Outstanding Engagement - demonstrated exceptional service to the college, including excellence in leadership, mentorship, and/or philanthropy;

Lifetime Achievement - earned their industry, profession, or community’s respect for their work and personal accomplishments. Life activities reflect the importance of their CSBS degree;

Community Leadership Award - provided exemplary community service, with a sustained record of leadership, mentorship, and dedicated service;

Rising Star (graduated in last decade) - set the stage for lifelong excellence through outstanding contributions to their community or field of business;

Meets one or both of the following

• addresses grand challenges such as sustainable growth amid climate crisis, social justice, global health, healthy relationships, financial health, homelessness, etc.
• demonstrates transformational leadership characteristics. Mentors and develops emerging leaders from various groups.

*In special circumstances non-graduates may be considered.

Eduardo traveled a long road to attain success. Born in Mexico, he came to the United States at age 11 as an undocumented person. He crossed the border with the help of a smuggler, commonly known as a coyote. At the time, he knew three words of English.

Today, Eduardo is a labor and employment attorney for a large, multinational law firm, Littler Mendelson P.C. (Littler). He represents clients in litigation, advocates for them in cases involving discrimination, retaliation, and harassment claims, and defends them against unfair labor practice charges before the National Labor Relations Board.

Before joining Littler, Eduardo served for five years on Active Duty as an attorney and Lieutenant in the United States Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Recently, as a naval officer in the Individual Ready Reserve, he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander.

As a U student, “Eduardo embraced academic challenges and community activism with equal zeal,” said former political science Professor Claudio Holzner. He enrolled in the Honors College, taking the most difficult classes he could. He had near perfect grades. He tutored and mentored elementary and high school students and completed several internships with the Hinckley Institute of Politics in Utah, Washington, D.C., Belgium, and Mexico.

Eduardo graduated Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Utah. He earned his Juris Doctor from the prestigious Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in 2012. Before graduating with his law degree, he achieved his lifelong goal of becoming a U.S. citizen.

His personal story amplifies the inspiration behind his impressive record of achievement, community involvement, and leadership, particularly for other first-generation students and students of color.

For more than a quarter century, Gina has worked tirelessly to address hunger and poverty in Utah.

As executive director of the nonprofit Utahns Against Hunger, she educates local, state and national elected officials and advocates for federal nutrition program funding and legislation that protects low- income Utahns.

Gina helps vulnerable populations – including seniors, people with disabilities and limited English proficiency, and low-income workers – access federal food benefits. And she builds capacity and connections for hunger relief statewide. Before joining UAH, she worked at Utah Issues on welfare reform policy.

Gina was key in founding the Salt Lake City Food Policy Council to create a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient community food system. She chairs the Food Security Council, which helps strengthen Utah’s food system and increases Utahns access to healthy foods.

Gina found her passion for addressing hunger and poverty when she returned to the U in her late 20’s. “Every single class I took just made me more enthusiastic about forging a path in the community,” she explained.

As a student, she volunteered for three years as a project director with the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center. That experience, and an internship with Utahns Against Hunger, cemented her path.

Gina has received numerous awards for her work, including the Food Research and Action Center’s Anti-Hunger Advocacy and Leadership Award, the Crossroad Urban Center’s Hell-raiser Award, the Slow Food Community Leadership Award, and the Voices for Utah Children Champion Alumni Award.

She says that raising a decent and kind son, Jacob, who works to improve our community, is her greatest accomplishment.

In Erin Trenbeath-Murray’s 33-year career in nonprofits, she’s deployed creativity, compassion, and a results-oriented approach to make a real difference in the lives of Utahns. In the end, for Erin, impact is everything.

As Vice President of Philanthropy for Ken Garff Enterprises, Erin and team developed the NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) initiative for Utah Athletics, oversaw the financial giving of the Robert H. and Katharine B. Garff Foundation, and expanded the Success in Education Foundation. With Kathi Garff, she co-founded Women Who Succeed, which opens career and educational doors for young women through scholarships, mentoring, and internships.

Erin’s commitment to addressing difficult problems faced by Utah families was inspired during her time earning her BS and MS from the Department of Family and Consumer Studies.

As CEO of Utah Community Action (UCA), she combined her understanding of child and family development with her business acumen to establish innovative services for over 80,000 people a year living in poverty. Starting with three employees and expanding to 600, UCA served families across Utah in 40 locations.

Erin has received multiple awards for her innovative work, including two from Utah Business (30 Women to Watch and Women of the Year) and EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year.

With this award, Erin’s journey comes full circle. Not only did the U shape her career and life, but as an undergraduate she also married her husband of 35 years, Jeff. They’re the proud parents of two sons, Jackson, in graduate school in CSBS, and Harrison, studying in the College of Health.

Dennis believes the liberal arts education that he received at the U laid the foundation for his successful 35-year public accounting career with KPMG. The critical thinking and analytical skills that he learned in his undergraduate courses set him apart from peers with more narrowly- focused business degrees and helped him achieve international recognition as an expert in structuring large, complex financing transactions.

In gratitude, Dennis has endowed faculty awards in the names of three favorite professors: Charles H. Monson (philosophy), Frances D. Wormuth (political science), and Arthur H. Johnson (accounting). By recognizing outstanding teaching, these awards help attract, retain, and reward faculty committed to helping future students develop the critical thinking skills that so contributed to his own success.

Dennis grew up in Farmington, Utah. His parents encouraged their children to attend college and Dennis worked summers on the midway at Lagoon and later in its Accounting Department to pay his tuition. He entered the U as a math major, but changed to political science upon falling in love with the humanities while completing a year-long course entitled Introduction to the History of Western Ideas.

Dennis learned basic accounting at Lagoon and after graduation went on to get his MBA, being named one of six Dean’s Scholars of his graduating class.

Dennis retired 17 years ago. He and Donna now divide their time between Greenwich, Connecticut, St. George, Utah, and Berlin, Germany. They have two children: Spencer and Christian. Dennis also has two sons, Matthew and Charles, from a previous marriage.

“[Jill] is passionate, dedicated and committed. She is guided by her values and a deep understanding of human nature. She has honed an effective set of skills both professionally and personally that allow her to bring people together, create a safe place and enable them to solve their problems. She does all of this with deep respect, trust in others and empathy for all.” —Former Mayor Palmer DePaulis

Jill’s public service career spans 30 years and includes both elected and appointed positions, which she refers to as her “tours of duty.” In each, she found fulfillment from improving life for the people of Salt Lake and Utah.

Recently appointed to her fourth Salt Lake City mayoral administration, Jill serves as chief administrative officer under Mayor Mendenhall. Under former Mayor Ralph Becker, she led the formation of a cross- government homeless commission that drove the construction of two new shelters.

A high point of her seven years as executive director of the State of Utah’s Department of Cultural and Community Engagement was helping to lay the groundwork for a new state history museum, slated to open in 2026.

Jill served three terms on the Salt Lake City Council (2001-2013). As a council leader, she positively affected the rejuvenation of Salt Lake’s Main Street, which included the construction of City Creek Center and the Eccles Theater.

After graduating from the U in 1984 with her undergraduate degree in communication, Jill realized she wanted to make things happen, rather than write about them. She returned for a master of public administration degree while working full-time, joining an early executive MPA cohort.

Jill says her greatest achievement is successfully balancing a career and family. Married to Perrin Love, the couple has three adult children.