Each spring, the Department of Computer Science presents its Distinguished Alumni Awards to graduates who exemplify the Virginia Tech motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), as well as technological excellence and innovation in their workplaces and communities.

The 2025 awards banquet, held May 6, welcomed three new winners and, for the first time, inducted past honorees into the newly formed Computer Science Academy of Distinguished Alumni.

This year’s honorees included 2025 Academy of Distinguished Alumni inductees George Luc ’05, M.S. ’07, and Hussein Suleman Ph.D. ’02. Alex Endert Ph.D. ’12 received the 2025 Distinguished Early Career Alumni Award.

2025 Academy of Distinguished Alumni inductees

Distinguished Alumni inductees graduated 15 or more years ago and are honored for outstanding achievements and contributions in research and/or practice. They become members of the Computer Science Academy of Distinguished Alumni.

George Luc is co-founder and chief executive officer of GivePulse, a platform to establish, nurture, and evaluate partnerships to improve community outcomes. He is a TEDxAustin speaker, SXSW Dewey Winburne Community Service honoree, and was named a White House Champion for Change. He believes the world will improve if volunteering, philanthropy, and community engagement are social, beneficial, and impactful.

Hussein Suleman is the dean of science and a professor of computer science at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He was previously head of the Department of Computer Science at University of Cape Town. He received his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in 2002, after earning his bachelor’s and master’s from the then–University of Durban-Westville.

His research focuses on digital libraries, information and communications technology for development, African language information retrieval, cultural heritage preservation, internet technology, and educational technology. He is currently collaborating with colleagues in digital humanities to develop an experimental software toolkit for digital repositories that could reduce the risk of data loss for archivists in low-resource environments.

"George and Hussein epitomize the department’s traditions of service to others, inspiring future computer scientists and using the power of technological innovation to do good in the world,” department head Christine Julien said. “In addition to welcoming them as members of the academy, I am also particularly pleased to welcome back to campus all our past distinguished alumni as academy inductees and to honor their continuing commitment to our students and the future of computer science."

More than a dozen past honorees were inducted into the newly established Computer Science Academy of Distinguished Alumni; some of them traveled to Blacksburg to attend the banquet and celebrate with faculty, staff, and students. The inductees included:

  • Mike Austin (2024)
  • Betsy Bizot (2023)
  • Joshua Mindel (2022)
  • Dan Larimer (2021)
  • David Lavery (2020)
  • Keith Sturgill (2019)
  • Jamika Burge (2018)
  • Lucy Nowell (2017)
  • Greg Lavender (2016)
  • Christine "Chris" Bryan (2015)
  • Lisa Finneran (2014)
  • Bo Begole (2013)
Computer science alumni with department head
Four Computer Science Academy of Distinguished Alumni inductees celebrated on campus with department head Christine Julien (at left), including Bo Begole, George Luc, Chris Bryan, and Lisa Finneran. Photo by Tonia Moxley for Virginia Tech.

2025 Distinguished Early Career Alumni Award recipient

The Distinguished Early Career Alumni Award recognizes outstanding achievements and contributions in research and/or practice among those whose computer science degree was conferred within the past 15 years.

Alex Endert, associate professor and the associate chair of operations and special initiatives in the School of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, directs the Visual Analytics Lab and conducts research to help people make sense of data and artificial intelligence and to promote the responsible use of this powerful technology. 

He received his Ph.D. in computer science from Virginia Tech in 2012, advised by Professor Chris North. In 2013, Endert’s work on semantic interaction was awarded the IEEE VGTC VPG Pioneers Group Doctoral Dissertation Award and the Virginia Tech Computer Science Best Dissertation Award.

"Alex's work showcases the contributions our graduates can make at all stages. In just a short time since receiving his Ph.D. from our department, he has paid it forward to many other students in his work at Georgia Tech," Julien said.

The department also recognized a number of faculty and students for outstanding work over the past academic year.

Faculty awards

University awards

  • Academy of Faculty Leadership: Cal Ribbens 
  • XCaliber Award for Excellence in Technology-Assisted Teaching and Learning: Sally Hamouda

Graduate School award

  • Outstanding Faculty Mentor: Chris Brown

College of Engineering Dean’s Awards for Excellence

  • Excellence in Teaching: Jamie Sikora
  • Excellence in Service: Douglas A. Bowman
  • Outstanding New Assistant Professors: Dan Williams and Dawei Zhou
  • Faculty Fellows: Hoda Eldardiry and Anuj Karpatne

Graduate student awards

Outstanding Ph.D. research

  • Akshay Bansal
  • Md Abdullah Al Maruf
  • Zelin Wan

Outstanding M.S. research

  • Thomas Deverin

Outstanding graduate teaching assistant

  • Thomas Nguyen
  • Pouyan Shirzadian
  • Wyatt Sweat

Outstanding instructor of record

  • Xiaoxiao Gan
  • Jesse Harden
  • Alex Hicks

Outstanding service to the department

  • Wesley Woo

Undergraduate student awards

Outstanding senior

  • Michael “Mikey” Harrigan

Undergraduate teaching assistant award

  • Carly Wolfe
  • Michael Neal

Undergraduate service award

  • Nolan Platt
  • Ayda Haydarpour
  • David Heilman Research Award
  • Nissi Otoo
  • Sriniketh ("Sri") Vangaru

Computer science ambassador award

  • Samhita Reddivalam
  • Ilse van Duijl

Contact:

Tags

Share this story