Alumni Achievement Award (Est. 1957)

The highest honor bestowed upon alumni by the University of Illinois Alumni Association on behalf of the University of Illinois. The award is presented to those alumni who have attained outstanding success and national or international distinction in their chosen profession or life’s work, and whose accomplishments reflect admirably on or bring honor to their Alma Mater.

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  David W. Hafemeister, MS '60 PHYSICS, PHD '64 PHYSICS

  David W. Hafemeister is recognized as a global leader in arms control efforts. Most notably, he worked on technical issues related to the United Nations’ 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, a multilateral agreement that banned nuclear weapons test explosions worldwide. Winner of the 1996 Leo Szilard Lectureship Award from the American Physical Society and a professor emeritus of physics at California Polytechnic State University, Hafemeister spent significant time working on national security matters throughout his career. He started with U.S. Senator John Glenn in the 1970s; worked for the State Department in the ’70s and ’80s; and, in the ’90s, he worked for both the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations and Governmental Affairs and the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Hafemeister also has worked with the National Academy of Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University and Stanford University, as well as many national research laboratories.

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  Halil Ceylan, MS ’95 ENG, PHD ’02 ENG

  Halil Ceylan, MS ’95 ENG, PHD ’02 ENG, is director of the Program for Sustainable Pavement Engineering and Research, or PROSPER, at Iowa State University’s Institute for Transportation. He also serves as a professor in Iowa State’s Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering. Ceylan has been involved in 125 research projects, with cumulative funding of more than $22 million from top government agencies. His work has resulted in the creation of smart, sustainable and resilient transportation systems, including roads that can clear themselves of ice and snow. Ceylan has been lauded for his innovative approach of employing artificial intelligence and neural network techniques to concrete structural analysis and design. A member of more than 30 national and international committees and organizations, Ceylan has received more than 20 career awards.

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  Amber Faye McReynolds, ’01 LAS

  Amber Faye McReynolds, ’01 LAS, is the founding CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute, dedicated to expanding and improving vote-by-mail systems in all 50 states. In 2021, President Biden appointed her to the United States Postal Service Board of Governors. Through her work and advocacy, she has improved the voting process and enfranchised millions of voters. During the pandemic, McReynolds ensured that people in 42 states could vote safely, and she was instrumental in pushing the Postal Service to create a COVID-19 test kit program to deliver in-home tests to more than 250 million people nationwide. McReynolds also led efforts to modernize Colorado’s voting process, creating a national model for turnout, access, equity, transparency and security. Finally, she serves as a senior strategic advisor to national such organizations as Election Reformers Network, Fair Vote and Issue One.

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