2008 Alumni Award Recipients

The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy® currently bestows three awards to honor its alumni:


These awards are the highest honors bestowed to alumni in recognition of their accomplishments and contributions to their field of endeavor, to IMSA, and to the citizens of Illinois, our nation and the world. An alumnus is any person who was enrolled in IMSA's residential program and has remained in attendance for at least one semester.  Alumni who were nominated and were not selected during this year automatically will be eligible for next year's awards as will new nominees. IMSA extends its appreciation to those who submitted nominations for this year's awards.

The 2008 recipients will be recognized at the Board of Trustees Alumni Awards Ceremony on September 27, 2008 in conjunction with Homecoming at IMSA.


The Alumni Trailblazer Award

This award, bestowed when merited, honors alumni who personify IMSA's philosophy statement that there will be alumni who "create new intellectual worlds, cure a dreaded human ailment or in some other way significantly influence life on our planet." The outstanding achievements of these honorees will have earned national or international prominence for a groundbreaking or sweeping initiative that has redefined and improved the way significant numbers of citizens live, learn or work.

 

Steven Chen ’96
Steven Chen is co-founder and chief technology officer of YouTube.com, the online video sharing website which has revolutionized the creation and sharing of videos across the globe.  Founded in February of 2005, YouTube quickly became an overnight sensation with 100 million hits per day, and in 2006 was purchased by Google for $1.65 billion.  ABC-TV’s Good Morning America dubbed the service the “YouTube Revolution.”  Chen, co-founder Chad Hurley and YouTube.com have been featured in national media outlets including the Chicago Sun-Times, CNNMoney.com, Fortune Magazine, Good Morning America, Forbes.com, Chicago Tribune, Newsweek and Financial Times.  Chen and his partner received the Webby Award for Person of the Year in 2007 and were also recently honored with the Producers Guild of America Vanguard Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in new media technology.  In conjunction with the 2007-08 Clinton Global Initiative, YouTube announced the YouTube Nonprofit Program, which “enables nonprofits to deliver their message … and encourage supporters to take action.”  Prior to YouTube, Chen was one of the first engineers at PayPal.  Chen attended the University of Illinois.

 

Russel Simmons ’95
Russ Simmons is co-founder and chief technology officer of Yelp Inc (www.yelp.com), the growing online community enabling people to write and share reviews of local businesses with others.   In its fourth year of existence, Yelp receives more than eight million unique visitors each month in its national markets and is changing the way local marketing is done.  Yelp has gained national attention, being featured in national media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, TIME, Entrepreneur magazine and National Public Radio’s Morning Edition.  Prior to Yelp, Simmons was one of the six founding members of PayPal, an eBay company.  As a senior software engineer, he helped build the technical systems that made PayPal work.  This revolutionized e-commerce by enabling any individual or business with an email address to securely, easily and quickly send and receive payments online.  Simmons is a graduate of the University of Illinois. 

 

The Alumni Distinguished Leadership Award

This annual award goes to alumni who have made distinguished achievements or leadership contributions in their professional fields of endeavor consistent with IMSA's mission. The awardees also may be recognized for significant civic or community contributions or for extraordinary courage and selflessness under challenging circumstances.

 

Dr. Sanza Kazadi ’90
Dr. Sanza Kazadi is founder and president of the Jisan Research Institute (JRI), a pioneering research environment for high school and pre-high school students.  JRI specializes in teaching young people how to conduct scientific research through two programs - a short research program that provides an introduction to research; and a longer program which takes a student through all aspects of research, including teaching basic skills, designing a research program, and publishing the results.  Under Kazadi’s leadership, JRI students have thrived.  They range in ages from 13-22 years, and have published numerous scientific papers, and have contributed to new technologies, several of which are patented.  Kazadi’s research focus is swarm engineering, and he mentors students who pursue independent research and write papers that are published in peer-reviewed conferences and journals.  In addition to his publications on swarm engineering, Kazadi has also authored articles on his former research interests, Evolutionary Systems and Automatic Imitation Identification and Application.  Dr. Kazadi is a graduate of the California Institute of Technology. 

 

Dr. Mia K. Markey ’94
Dr. Mia K. Markey is already recognized as one of the world’s leaders of the young generation of biomedical computing.  Markey is an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research contributions focus on computer-based clinical decision making and support.  She established a leading Biomedical Informatics Lab with a team of 12 students and a mission of designing cost-effective, computational medical decision aids that will help physicians better diagnose, treat, and manage cancer. Markey’s group contributes to improving women’s health, in particular, through research on breast cancer.  Her innovative research work has been recognized by numerous awards, including the 2006 Coulter Foundation Award for Early Career Achievements in Translational Research, the 2006 Award for Best Teacher/Professor of the Southwest region by the American Association of Engineering Education as well as major research awards by the National Institutes of Health.  Dr. Markey is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and Duke University. 


