Six alumni have been recognized for their outstanding service to the University.
Lewis “Lew” Auerbach ’63, A.M. ’64, of Ottawa, Canada, has served the Harvard Club of Ottawa for 40 years. As president, he increased membership and strengthened both connections among alumni and the club’s financial situation. A longtime chair of the schools and scholarships committee, he interviewed applicants into his eighties. As Canadian clubs director for the HAA’s board of directors, he launched the David Johnston Financial Aid Fund for students from Canada and established the Auerbach Mentored Internships Fund at Canadian nonprofits.
Maria Carolina V. Dominguez, A.M.P. ’12, of Manila, The Philippines, has served as president of the Harvard Business School Club of the Philippines and the Harvard Club of the Philippines Global. As an executive committee member of the HBS Alumni Board, she helped advance alumni engagement globally, and fostered community as reunion chair. As an HAA director for Clubs and Shared Interest Groups (SIGs), she advocated for Asia-Pacific alumni and, as cochair of the Financial Sustainability and Partnerships Committee, led a team to create lasting resources for alumni organizations.
Matthew G. Hegarty ’82, of Watertown, Massachusetts, long a member of the Harvard Club of Boston’s board of directors, has served as both president and vice president. He has enhanced the club’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and supported the HAA Allyship series. He has also served on the HAA board of directors, as an alumni interviewer, and on his class-gift committee, and is partnerships director for the Harvard Alumni for Climate and the Environment SIG.
Young Joon Kim, J.D. ’83, of Seoul, South Korea, past president of the Harvard Club of Korea, organized and hosted events that fostered a vibrant alumni community in Korea and beyond. He also served on the HAA board as a regional director for clubs and SIGs and as a Law School graduate school director. He has held leadership roles in the Harvard Law School Association, including as president of HLSA of Korea. A member of the HLS Leadership Council of Asia and the Board of Overseers’ HLS visiting committee, Kim also chaired his class reunion-gift committee.
Maiya Williams Verrone ’84, of Pacific Palisades, California, has served the Harvard Club of Southern California, including as secretary and vice president of programming and of membership. In 2020, she co-founded the club’s Anti-Racism Committee and as co-chair helped organize events featuring faculty and alumni. She has been an HAA elected director, founder and president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Harvard Black Alumni Society, and president of the Harvard Lampoon Board of Trustees. Long an alumni interviewer, she serves as cochair for the San Fernando Valley schools and scholarships committee, and volunteers with the Harvardwood SIG.
John J. West Jr. M.B.A. ’95, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, served as alumni president of the HAA at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, helping leverage technology to strengthen connections among alumni worldwide. In addition to serving on the HAA Executive Committee, he worked on HAA initiatives including organizational problem-solving and learning from new alumni communities, and is former president of the Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs SIG.
Clubs and SIGs Awards
The Clubs and Shared Interest Groups Awards recognize individuals, clubs, and SIGs for exceptional contributions to their Harvard communities.
Recipients of this year’s Outstanding Alumni Leadership Award are Kandeban Balendran, PLDA ’18, and Bruce A. Hochstadt ’81.
Balendran has fostered a sense of community across the Asia-Pacific region. As president of the Harvard Club of Sri Lanka and cochair of the 2024 Harvard alumni-led summit “Big Bold Brave,” he led programming, building consensus, and welcoming alumni to his home country with the support of the club’s board of directors, fellow Business School affiliate Prashant Kandoi, OPM ’13, and other regional volunteer leaders. The event convened diverse alumni from 10 countries to exchange ideas and explore opportunities in technology, climate change adaptation, food security, and human capital development presented by the region’s growth, and offered opportunities for intellectual engagement for attendees.
Hochstadt, the Harvard Club of Chicago’s former president and former chair of its early college awareness program, has helped expand access to education for students and underserved communities in Chicago. He has organized events for middle-school students who might become the first in their families to attend college and coordinated winter-break receptions for Harvard College applicants and other outreach activities. He is founder and codirector of the club’s Cook County Detainee Education Program, through which undergraduate volunteers and some 50 alumni tutor more than 200 incarcerated individuals.
The Outstanding Alumni Community Award honored the Alumnae-i Network for Harvard Women (ANHW) and the Harvard Club of San Antonio.
The ANHW has built a multigenerational community dedicated to advancing the value of women’s leadership, strengthening women’s voices by providing a platform to connect with faculty members and explore opportunities to volunteer, learn, and socialize. Its in-person and virtual events include a recent series on reimagining equity. ANHW has become a global organization of women who learn from and celebrate one another.
The Harvard Club of San Antonio has long sponsored an intensive summer program in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) for high-school students, with instruction by alumni volunteers who are teachers. Its early college awareness program provides guidance for students and their families through pre-college advising and tours of nearby universities. The club also presents prize books to outstanding high-school students and teachers, hosts receptions for Harvard undergraduates, and holds an annual luncheon meeting for newly admitted students and their loved ones.
Aloian Memorial Scholars
Two students have been named the 2024 David and Mimi Aloian Memorial Scholars for their thoughtful leadership and for enriching the quality of life in their Houses: Christopher Hidalgo ’25 (Cabot House) and Cerena Wu ’25 (Kirkland House).
As a member of the Housing Committee, Hidalgo, of New York City, helped bridge the gap between Cabot’s Cronkhite Center- and Quad-dwelling residents with activities such as a Super Bowl party, a cooking exposition, and a musical performance. He is known for leadership skills and kindness and brings those qualities to bear in fostering community among Cabot House groups.
Wu, of Presque Isle, Maine, spearheaded events like the University-wide Lunar New Year celebration, which now attracts hundreds of students and involves collaborations with multiple Asian student organizations. She also revived Kirkland’s high tea, known as the Tea Seminar, transforming it into a unique experience for meaningful connections.
