltimore to become president and COO of Northern Pharmacy and Medical Equipment, a company started by her father, Martin B. Mintz over 45 years ago.
- Gerald “Gee” Roberson ’96, co-CEO of both Hip Hop Since 1978 and the Blueprint Group, will receive the award from the College of Fine Arts and Communications. Hip Hop Since 1978 manages such artists as Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj and others. Roberson was also named chairman of Geffen Records.
- Julie Anne Schafer Esq. ’05 will receive the award from the College of Health Professions. Schafer has over a decade of education and experience in advocating for communication access for deaf, hard-of-hearing and deaf-blind individuals. She recently became the director of public policy and advocacy for the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc.
- Debra Seeberger ’92/’96 is the assistant to the president for diversity and equal opportunity at Towson University and responsible for the development and implementation of ongoing institutional diversity initiatives. Seeberger will receive the award from the Jess and Mildred Fisher College of Science and Mathematics.
- Connie Unseld ’79, president of the Unseld School in Baltimore, will receive the award from the College of Education. Unseld believes in a holistic approach to education, one which involves focusing on the mental, moral, physical, social, emotional and aesthetic needs of the child as well as the intellectual needs.
