Jumbos in the Spotlight

2017 alumni awards recognize 10 graduates for their remarkable achievements

The Tufts University Alumni Association will recognize 10 exceptional Jumbos for their career successes, contributions to the university, and civic engagement during a celebration on the Medford/Somerville campus on April 20.

This year’s Distinguished Achievement Award recipients, who are being honored as leaders in their fields, are Abigail Linnington, F04, F13; Harvey Levy, D74; Charles Rosenberg, A82; and Daniel Paisner, A82, A13P, A18P. Distinguished Service Awards, for outstanding service to the university, go to Brian McCarthy, A75, A07P, and Tom Hedges, M75. Jonathan Greenblatt, A92, is receiving the Active Citizenship and Public Service Award for his work in the public and nonprofit sectors. Genevra “Gevvie” Stone, M14, and Christina Sass, F09, are being honored with the Young Alumni Achievement Award and Moises Cohen, A11, will receive the Young Alumni Service Award.

The Tufts community is invited to attend. The event begins with a reception at 6 p.m. at Sunny Breed Memorial Hall, 51 Winthrop St. on the Medford/Somerville campus, followed by the awards ceremony at 7. RSVP by April 3; for more information, email alumniawards@tufts.edu.

Tufts Now introduces you to this year’s award recipients:

Abigail Linnington, F04, F13

Col. Linnington is special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and director of the Chairman’s Action Group. She supports the chairman in his role as the senior military advisor to the president, the secretary of defense, cabinet secretaries, Congress, the National Security Council and foreign leaders. She also develops and executes the chairman’s engagement strategy with foreign governments, domestic groups and the military. She previously was a strategist and military planner at the U.S. Central Command, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, and U.S. Joint Forces Command. 

Harvey Levy, D74

Levy, a general and hospital dentist in Maryland, developed techniques to treat patients on the autism spectrum as well as those with intellectual disabilities or mental challenges and those with complex medical issues. He’s taught those techniques to thousands of dental professionals around the country. He has received numerous awards, including the Academy of General Dentistry’s Humanitarian Award, the American Dental Association’s Access to Care Award and the Maryland Governor’s Doctor of the Year Award. Levy, a three-time inductee to the U.S. Martial Arts Hall of Fame, participated in the running of the Olympic torch in the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.

Charles Rosenberg, A82

Rosenberg, a former federal prosecutor, was appointed acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration by Attorney General Loretta Lynch in May 2015. He previously served as chief of staff and senior counselor to FBI Director James Comey. As the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, he supervised the prosecution of federal crimes and litigation of civil matters involving the federal government. He has held several senior posts at the Department of Justice, where his work has focused on counterterrorism, counterintelligence, national security and criminal matters.

Daniel Paisner, A82, A13P, A18P

Paisner is the author of more than 60 books, including The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball, Pitching and Life on the Mound and Scratching the Horizon: A Surfing Life; 14 are New York Times bestsellers. As a ghostwriter, he has collaborated on more than 50 books with athletes, actors, politicians and business leaders, including a World Series of Poker champion, a plus-size supermodel, an FBI hostage negotiator, a mayor of New York City and an Olympic swimmer. His other works include The Ball: Mark McGwire’s 70th Home Run Ball and the Marketing of the American Dream, A Single Happened Thing, Mourning Wood and Obit.

Brian McCarthy, A75, A07P

McCarthy, managing partner of the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, was president of the Tufts University Alumni Association from 2012 to 2014, helping to advance regional chapters and shared interest groups. He is serving on the Ad Hoc Council Campaign Committee and the Career Services Committee and is active in the Los Angeles alumni chapter and the Tufts Lawyers Association. He served on the Alumni Council’s executive committee from 2010 to 2016 and was instrumental in assisting Tufts in its acquisition of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts last summer.

Tom Hedges, M75

Hedges directs the neuro-ophthalmology service at Tufts Medical Center and is a professor of ophthalmology and neurology at the Tufts School of Medicine. He was president of the Tufts Medical Alumni Association from 2014 to 2016. He is the author of Consultation in Ophthalmology, and his research interests include the use of optical coherence tomography and electrophysiology in neuro-ophthalmology. His research collaborations have taken him to Guatemala, Venezuela and Cuba. He is a three-time recipient of the Residents Award for Teaching Excellence.

Jonathan Greenblatt, A92

Greenblatt is CEO of the Anti-Defamation League and previously was a special assistant to President Barack Obama and director of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation. He co-founded Ethos Brands, the business that launched Ethos Water. After the company was acquired by Starbucks in 2005, he was named vice president of global consumer products at Starbucks. He founded All for Good, an online platform that facilitates local volunteering. In 2016, he was named to the Power & Influence Top 50 List by NonProfitTimes.

Christina Sass, F09

Sass co-founded Andela, a startup whose mission it is to empower a new generation of global technology leaders. Andela funds itself by training software developers in Africa and placing them with top international companies. Before Andela, Sass built education and employment programs in China, Gaza and the West Bank, and directed the program department at the Clinton Global Initiative, where she focused on the empowerment of girls and women. Sass was included among the 2014 New York Business Journal Women of Influence and the 2015 Business Insider 23 Most Innovative and Inspiring Women in New York City Tech.

Genevra “Gevvie” Stone, M14

Stone won the silver medal in women’s single sculls at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and was voted the 2016 U.S. Rowing Female Athlete of the year by the U.S. Olympic Rowing Team. She also competed in the 2012 Summer Games. She learned to row on the Charles River while in high school, and has won the Head of the Charles women’s singles event a record-tying seven times. Stone earned her undergraduate degree from Princeton, where she was a member of the 2006 NCAA Champion Eight. During the summers of 2006 and 2007, she won the Under-23 World Championships in the Eight and Quad, respectively. After failing to make the U.S. team for the 2008 Beijing Games, Stone started medical school at Tufts and started rowing again on the Charles, first for fun and then more seriously. Coached by her father, she represented the U.S. for the first time in the singles at the 2010 World Cup. She has rowed on five senior national teams, including eight World Cups (earning three medals) and three World Championships. Stone enjoys sharing her love and knowledge of the sport, coaching at rowing campus and giving presentations at rowing workshops and rowing programs, including here at Tufts. She begins her residency in emergency medicine this summer and then plans to pursue a fellowship in sports medicine.

Moises Cohen, A11

Before Cohen started the M.B.A. program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School this year, he was the director of development for BUILD, a nonprofit that helps underprivileged youth launch businesses, graduate high school and attend college. In 2015, he was one of 12 recipients of Boston’s Spark Impact Award, which recognizes young people who help improve the city. Cohen co-founded the Tufts Social Impact Network, for alumni interested in social impact careers in the private, public or social sectors, and serves on the advisory board of the Tisch College of Civic Life.
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