Alumni Recognition
With thousands of alumni around the world, the College of Science has watched many former students accomplish some amazing things in the fields of new technology and life sciences. These brilliant alumni include astronaut Andrew Feustel (Solid Earth Sciences), Nobel Prize-winning physicist Ben Roy Mottelson and Yelp! SVP of Engineering Michael Stoppelman (Computer Science), just to name a few.
Every year, we honor stellar alumni from all of our departments. In the spring, the College of Science recognizes several new Distinguished Alumni. We also award honorary doctorates most years. Famous recipients include NPR's "Tech Nation" host Moira Gunn (Computer Science), pharmaceutical power John Landis (Chemistry) and Swaminanthan Sivaram (Chemistry), one of the top scientists in India.
In April 2021, we recognized our honorees in a virtual ceremony that included recipients for both 2020 and 2021.
2020-2021 honorees:
Actuarial Science
- Distinguished Alumni: Craig Hanford
- Early Career Award: Allison Newhouse
Biological Sciences
- Entrepreneurship Award: Marc Muinzer
- Distinguished Alumni: Dr. Gary Ralph Matyas
Chemistry
- Distinguished Alumni: Mark Stoyer
- Early Career Award: Darryl Boyd
Computer Science
- Distinguished Alumnus: Darwin Ling
- Early Career: Hoda Eldardiry
- Philanthropy: Steve and Janet Tolopka
Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
- Distinguished Alumni: David Leary
- Early Career Award: Dr. Aaron Goldner
Mathematics
- Distinguished Alumni: Larry McMillan
- Philanthropy Award: Marv Bittinger
Physics and Astronomy
- Distinguished Alumni: Yok Chen
- Entrepreneur Award: Bruce Schecter
Statistics
- Distinguished Alumni: Sara Ellison
- Entrepreneur Award: Paul Kidwell

The Outstanding Alumni of 2017 with College of Science dean, Patrick Wolfe (first row, first person).