Michigan Alumni Impact Award
The Michigan Alumni Impact Award celebrates alumni who embody the Leaders and Best by creating lasting impact through professional excellence and civic engagement. The Alumni Impact Award aims to spotlight alumni who have made a significant impact in their profession or community at large.
Michigan Alumni Impact Award Winners Announced
The Alumni Association of the University of Michigan is proud to recognize three outstanding individuals as the inaugural recipients of the Michigan Alumni Impact Award.
The award celebrates some of our most accomplished U-M alums — those who embody the Leaders and Best by creating a lasting impact on their profession and the University of Michigan alumni community. The winners were nominated by fellow alumni and a panel of alumni peers, appointed by the Association’s President and CEO Ayanna McConnell, selected the winners.
To be considered, nominees must have tangible contributions that demonstrate significant impact in their profession through distinguished achievement, leadership, or innovation, recognized within their profession or area of expertise. In addition candidates have demonstrated impact within their community through civic engagement, which can include mentorship, philanthropy, and volunteerism; and a deep appreciation for the impact their alma mater has played in their personal and professional success.
“When we created this award, we wrote criteria. But criteria are just words on a page until someone gives them meaning,” says McConnell. “Years from now, when a panel sits down and asks what a Michigan Alumni Impact Award recipient looks like, the answer will be simple: Look at our first three.”
The winners will be honored during a ceremony homecoming weekend.
Meet the inaugural recipients:
Dr. Sonia Eden, MD’00, MDRES’07
Dr. Sonia Eden is a board-certified neurosurgeon and academic leader whose career reflects a deep commitment to health equity, clinical excellence, mentorship, and service. She serves as chair of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons diversity committee and is the co-founder and president of the American Society of Black Neurosurgeons. Through these roles, she has helped shape national conversations about equitable access to neurosurgical care while expanding mentorship opportunities and pathways for students entering medicine and neurosurgery.
Eden believes medicine must extend beyond the hospital walls — a conviction demonstrated through her commitment to civic engagement and service. Throughout her career, she has dedicated substantial time to volunteerism, nonprofit leadership, and global health initiatives, including medical missions in Guatemala, Kenya, and El Salvador. In her community, she volunteers with youth mentorship and STEM pipeline programs, serves on nonprofit boards, and advocates for improved health outcomes in underserved communities.
A graduate of Yale University and the University of Michigan Medical School, Eden has a deep appreciation for the role both institutions have played in her personal and professional journey. Through alumni involvement, mentorship, research collaborations, and educational leadership, she embodies the values instilled during her training and passes them to University of Michigan students. In gratitude for the full academic scholarship she received at U-M, she established an endowment through the Fitzbutler Jones Society to support medical students from her hometown of Detroit. Drawing on the lessons and opportunities from her alma maters, Eden continues to advance healthcare for all, expand pathways into medicine, and inspire future generations of Wolverine leaders.
Dr. Andrew Hashikawa, ’00
Dr. Andrew “Andy” Hashikawa is a leader in pediatric injury prevention and public health advocacy who has dedicated his career to advancing the University of Michigan’s mission and values through meaningful societal impact. He is a clinical professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics at the University’s medical school and serves as one of the associate directors of the U-M Concussion Center’s Engagement and Education Core. Throughout his career, he has worked to address preventable childhood injuries and advance public health equity. This commitment led him to create Pop-up Safety Town, an innovative mobile injury prevention program that brings hands-on safety education directly to underserved communities at no cost to families.
Under Hashikawa’s leadership, the program has expanded significantly across the state and beyond, reaching urban, rural, and tribal communities that historically have limited access to injury prevention resources. He has developed the program into a sustainable, scalable national model, leading to collaborations with the American Academy of Pediatrics and injury-prevention leaders nationwide.
Throughout his career, Hashikawa has consistently demonstrated a deep appreciation for the role his alma mater has played in shaping his personal and professional journey. He has expressed that gratitude through continued service to the U-M community, mentoring students and trainees, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, and developing public engagement initiatives that extend the University’s impact across the state and country. Through his work, he has engaged hundreds of students, residents, and volunteers, teaching them the importance of partnering with communities to address real-world public health challenges. Hashikawa exemplifies what it means to be a U-M alumnus: using one’s education, expertise, and leadership in service to others.
Kevin Nealer, ’75
Kevin Nealer has built a distinguished career spanning diplomacy, national security, public service, business leadership, and education. He began as a foreign service officer and later served as a national security, trade, and intelligence advisor to the U.S. Senate majority leader. Nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Nealer served on the Board of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and was later appointed to the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. For more than three decades, he has been a principal at The Scowcroft Group, a Washington, D.C.-based global business advisory firm.
As a first-generation college student, Nealer credits the University of Michigan with expanding his horizons and creating opportunities that would have otherwise been unimaginable. His gratitude for that experience has inspired a lifelong dedication to education and mentorship. He served as a Fulbright professor of law and economics in China and has taught or lectured at Georgetown University, West Point, the National War College, and the Naval War College. Most recently, he was appointed to the board of trustees of Gettysburg College.
Nealer has demonstrated that same dedication through service to fellow Wolverines. As the former chair of the Michigan in Washington, D.C. advisory board, a position he held for nearly a decade, Nealer helped guide the program through a formative period in its development. Today, he continues to mentor U-M students pursuing careers in public service and supports scholarships that help them pursue their own educational opportunities. Through his time, expertise, and connections, Nealer has opened doors for generations of Wolverines, extending the impact of his own U-M experience to those who follow.
Established and awarded by Alumni Association President and CEO Ayanna McConnell, the Michigan Alumni Impact Award celebrates some of our most accomplished U-M alums — those who embody the Leaders and Best by creating lasting impact through their profession or community at large.
Recipients are nominated and selected by their fellow alumni and will be presented with a display-worthy award and recognized at the Alumni Territory Homecoming Tailgate. Recipients will also be featured across the Alumni Association’s channels, including the Michigan Alum magazine.
Nomination Criteria
- Nominees must be alumni of the University of Michigan (any campus).
- Nominators must be alumni of the University of Michigan (any campus).
- No self-nominations will be accepted — all candidates must be nominated by someone else.
- Nominees must demonstrate the following:
- Tangible contributions that demonstrate significant impact in their profession through distinguished achievement, leadership, or innovation recognized within their profession or area of expertise
- In addition, candidates must demonstrate one or more of the following:
- Significant impact within their community through civic engagement, which can include mentorship, philanthropy, and volunteerism
- A deep appreciation for the impact their alma mater has played in their personal and professional success
Award Information
- A panel of alumni peers appointed by Alumni Association President and CEO Ayanna McConnell will review nominations and select the final recipient.
- The recipient will be notified in July.
- The recipient must be available to accept the award in person at the Alumni Territory Homecoming Tailgate in fall 2027. (Tailgate tickets and accommodations will be provided.)
The nomination period for the 2027 Michigan Alumni Impact Award opens in early 2027.