Bucknell Alumni Association Honors Four Graduates With Annual Awards

The Bucknell University Alumni Association presented its annual awards to four exceptional alumni as a part of Reunion Weekend festivities June 4.

Bently T. Elliott '66 received the Loyalty to Bucknell Award. Initiated in 1951 and the oldest of the four awards, it honors an alumnus or alumna whose service, dedication and commitment to Bucknell are extraordinary. Elliott has served the University in many capacities over the years. These roles have included stints with the Alumni Association and Bison Club boards of directors as well as volunteer positions with Reunion, alumni admissions, the Career Development Center and the Annual Fund. He has also been a trustee emeritus since 2014.

Currently a managing director of communications at Merrill Lynch, Elliott previously held roles at IBM, Goldman Sachs, the New York Stock Exchange and CBS. He was also the director of speechwriting for President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1986. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Bucknell, where he played football and was a member of Phi Gamma Delta. He and his wife, Troy Lynn Elliott, have five children, three of whom are also Bucknell graduates — Meredith '00, Thomas '03 and Grace '16.

Amy Rowe Klement '96 received the Outstanding Achievement in a Chosen Profession Award. Initiated in 1952, this award recognizes an alumnus or alumna whose professional accomplishments and achievements are exceptionally noteworthy and distinctive in his or her profession. A partner at Omidyar Network, Rowe Klement heads up its education initiative, which aims to identify entrepreneurial models to improve the educational ecosystems in underserved communities. She previously led Omidyar's financial inclusion, property rights, and consumer internet and mobile initiatives in key geographical areas, and has held board seats or observer roles with Kiva, Living Goods, Bridge International Academies, Social Finance U.S., Mimoni, Andela and Off Grid Electric.

Rowe Klement previously worked at eBay and PayPal, which she joined as one of its earliest employees in 1999. She also had stints at Gap Inc. and JPMorgan & Co. She holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Bucknell, where she graduated summa cum laude and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She and her husband, Judd, have two children, Oscar (8) and Hazel (11).

Guy O. Williams '76 received the Service to Humanity Award. This award, which began in 1957, honors an alumnus or alumna whose selfless and caring work and deeds benefit society and humankind. Williams has dedicated his career to environmental activism, and he recently took a position as the first full-time president and CEO of Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice, a nonprofit dedicated to providing Detroit residents with tools to play a meaningful role in the decision-making process regarding environmental concerns in their neighborhoods. He is the founder and principal of G.O. Williams & Associates, which provides strategic advising to sustainable community and environmentally related programs.

Williams has also held leadership roles at the Fair Food Foundation and the National Wildlife Federation. Named the Detroit Free Press' Michigan Green Leader in 2014, Williams currently serves as the chair of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Board of Directors and chair emeritus of the Great Lakes Leadership Academy Board of Governors. He has also been a member of boards of the Eastern Market Corporation and Pesticide Action Network North America, as well as the advisory boards for the Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors and the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences & Assessment Center. He holds a bachelor's degree in education from Bucknell and has a wife, Susan, as well as two grown stepchildren.

Yoshi Maisami '01 received the Young Alumni Award. Initiated in 2001, this award recognizes an alumnus or alumna of the last 15 years whose professional accomplishments, service to alma mater, and/or selfless and caring work to benefit society are distinctive. Maisami has combined his entrepreneurial spirit with a commitment to Bucknell through mentoring student entrepreneurs, volunteering with the Career Development Center, and serving as a judge at the Small Business Development Center's student entrepreneur competition, BizPitch. He was also a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors from 2003 to 2011.

Currently a managing director at the Rock Creek Group, Maisami has co-founded multiple ventures, including Intridea, Ideaspace and Nation of Makers. He also held positions at Captive Capital and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and currently serves on the board for Washington D.C.'s Innovation & Technology Inclusion Council. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and economics from Bucknell, where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta, the president of the Bucknell Student Government and Class of 2001, and a participant in the Institute for Leadership in Technology & Management. He and his wife, Ceyda Maisami '05, have a son, Leo.