2026 Distinguished Alumni Awards

Valerie Thomas-Njie (BS ’71) is a Pittsburgh native and longtime champion of education, community service, and civic engagement. A 1971 graduate of Pitt’s School of Education, she started her career as an elementary teacher outside of Chicago, and worked in education in San Francisco, Boston, and The Gambia, West Africa, after receiving an MS in Management from the University of Utah. She built a distinguished career in workforce development, serving for 37 years at Bidwell Training Center, where she helped transition the organization from a 1960s manpower poverty program to a nationally accredited adult training institution in Pittsburgh. She ultimately rose to the role of Executive Director and Senior Vice President before retiring in 2018. Under her leadership, Bidwell earned the prestigious School of Excellence Award twice from the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC). She also served as a Team Leader and the first Black elected ACCSC commissioner and received the organization’s Volunteer of the Year Award in 2009.

Thomas-Njie has been a dedicated voice for the Pitt community throughout her post-graduate career. She served as President of the Pitt Alumni Association — becoming only the third Black person to hold that title in the organization’s history — where she launched the PAA Equity and Social Justice Diversity Committee, and championed alumni engagement. She is also a member of the Pitt Board of Trustees, the Honors College Board of Visitors, and a longtime leader of the African American Alumni Council. Her many honors include the 2015 PAA Volunteer Excellence Award, the 2022 AAAC Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Duquesne Light African American Leadership Award for Education, and twice named to the New Pittsburgh Courier’s 50 Women of Distinction list in 2003 and 2006. Upon her retirement, Mayor Peduto proclaimed October 9, 2018, Valerie Njie Day.

With more than five decades of leadership, service, and mentorship impacting countless learners, the School of Education is pleased to present the 2026 Distinguished Alumni Award to Valerie Thomas-Njie.

Sean P. McCarty (MEd ’05, EdD ’12) has dedicated his career to the students, families, and educators of the Seneca Valley School District in Butler County, Pennsylvania, where he has served since 1996. He began his career as a special education teacher before advancing through roles as assistant principal and principal of Ryan Gloyer Middle School, where the school earned recognition as a National Blue Ribbon School in 2012, a Top 10 Middle School by the Pittsburgh Business Times and a National Middle School Association Schools to Watch school in 2011. In 2012, McCarty became Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education and was elevated to Deputy Superintendent for Secondary Education in 2025. 

During his tenure as assistant superintendent, McCarty was the driving force behind the creation of the district’s Creativity, Innovation & Research Center, a nationally recognized model program for K–6 innovation and hands-on learning. He also spearheaded the expansion of an elementary foreign language program, now reaching thousands of students. McCarty has advocated for innovative learning environments nationwide and has participated in national STEM education seminars and briefings. He played a central role in the design, development and production of Ehrman Crest Elementary/Middle School, which opened in August 2022, and was later named a 2022 TIME (Global) Best Invention. Ehrman Crest is now known as a model K-6 facility that demonstrates why physical learning environments play a key role in educational outcomes.

McCarty holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education from Slippery Rock University and earned his master’s degree and EdD from the University of Pittsburgh in 2005 and 2012, respectively. His dissertation focused on school crisis preparedness among K-12 school leaders. 

Grace M. Drnach-Bonaventura (EdD ’24) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health. She earned her doctorate in Social and Comparative Analysis of Education from the University of Pittsburgh.

Trained in human‑centered design, Drnach-Bonaventura develops inclusive, community‑informed curricula and teaches across in‑person and online formats with a focus on social determinants of health and practice‑based dialogue. Her scholarship centers on the role of education in promoting health and well‑being, particularly for women and girls. Dr. Drnach-Bonaventura’s expertise spans program evaluation, quality improvement, and using performance metrics that strengthen data-driven decision-making. With a background in maternal and child health, she has co‑facilitated education sessions for new parents on postpartum depression and child development.

Internationally, she has spent more than a decade partnering with a community‑run school to expand girls’ access to primary education through participatory, locally driven initiatives, supporting projects such as sustainability gardens to reduce lunch fees, safe transportation programs, and the construction of private bathrooms.

In addition, Drnach-Bonaventura has collaborated with health care systems and communities across the state to assess readiness for evidence-based implementation and to reduce stigma around substance use. She is also the founder of Drnach International, Inc., a nonprofit supporting educational access for children in developing countries, and founder of the Pitt Parenting Community resource group. Dr. Drnach-Bonaventura has been part of the CDC Lewis Scholars Program at Pitt and is actively engaged in converting core public health courses to high-quality online formats, ensuring they remain rigorous, accessible, and aligned with public health education best practices.

Valerie Howard (MSN ’95, EdD ’07) is a professor and the Dean of the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she leads efforts to address the national nursing shortage, and prepare the next generation of nurses. A 2007 alumna of the EdD program in Higher Education Administration at Pitt’s School of Education, she also holds a Master of Science in Nursing Education from Pitt and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. 

Howard began her career more than three decades ago as a nurse at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital and went on to build a wide-ranging career in nursing education. At Robert Morris University, she founded the RMU Regional Research and Innovation in Simulation Education (RISE) Center and co-developed the Elsevier Simulation Learning System, now used by more than 400 schools nationwide. She served as Dean of RMU’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences before joining the Duke University School of Nursing as Vice Dean for Academic Affairs, from 2018-2022, guiding academic programs through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. She went on to assume the role of UNC School of Nursing Dean in 2022. 

