USD Honors its Perfect 10

Ten USD graduates will be honored May 2 for their outstanding work in the arts, athletics, business and public service.

Honorees for career achievement include playwright and actress Heather Raffo, whose award-winning play “9 Parts of Desire” about women in Iraq is being produced across the globe and Judy Ann Kamanyi, an activist in Uganda for human rights and democracy.

Local honorees include Denise Boren a former Navy Nurse Corps member who spearheaded development of the innovative Heart Failure Clinic at the Naval Medical Hospital, San Diego and Richard Bartell, president of Bartell Hotels, one of the region’s largest and independently owned hotel companies.

“Each member of this dynamic and diverse group of USD graduates has made his or her own special mark on the world,” said USD President Mary E. Lyons. “During our 60th anniversary year, we are very proud to honor these graduates who have done so much to establish USD’s role as a leader in promoting excellence and public service.”

Other honorees include private equity investor John Cappetta, president of Cappetta Capital Partners; Sandy Cassell Farrell, a family therapist who has worked on many international humanitarian efforts through Rotary Club;

Zuzana Lesenarova, 1999 NCAA women’s singles tennis champion; Leona Makokis, president, Blue Quills First Nations College in Alberta, Canada; Patricia A. Makokis, director of Research and Curriculum Development, Blue Quills First Nations College and L. Douglas Robert, senior program manager, ITT Corp.

USD Alumni Honors, part of the university’s 60th anniversary celebration, is a gala evening of dinner, tributes, and entertainment, honoring outstanding graduates in the areas of career and athletic achievement, contributions to humanitarian causes and volunteer service to USD.

The event begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Jenny Craig Pavilion. For more information, visit www.sandiego.edu/alumnihonors or call (619) 260-4819.

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About the University of San Diego

Strengthened by the Catholic intellectual tradition, we confront humanity’s challenges by fostering peace, working for justice and leading with love. With more than 8,000 students from 75 countries and 44 states, USD is the youngest independent institution on the U.S. News & World Report list of top 100 universities in the United States. USD’s eight academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences, the Knauss School of Business, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and the Division of Professional and Continuing Education. In 2021, USD was named a “Laudato Si’ University” by the Vatican with a seven-year commitment to address humanity’s urgent challenges by working together to take care of our common home.