The Andrew Young School Distinguished Alumni Award honors outstanding alumni who exemplify the institution's standards of excellence. The award was created in 2011 to celebrate those who have made a significant contribution to the academy, the public sector, business, or the nonprofit sector, and the larger community.
"There is a race on as to who controls the thinking and direction of the world among those who are trying to hold onto the past, and those who dare to create a new and prosperous future that includes all of humanity." – Ambassador Andrew J. Young
"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Click here to nominate a distinguished alumnus for the 2012 awards.
Eva C. Galambos, Ph.D. ‘69
Dr. Eva Galambos is among Georgia State University’s first class of women to graduate with a Ph.D. in Economics. Upon earning her degree, Dr. Galambos embarked on a successful consulting career in local government and co-authored a popular text, Making Sense Out of Dollars: Economic Analysis for Local Government (National League of Cities, 1978) used in classrooms today.
Dr. Galambos’s contributions in urban finance, labor economics, public finance and education have improved innumerable institutions and governments. Among her many influential projects, she led an initiative of the Southern Regional Education Board that preceded the seminal 1983 report, A Nation at Risk, which spurred national educational reform.
Organizations including Sandy Springs Revitalization, Sandy Springs Clean and Beautiful, the Fulton County Public Housing Authority and the Sandy Springs Civic Roundtable have benefited from the guiding hand of Dr. Galambos, who epitomizes public service.
Dr. Galambos was elected mayor of Sandy Springs upon its incorporation in 2005 after leading the 30-year effort to create what is now Georgia’s sixth largest city. She then designed a model public/private partnership for its administration and delivery of public services that has been recognized worldwide.
Dr. Galambos has an M.A. from the University of Illinois and a B.B.A. from the University of Georgia.
Baoyun Qiao, Ph.D. ‘01
Dr. Baoyun Qiao is a professor and Dean of the China Academy of Public Finance and Policy at the Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing. He is a consultant for the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
Vice president of the China Economics Society, Dr. Qiao advises the Ministry of Finance for the State Administration of Taxation of China. He has played key policy roles in China: on implementing the national minimum standard of public service; by providing preliminary estimates of China’s tax gap; and by training experts that will manage China’s sub national liability.
The Andrew Young School continues to benefit from Dr. Qiao’s involvement. He partners with our faculty on research projects and has recommended several to China’s Ministry of Finance pool of advisors. He consistently markets the school’s international training programs and maintains the network of GSU alumni situated in high government positions across China.
The Southwestern University of Economics and Finance in China, where Dr. Qiao earned an M.A. in Taxation, has bestowed on him an honorary professorship and named him an outstanding alumnus. He is frequently invited by governments in Asia and Eastern Europe to speak on fiscal management.
Christina Lennon, M.S. in Urban Policy Studies ‘05
Executive director of the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation, Christina Lennon has dramatically expanded the foundation’s work in providing important services to low-income vision- and hearing-impaired individuals across Georgia and the world.
Under Ms. Lennon’s direction, the Lighthouse has opened 19 vision clinics statewide, created a new hearing aid program and almost doubled the number of surgeries provided. The institution has grown from serving 1,000 people a year to 4,500 in her four years at the helm.
Ms. Lennon has obtained new foundation giving and increasing individual donations, more than tripling the institution’s operating budget while holding overhead costs at six percent. She led a successful capital campaign that will allow the Lighthouse to move into a new home and establish a permanent vision clinic and optical lab.
Before joining the Lighthouse, Ms. Lennon served the United Way and the Arthritis Foundation in critical staff capacities. She has received many awards, including 2009’s “WOW Women on the Way” by Atlanta Woman magazine and the Georgia Center for Nonprofit’s Revolution Award as the Outstanding Nonprofit Leader.
The Andrew Young School awarded Ms. Lennon the first Amanda Hyatt Fellowship in 2003. She has a B.S. from the University of Florida.