UAA celebrates 2019 Alumni of Distinction
by Matt Jardin |
2019 UAA Alumni of Distinction award recipients (from left): Alumni Emerging Leader Vanessa Norman, Alumni of Achievement Jacki Holzman and Alumni Humanitarian Angelia Trujillo.
Each fall, the UAA Alumni Association celebrates three Alumni of Distinction for their contributions to their chosen fields and community. Read more about this year's award recipients, who will be recognized at the Homecoming Breakfast on Friday, Oct. 4, at the Alaska Airlines Center.
Jacki Holzman
Alumni of Achievement
M.S. Environmental Quality Science '92
Deputy regional administrator for the Alaska region of the Federal Aviation Administration
In order for the Federal Aviation Administration to stay afloat, there are a plethora of tasks for which the FAA is responsible. Many of those tasks intersect at Jacki Holzman, the deputy regional administrator for the Alaska region of the FAA. According to Holzman, her role functions to connect operations or stakeholders to address aviation safety, and is the latest in her 27-year career with the FAA. Read Jacki's story.
Angelia Trujillo
Alumni Humanitarian
B.S. Nursing Science '97, M.S. Nursing Science '04
Women's health nurse practitioner with Denali OB-GYN Clinic and associate professor
with UAA School of Nursing
Originally from Oregon, Trujillo enrolled at UAA to study nursing. One day in 2002 while working to earn her master's, a guest speaker visited her public health nursing workplace to introduce the world of forensic nursing. Trujillo was hooked. Since then, she has become a forensic nursing leader in Alaska, which she describes as a multidisciplinary field that's more robust than how it's depicted on TV - more of a joint effort between health care and law enforcement that's just as much about advocating and supporting patients as it is about solving crimes. Read Angelia's story.
Vanessa Norman
Alumni Emerging Leader
B.B.A. Management and Marketing '04
Attorney with law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Growing up in Port Graham, a village only reachable by small plane or boat from Homer, Vanessa Norman always knew she would wind up working for the betterment of Alaska Native people. Of course, Norman's path might be traceable to her father, who constantly predicted all her life what she would grow up to become. But it also might do with Norman coming from a line of people who have dedicated their lives to benefit the Alutiiq people from the Chugach region of Alaska. Read Vanessa's story.
Written by Matt Jardin, UAA Office of University Advancement
"UAA celebrates 2019 Alumni of Distinction" is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
