Join us as we celebrate this year’s Founders’ Day honorees

RJ Hamster

3 years ago

We’ve come far. We’ll go further.

This past year as a community, we cheered as NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars with the ASU-led camera system Mastcam-Z on board. We completed our 1 millionth COVID-19 test, commemorating a massive effort to address a global pandemic. And we achieved milestones in sustainability, like finishing the first global map of coral reefs to tackle biodiversity loss.

This is ASU — a university that started with just four classrooms and now ranks No. 1 in the U.S. for innovation, sustainability and global impact.

On Thursday, March 17 at 6 p.m. PST, join ASU President Michael M. Crow and the ASU Alumni Association as we honor this year’s innovators and changemakers at the 2022 Founders’ Day celebration. Hear their stories and meet the distinguished alumni, faculty and philanthropists who have made significant contributions that drive the future of ASU and the world.

Attend in person

Founders’ Day 2022 honorees

James W. Creasman Award of Excellence
Barbara Barrett, ’72 BS political science, ’75 MPA, ’78 JD
25th secretary of the U.S. Air Force; owner of Triple Creek Ranch; U.S. ambassador to Finland; pilot; diplomat; mentor; space authority; global leader; ASU champion

Philanthropists of the Year Award
Kelly and Brian Swette, ’76 BS economics

Alumni Achievement Award
Michelle Tom, ’99 BS microbiology, MPH, DO
Board-certified family medicine physician; former Sun Devil Women’s Basketball player; advocate for Navajo/Native American health care

Young Alumni Achievement Award
Philip Oro, MD, ’10 BS economics
Family medicine physician; Major, U.S. Air Force; medical director of COVID Operations, medical director of Warrior Medicine Clinic, Ramstein Air Base, Germany

Faculty Teaching Achievement Award
Mark Jacobs, PhD
Dean of Barrett, The Honors College for 19 years and professor, School of Life Sciences

Faculty Service Achievement Award
Ramon Arrowsmith, PhD
Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Faculty Research Achievement Award
Efrem Lim, PhD
Assistant professor, School of Life Sciences, Biodesign Center for Fundamental and Applied Microbiomics; principal investigator, Center for Viral Genomics at ASU, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Thank you to our 2022 sponsors!

Sustaining sponsor