Captain Kenyatta Ruffin ’99
Captain Kenyatta Ruffin ’99 is an F-16 fighter pilot assigned to the 13th Fighter Squadron at Misawa AB, Japan.  During the summer of 2007, he deployed to Balad AB, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. During his deployment he flew 49 missions, logged nearly 200 combat hours and volunteered in the chapel and hospital during his down time. Prior to his deployment, he flew F-16 fighter jets at Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, and was an F-16 pilot in the 523rd Fighter Squadron, Crusaders, at Cannon Air Force Base, NM.  Captain Ruffin earned his commission after graduating from the US Air Force Academy in 2003, where he earned a BS degree in aeronautical engineering with a minor in military doctrine, operations and strategy. While a cadet, Captain Ruffin had the opportunity to serve as the cadet commander in the 94th Flight Training Squadron where he was directly responsible for more than 200 cadet instructor pilots. Capt. Ruffin has his Federal Aviation Administration Certified Instructor and commercial licenses and has more than 1,200 total hours in civilian and military aircraft.  He was the U.S. Air force 2003 class vice president and the recipient of numerous awards, including the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. 


Scott Swanson ’90
Scott Swanson is on the leading edge of strategic and emerging technologies for learning in local, national and international arenas.  Swanson is a docent (lead mentor) for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) in Second Life®, a 3-D virtual world entirely created by its Residents (www.secondlife.com). He has served on several panels for education and technology conferences, including the National Educational Computing Conference 2007 Second Life® Playground and the Illinois Educators in Second Life® and Web 2.0 technologies at IETC in 2007. Sharing his knowledge of innovative technologies, Swanson has become a strategic thinking partner for leaders with the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce/Innovate Now!, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and Cisco.  Swanson is on the Board of the group that planned and implemented the first international K-12 Open Minds Conference (for Open Source/Open Systems developers and users).  From the start of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative, he has been an active contributor and advocate and has connected IMSA students and alumni to form the world's first high school OLPC chapter.  He is now an advisor to the OLPC Health Project which involves a diverse international group collaborating on XO medical-related software, hardware, and content.  Since graduating from IMSA, Swanson has remained engaged and committed to IMSA and its mission.  Swanson serves the IMSA community as the Strategic Technology Coordinator.  In addition to his official duties, he has been a true champion of IMSA and volunteers to support many student and alumni activities.  Swanson attended Brown University. 

 

The Alumni Titan Award

This annual award honors alumni, who through outstanding service to IMSA, advance the institution's mission and work. The honorees are enthusiastic and energetic IMSA champions who dedicate significant time, talent and/or treasure to endeavors that help the Academy fulfill its role in developing talent and leadership in mathematics, science and technology for our state, nation and world.

 

Neal Groothuis ’97
Neal Groothuis has been an extraordinary volunteer on behalf of IMSA and the IMSA Alumni Association.  As one of the longest serving IAA cabinet members, he served as the IAA Vice-President in 2003-2005, as Secretary from 2005-2007, and currently is an At-Large cabinet member.  In these various leadership positions, Groothuis was the key individual responsible for updating and maintaining the IAA website, which included posting alumni-related information regarding upcoming events, and planned and implemented the acquisition of and transition to a new server for the IAA website, which ensures reliability and increased functionality for the IAA. Groothuis has also participated as an Intersession facilitator for five consecutive years, and was sponsor of the student Swing Club. He is an avid swing dancer and shares his passion by offering free dance lessons to IMSA employees and students. He is also a loyal donor to the IMSA Fund for Advancement of Education (www.imsa.edu/giving) and has served as an annual giving class agent. Groothuis is a graduate of the University of Illinois and is currently pursuing a graduate degree at the University of Chicago.

 

Paul Strasma ’94
Paul Strasma sets an example for fellow alumni to follow to stay connected to IMSA and make a positive difference in the future of the IMSA community. For the past decade, Paul has been an active alumnus on a number of levels, serving as a team member for the Class of 1994's Five-year Reunion, 10-Year Reunion and as co-author of a guidebook for future alumni reunion planners. From 2004-2007, Paul championed broader alumni participation while serving on the IAA Cabinet as an At-Large Member and then as Vice President. In these roles, he surveyed alumni to understand their interests, guided improvements to the myIMSA online directory and facilitated regional events celebrating IMSA's 20th Anniversary. Paul also served as a member of the 2006-2007 Strategic Planning Committee, recruiting numerous alumni to provide feedback on strategies and serve on action planning teams, while contributing his own talents toward helping defining the IMSA brand and products. In addition to his volunteer activities, Paul has been a generous annual donor to the IMSA Fund for Advancement of Education. A graduate of Northwestern University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Paul currently works as a Global Strategic Marketing Manager for Abbott Diabetes Care.