The annual Torch Awards celebrated its 15th anniversary March 19 with a gala honoring distinguished alumni in the FIU community. The event, held at Fontainebleau Miami Beach, raises money for the university’s Alumni Center Building Fund and its First Generation Scholarship Fund, which benefits students who are the first in their families to attend college.
“This event is very important for FIU because it provides an opportunity to recognize outstanding alumni who are really impacting not only the local community but the world in terms of what they’re doing,” said Duane Wiles, executive director of the FIU Alumni Association. “It really helps move the needle for the university when we recognize our grads for all the great things they are doing and will continue to do for FIU.”
In his speech at the gala, President Mark B. Rosenberg said: “Look at the amazing accomplishments of the alumni we are honoring tonight. They’ve done well, and they’re doing good. Indeed, all of our awardees have demonstrated the importance of paying if forward using their success to make a difference in this world and leaving this world a better place than they found it.”
Pictured left to right above, this year’s honorees included:
- Stacey Oddman, M.D. ’94
Former Chief of Family Medicine, Holy Cross Hospital
Distinguished Alumni Award, College of Arts, Sciences & Education, School of Integrated Science & Humanity - Marile Lopez ’91
Chief Financial Officer, Jorge Luis Lopez Law Firm
Community Leadership Award presented by the FIU Center for Leadership, College of Arts, Sciences & Education - Gail Appelrouth ’77
Guardian ad Litem, Miami-Dade County Juvenile Dependency Court, 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida
Distinguished Alumni Award, Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work - Frank Vilar ’91
President, OHL-Arellano
Distinguished Alumni Award, College of Engineering & Computing - Diana Farmer-Gonzalez ’96
Principal & Managing Director, Gensler
Distinguished Alumni Award, College of Architecture + The Arts - Richard Blanco ’91, MFA ’97
Poet, Author & Civil Engineer
Distinguished Alumni Award, College of Arts, Sciences & Education, School of Environment, Arts & Society - Darlene Boytell-Perez, ARNP ’89, MSN ’96
Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner, Gastro Health
Alumna of the Year, Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences - FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg
- Alfredo Richard, M.S. ’94
Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises
Distinguished Alumni Award, School of Journalism & Mass Communication - Ranu Jung, Ph.D.,
Interim Dean, FIU College of Engineering & Computing, Outstanding Faculty Award presented by the NeuroScience Centers of Florida Foundation - Jonathan Cameron ’07
Co-Founder & CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CameronDowning
Distinguished Alumni Award, The Honors College - Yolanda Nader ’79, MBA ’86
Chief Executive Officer & Chief Financial Officer, Dosal Tobacco Corporation
Distinguished Alumni Award, College of Business - Charles Alexandre Kenmogne Kamhoua, Ph.D. ’11
Research Electronics Engineer, U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory
Charles E. Perry Young Alumni Visionary Award, College of Engineering & Computing - Cindy Russo, M.S. ’78
Former Head Coach, FIU Women’s Basketball
Distinguished Alumni Award, Athletics - Bruce Blum ’82
Co-Founder & President, GB Lodging, Inc.
Distinguished Alumni Award, Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management
Not Pictured:
- Stephen Burns ’78
Vice President & Leadership Advisor, B.E. Smith, Inc.
Distinguished Alumni Award, Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences - Omar Carrion ’07
Awarded Posthumously
Distinguished Alumni Award, Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs