Outstanding Recent Graduate Award 2010

2010 Recipients

Jerry Dawson, Bus '01 (Cert), '04 (MBA)
Jerry Dawson is currently Vice President, Government Solutions for the Duke Realty Corporation, one of the largest real estate companies in the United States. He is responsible for leading Duke's business efforts in providing commercial real estate development and leasing solutions to federal, local and state governments across the country. Prior to joining Duke in April 2007, Dawson was a Vice President with Jones Lang LaSalle. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute and a member of the Real Estate Associate Program's (REAP) first Executive Board of Directors. As an active supporter of REAP since 2000, Jerry has helped this non-profit organization grow to be the premier source for leading companies and organizations to hire trained and highly qualified minority real estate professionals. Dawson is a committed volunteer for the Johns Hopkins University and the Carey Business School, serving in several different capacities—as a member of the Johns Hopkins Alumni Council where he has served diligently as a member of the Awards and Nominations committee; as a member of the Society of Black Alumni; and in key leadership roles as a member of the Leadership Development Program for Minority Managers Advisory Board and as a founding member of the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Dean’s Alumni Advisory Board (DAAB). Dawson has been a committed and enthusiastic University volunteer; generous with his time and spirit. Top

Pooja R. Makhijani, Engr '00
Pooja Makhijani, a successful editor and writer, graduated with her Masters in Fine Arts from Sarah Lawrence College. She is the editor of Under Her Skin: How Girls Experience Race in America, an anthology of essays by women that explores the complex ways in which race shapes American lives and families. She is also the author of Mama's Saris, which tells the story of a precocious girl's desire to dress up in her mother's beautiful saris. In 2003, she received the Magazine Award Honor in Nonfiction by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators for her essay, "The First Time," in the November/December 2003 issue of Cicada. In addition to her writing career, Mahkijani has served as the Educational Content Specialist in Sesame Workshop's International Education, Research and Outreach department, where she oversaw the educational content across media in India, Tanzania, and other international projects in development. Mahkijani has been an active volunteer; for the non-profit group Girls Write Now, she encourages young at-risk or underserved girls in New York City to explore careers in professional writing and for Johns Hopkins, serving as a member of the National Alumni Schools Committee and helping to grow a Homewood intersession program for students interested in careers in media. Top

Myechia Minter-Jordan, Bus '04 (Cert), '07 (MBA)
Myechia Minter-Jordan is the chief medical officer of Dimock Center, the second largest community health center in Boston, a community institution serving Boston's inner-city neighborhoods. The center is considered a national model of integrated comprehensive health and human services. Jordan earned both her undergraduate and medical degree from Brown University. She joined Johns Hopkins first as an attending physician and a professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, and subsequently as director of medical consultation services at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, and was the physician leader for the Medical Joint Practice Committee at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. In this role, she led quality improvement and patient safety efforts for the Department of Medicine. Jordan hosts a weekly segment on New England Cable News (NECN) titled, "Community Health" which disseminates factual information and explores important health topics and issues. She serves as one of seven governor appointed physician members of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, and has published articles in various medical publications including The New England Journal of Medicine. Jordan plays a leadership role as a physician, promoting healthy lifestyles and healthy decision making. She acts as an advocate for underserved populations, creating a tremendously positive and transformative effect on the lives of her patients as well as the surrounding communities Dimock serves, through her practice and her health education outreach. Top

Rajesh Panjabi, SPH '06
Rajesh Panjabi earned his BS degree in biochemistry, with a Certificate in Social and Economic Justice, as well as his medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was a member of the inaugural class of Sommer Scholars, at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, a program dedicated to developing the next generation of public health leaders through community service, access to experts and curriculum enrichment. Panjabi is the co-founder and director of a non-governmental organization, Tiyatien Health, dedicated to providing healthcare services in one of the poorest areas of Liberia. The organization works on issues such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and mental health directly with the patients and community members affected, many of whom now hold leadership positions within the organization. Despite the organization's relatively short existence, it has already made impressive inroads into improving the health situation. It has established one of the largest rural AIDS clinics in Liberia, a community-led initiative that provides treatment and care for over 300 HIV/AIDS patients, trained non-physician clinicians to administer antiretroviral therapy, published a ground-breaking national mental health study, built Liberia's first Chronic Disease Clinic, hired medical staff and distributed insecticide-treated malaria bed nets to local villages. Top

Svetoslav Stoyanov, Peab '03, '05 (GPD)
Svetoslav Stoyanov is the director of percussion studies and professor of percussion at the Frost School of Music, University of Miami, Florida. He is the youngest person ever to be appointed to the director position. He is the recipient of the prestigious 2003 Concert Artist Guild International Competition for his "unmistakable virtuosity" on the marimba and a wide variety of percussion instruments. Stoyanov was featured as an emerging artist by Symphony Magazine in 2006 and again in 2008. He released his debut recording titled Percussive Counterpoint, featuring music by Steve Reich, Alejandro Viñao, Paul Lansky and others. He has performed at Carnegie Hall on several occassions and has performed as a soloist with the Chicago, Seattle, American Symphony Orchestras and The New York Pops, to name a few. Stoyanov has performed under the baton of Pierre Boulez, Oliver Knussen, James Conlon, John Adams, Gerard Schwarz, Leon Fleisher, Gustav Meier, Brad Lubman, Jose-Luis Novo and Skitch Henderson amongst others. Highlights in his festival appearances include the The Ravinia Festival, Emilia Romagna, Made in America, Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, River to River Festival and others. Solo performances feature Carnegie Hall, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Benaroya Hall, Orange County Performing Arts Center and Avery Fisher Hall. In addition to his diverse performance career, Stoyanov is actively involved with educational outreach and presents numerous clinics and workshops. Top