Annual NYC Event Continues to Elevate Awards Ceremony Recognizes the Impact of Whitman’s Supporters

From left: Alex McKelvie, Matty Simon, Blake Brossman, Warren Johnson, Gisele Marcus-Thomas, Doug Present and Tyler Newman.

On a Thursday evening last May, overlooking Manhattan’s Union Square in a reception room decked out in Syracuse Orange, students, administrators, alumni and friends of the Whitman School gathered for the 2025 Whitman Awards and Appreciation Event.

It was a celebration of the ways in which the Whitman community on campus and around the world collaborates to support current students and build the future of the school.

The evening’s award winners come from a variety of backgrounds and support Whitman in diverse ways. Awardees were:

Doug Present ’86

Recipient of the highest honor given to a Whitman alumnus, the Jonathan J. Holtz Alumnus of the Year Award. Present is a member of the Syracuse University Board of Trustees and chairs the board’s Finance Committee. He also sits on the Whitman philanthropy and engaged volunteer leadership committees and the Whitman Advisory Council. 

Matty Simon

Winner of the Whitman Impact Award for his support for students and recent graduates as Bloomberg L.P.’s lead recruiter for analytics and sales roles in the Americas. 

Blake Brossman ’98 (VPA) and Gisele Marcus-Thomas ’89

Recipients of the Dean’s Citation for Exceptional Service. The award recognizes those who exemplify a significant commitment to helping Whitman prepare and place future business leaders.

Brossman, founder of PetCareRx and Click Action Ventures, has done so as a judge of numerous student competitions, class speaker, and mentor and advisor to student-founded startups.

Marcus-Thomas, vice dean of the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Washington University in St. Louis, was selected for her service as a Syracuse University trustee and significant involvement with the Lender Center for Social Justice. 

Tyler Newman ’20 and Warren Johnson ’20 (WSM/IST)

Recipients of the Orange Ovation Award for alumni from the past 15 years setting a positive example to Whitman students.

Johnson chairs the Student Engagement and Mentorship Committee of the Young Whitman Advisory Council and supports students and recent graduates through New York City-area networking events. As an assistant vice president of client development and strategic initiatives at Synchrony.

Newman has been a strong advocate for Whitman and instrumental in a successful relationship between Whitman and Synchrony, resulting in more than 50 Syracuse students and graduates invited into Synchrony’s Business Leadership Program. 

“While our main purpose tonight is to honor a few select individuals, it is also an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the contributions of all of our alumni and corporate partners,” said Interim Dean Alex McKelvie during the event. “So many of them (that means you all here tonight) have made—and are making—valued and impactful contributions to Whitman, Syracuse University and our students.”

As the event’s name indicates, appreciation was a common theme of the evening, which, aside from during the pandemic, has been held in New York City since 2019.

“It was a night of appreciation for volunteer leaders, engaged alumni and engaged companies,” says Alison Kessler, director of alumni engagement at the Whitman School. According to Kessler, the event began as a small reception to honor the Holtz Alumnus of the Year winner and has expanded to a larger celebration of the various ways of contributing to the Whitman community.

“It’s an opportunity to thank more people in person,” says Kessler, who notes that attendees came from Washington, D.C., Syracuse and elsewhere, in addition to New York City.

The event highlighted the impact on Whitman students throughout the past year, such as 843 completed internships, 162 employers participating in recruiting events, and more than a thousand alumni and corporate partners engaged in student programming in-person and virtually. A number of students attended and shared their experiences.

Notably, the Whitman network relies on participation from many who are not alumni, like Whitman Impact Award winner Simon.

“It is really important to recognize that some of our biggest supporters are not alums,” says Kessler. “They may be parents. They may be someone that is a recruiting partner at a company…It could be someone that gives their time, comes and speaks, hires students [or] mentors.”

The biggest winner of the evening was the Whitman School itself. Assistant Dean for Advancement and External Engagement Michael Paulus says, “It’s a formal evening where you get together and you celebrate individuals, but you’re really celebrating the Whitman School and what’s going on at the school and how we’re supporting our students. It creates a sense of pride. It adds to that meaningful connection of what’s going on at the Whitman School and all the great things that that our individual alumni or corporate partners are doing to help advance the school.