The University of Georgia Graduate School honored six outstanding graduates on Oct. 17 with the 2024 Alumni of Distinction Awards. These recipients were selected for achieving exceptional success in their professional careers and for significant service to their communities.
“Each of these graduate alumni has made outstanding contributions to their fields and to their communities, earning recognition at state, national, and international levels. We are so proud of their accomplishments and so pleased to call them UGA graduates,” said Ron Walcott, vice provost for graduate education and dean of the Graduate School.
The Graduate School Alumni of Distinction Award was established in 2012 by the Graduate Education Advancement Board; the first recipients were named in 2013. All graduate-level UGA alumni are eligible to be considered for the annual award. Recipients were nominated by their respective schools and colleges and selected by members of the Graduate Education Advancement Board.
The 2024 award recipients are:
Khalifeh Al Jadda
Ph.D. in computer science, 2014
Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
Khalifeh Al Jadda, of Warren, New Jersey, is the director of data science at Google. He is a distinguished computer scientist and accomplished leader in data science and has extensive experience implementing complex machine learning algorithms to solve real-world challenges across diverse domains. A recognized thought leader, Al Jadda is the founder of the Southern Data Science Conference and co-founder of the nonprofit ATLytiCS, which provides education and resources to “assist nonprofits in using data-inspired decisions to aid their outreach to vulnerable populations in the Atlanta community.”
Ashvin Chhabra
Ph.D. in physics, 1984
Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
Ashvin Chhabra, of New York, New York, is president and chief investment officer of Euclidean Capital, a New York-based family office for James H. Simons and Marilyn H. Simons. The Simons Foundation is dedicated to advancing research in mathematics and the basic sciences. It is currently one of America’s largest private funders of these areas. He has made significant scientific contributions in the area of Monte Carlo simulations and nonlinear dynamics before transforming into an internationally recognized leader in computational finance and a founder of goals-based wealth management. Chhabra is a member of the investment committees of the Stony Brook Foundation, Institute for Advanced Study, The National Academy of Sciences & Rockefeller University, and a member of the Director’s Advisory Board for the International Centre for Theoretical Physics at Trieste, Italy.
Peter Groffman
Ph.D. in environmental science, 1984
Odum School of Ecology
Peter Groffman is a professor at the City University of New York Advanced Science Research Center, the Earth and Environmental Sciences Program at the Graduate Center, and Brooklyn College Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. Groffman has contributed significantly to the field through his leadership roles and research that focuses on climate effects on ecosystem biogeochemical processes related to carbon and nitrogen cycles. His work has provided invaluable insights into the intricate relationships between climate and ecosystem dynamics and has been cited in numerous publications. Groffman currently serves as president-elect of the Ecological Society of America, the world’s largest organization of professional ecologists.
Theda Perdue
M.A. and Ph.D. in history, 1974 and 1976
Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
Theda Perdue, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is the Atlanta Distinguished Professor Emerita at the University of North Carolina. Her doctoral dissertation, a study of Cherokees and slaveholding, became a now-classic study: Slavery and the Evolution of Cherokee Society, 1540-1866. This was the first of several pioneering works in Native American history that examined the Southeastern tribes. She is the author of nine books and the editor of six others. Many of these works remain classics in the field, still avidly read by students and scholars. Perdue has earned many honors, including fellowships from the Newberry Library, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation.
Inez Tenenbaum
B.S.Ed. and M.Ed. in elementary education and teaching, 1972 and 1974
Mary Frances Early College of Education
Inez Tenenbaum, of Caesar’s Head, South Carolina, practices law at Wyche firm in the area of consumer product safety and advises clients on matters involving the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. She also provides consulting services on education policy for national and state organizations whose missions are to provide a quality education for all children. Tenenbaum was elected as South Carolina’s state superintendent of education in 1999 and again in 2002. Tenenbaum received nine honorary degrees from colleges and universities in South Carolina. Additionally, she has received numerous awards from national, state and community organizations for her advocacy for children and youth, protecting children from dangerous products, public education leadership, women’s rights, and lifetime achievement.
Leo Twiggs
Ed.D. in art education, 1970
Mary Frances Early College of Education and Lamar Dodd School of Art, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
Leo Twiggs, of Orangeburg, South Carolina, retired from teaching in 1998 but retains the position of Distinguished Artist in Residence at Claflin University. His work has been the subject of more than 75 one-man shows and has received international recognition with exhibits at the Studio Museum in New York and U.S. embassies in Rome, Italy, Dakar, Senegal and Bern, Switzerland, among other venues. For over 60 years, his life experiences as an African American man born in the segregated South, as the first Black graduate of the University of Georgia’s art education doctoral program, and as a father, teacher and artist have infused his paintings. Twiggs has been widely published in textbooks and featured in several TV documentaries.
Read full bios here.