She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN) and a Fellow of the National League for Nursing Academy of Nursing Education (ANEF). Howard currently serves in leadership roles with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the North Carolina Institute of Medicine, and the NC Future of Nursing Action Coalition. 

Jessica Unick (PhD ’09) is a Professor (Research) in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School. She received her PhD in exercise physiology from the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. 

Unick’s research focuses on developing and testing programs for weight management and physical activity promotion in adults with the aim of improving long-term health outcomes. She is particularly interested in understanding individual variability in response to behavioral programs, adapting interventions based on early treatment response, and examining the psychological mechanisms through which exercise may influence eating behavior and body weight. Her work has been widely recognized in leading journals in the fields of obesity, behavioral medicine, and health psychology, and she has contributed to multi-site collaborations with institutions across the United States. Her work has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and as a Pitt doctoral student, Unick was the recipient of the Outstanding Student Award two years in a row (2007-08) by what was then known as the Department of Health and Physical Activity. 

Tammy A. Andreyko (EdD ’10) is the Superintendent of the Quaker Valley School District in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, a position she has held since 2018. She is an educational leader with experience spanning classroom teaching, building administration, and district leadership. Prior to joining Quaker Valley, she served as an Assistant Superintendent and Principal at North Allegheny School District and as an English and debate teacher in Chesapeake Public Schools in Virginia. 

Andreyko completed her doctorate at the University of Pittsburgh, with a dissertation focused on principal leadership in an era of expanding job responsibilities. Her scholarly and professional contributions are extensive: she has presented at countless national conferences, including the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE), the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), has been published in multiple professional journals, and represented Western Pennsylvania on the Pennsylvania ASCD and AMLE state boards. Among her many recognitions, she was named Pennsylvania Middle Level Principal of the Year by PAESSP and MetLife in 2009, received PASCD’s state Curriculum Award in 2016 and its Outstanding Supervision and Leadership Award in 2024, and was inducted into Kent State University’s College of Education Hall of Fame in 2017. She also received a 2008 Alumni Doctoral Fellowship from the University of Pittsburgh. 

Gianina Morales (PhD ’25) is an Associate Professor at the College of Engineering (Facultad de Ingeniería) at the Universidad de Valparaíso in Chile. A 2025 graduate of the PhD in Language, Literacy, and Culture program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education, Morales distinguished herself as a researcher and scholar.  

Since 2010, Morales has worked in engineering education with the goal of improving literacy learning opportunities for children and adults. Her research and dissertation studies focus on the languages, disciplinary literacies, and discourses of engineering to support curricular and instructional transformation in engineering education. Morales was awarded a multi-year Fulbright Scholarship that supported her doctoral studies in the United States. 

Her work has been noted and presented at conferences by the American Society for Engineering Education, the Research in Engineering Education Network, the Literacy Research Association, and the American Educational Research Association, among many others. In addition to her doctoral degree from Pitt, Morales holds a master’s degree in Pedagogical and Curricular Management from Universidad Andrés Bello (Chile), and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Language and Literature and a Bachelor of Education from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (Chile). 

Jamey Mentzer (EdD ’25) is the Associate Director of Student Conduct at the University of Pittsburgh, where he has long served at the intersection of legal education, student affairs, and equity work. He holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Akron School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in elementary education from Westminster College. In 2025, he completed his Doctor of Education in Higher Education Management at the School of Education, where his dissertation research examined the effectiveness of equity and inclusion interventions in legal education and the legal profession. 

Mentzer’s work has focused on fostering inclusive campus environments, mentoring students, and strengthening institutional practices that support student success and belonging. A dedicated advocate for LGBTQ+ students and professionals, Mentzer has served as a staff advisor to OUTLaw at Pitt Law, is a founding member of Pitt Queer Professionals, and is an active member of the Allegheny County Bar Association’s LGBTQ Rights Committee. He previously served as Assistant Director of Equity and Inclusive Excellence at Pitt Law and as a career counselor for law students pursuing non-traditional paths. His work bridges law, education, and student affairs to create more equitable environments for all members of the Pitt community. 

Gerard Dorvè-Lewis (MA ’24) is a doctoral candidate in the PhD in Higher Education program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. His research centers on equity, inclusion, and justice in education, with a particular focus on the sense of belonging and experiences of Black and other minoritized students, including in engineering and STEM contexts. He is president of the Council of Graduate Students in Education and a student ambassador for the School of Education. He obtained a Master of Arts in Education Policy from the School of Education in 2024. 

Dorvè-Lewis has co-authored peer-reviewed research on belonging interventions for Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students in engineering courses. His work reflects a commitment to both rigorous scholarship and meaningful impact on the students and communities he studies. He is affiliated with the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Program at Pitt and brings a multidisciplinary lens to his research on higher education access and student success. 

Dorvè-Lewis is a 2025 recipient of the Dean’s Distinguished Graduate Student Award. He has presented his research at numerous national conferences, including the Association for the Study of Higher Education, the American Society for Engineering Education, and the American Educational Research Association.