{"id":23395,"date":"2026-07-13T14:40:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T18:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=23395"},"modified":"2026-07-13T14:40:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T18:40:21","slug":"alumni-awards-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/alumni-awards-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Awards 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Presented every other year, the Alumni Awards celebrate alumni who exemplify professional excellence, strong leadership, and meaningful volunteer commitment to Monmouth University.\u00a0The 2026 honorees were recognized in June in the Great Hall.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Distinguished Alumni Award<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Deborah \u201cDee\u201d Baker \u201900<\/strong>\u00a0is the founder and chief empowerment officer of Beyond the Uniforms LLC, an identity-centered leadership development company that helps women lead with clarity, purpose, and authenticity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A U.S. Air Force veteran, she has decades of experience in high-stakes environments and a deep understanding of the challenges women navigate in leadership. Her work is grounded in the belief that leadership begins with identity. Through speaking and experiential programs, she helps women strengthen their self-confidence, reclaim their voice, and lead from the inside out.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Outstanding Alumni Service Award<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fred Williams \u201904<\/strong> is the founder and CEO of Hawkeye Search Group, a boutique recruiting firm specializing in digital media and e-commerce leadership roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A former Monmouth football student-athlete and member of the 2003 Northeast Conference Championship team, he remains deeply engaged with the University as a mentor and donor, and is a co-founder of The Yarak Fund, which supports Monmouth football. Williams is also active in his community, supporting initiatives such as the Salvation Army\u2019s Angel Tree Program and Alex\u2019s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Recent Alumni Award<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kimberly (Kravitz) Bukowiec \u201913<\/strong> is an award-winning television journalist and anchor\/reporter with experience in the New York and Philadelphia markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She has worked with outlets including WABC, FOX5, and News12 in roles ranging from producer to on-air host. Her work has earned two New York Emmy Awards, two \u201cBest of the Best\u201d News TV Awards, and honors including Athena recognition and Phenomenal Women Under 40. She also owns KJ Media and Consulting LLC, helping clients build their brands through strategic media and content consulting.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet the 2026 honorees, recognized in June for their professional achievement, leadership, and service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":23410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"{\"x\":55,\"y\":34}","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-class-notes","category-the-back"],"thumbnail":"\"\"","catString":"Class Notes, The Back","issue":"Spring\/Summer 2026","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23395"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23415,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23395\/revisions\/23415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}