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Awards and Recognition

Alumni Awards

UIC and the Chancellor honor alumni for the remarkable success they have achieved in their lives and work. To view photos from past Alumni Awards Celebrations, click here.   For more information on the alumni awards and nomination process, click here.

UIC Alumni Awards Celebration

Our Alumni Award honorees are a remarkable group of individuals.

The 2023 Alumni Awards honorees will be recognized this year at the Alumni Awards Celebration in April.

2023 Alumni Achievement Award Honorees
The highest honor bestowed upon alumni by the University of Illinois Chicago Alumni Association. 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.

  • Dr. James Gutmann ’72
    College of Dentistry
  • Dr. Rodney Rothstein BS ’69
    College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

2023 Distinguished Service Award Honoree
Bestowed upon alumni, faculty, staff and friends by the University of Illinois at Chicago Alumni Association. The award is presented to individuals or couples whose consistent, exceptional and meritorious service to the University has made a significant impact on the institution’s overall welfare and the advancement of its mission.

  • Dr. Barry Booth BS ’82, MS ’84, DDS ’86
    College of Dentistry

2023 Humanitarian Award Honoree
This award is presented to those alumni who, through their outstanding involvement and dedication, have made a significant contribution of leadership or service which has improved or enriched the lives of others and the welfare of humanity, and whose accomplishments reflect admirably on, or bring honor to, their alma mater.

  • Ms. Marie Jarrell BS ’87
    College of Applied Health Sciences

2023 Rising Star Leadership Award Honorees
The Rising Star Leadership Award is designed to acknowledge rising and future leaders among UIC’s recent alumni community. Those individuals who are qualified for this award have demonstrated exemplary leadership capabilities and orchestrated meaningful change as influential in their profession or in their communities (local, regional, national, global). The recipient of the Rising Star Leadership Award represents the ideal of a committed, industrious, and ambitious individual to whom the UIC community may look as personifying the University’s mission.

  • Ms. Jenifer Nyhuis MSW ’12
    Jane Addams College of Social Work
  • Dr. Kaitrin Kramer PhD ’14
    College of Dentistry

Read more about the 2022 Alumni Awards honorees below.

Alumni Achievement Award Honorees Heading link

Distinguished Service Award Honoree Heading link

Humanitarian Award Honoree Heading link

Rising Star Leadership Award Honorees Heading link

UICAA Alumni Awards Nominations Heading link

We are honored to award the highest alumni awards to UIC alumni. Nominations are currently closed. For more information, please click here.

Golden Grads Heading link

UIC Golden Grads

In December 2022, UIC continued its tradition of honoring Golden Graduates, alumni celebrating 50 years since graduating. The Classes of 1970, 1971 and 1972 were invited back to campus to participate in the December Commencement ceremony and celebrate together at the Golden Graduates reception. The Class of 1972 was honored through a virtual gathering featuring a walk down memory lane and a special performance by UIC’s student acapella group, Downtown Voices. See photos from the event.

Lighting of the Flame Heading link

Jesús

UIC Advancement partners with UIC Athletics to provide a special opportunity for distinguished members of the UIC community, who have exemplified extraordinary interest in and loyalty to UIC, to serve as torchbearers in the Lighting of the Flame.

First held in 1998, the Lighting of the Flame ceremony is typically held at either a large University gathering, such as Convocation, or before the start of a Flames men’s home basketball game. Torchbearers carry a symbolic torch onto the UIC Pavilion floor and light a cauldron while the school song is played.

Circle Campus & UIC History Heading link

a historical image of the circle campus

Since the earliest days of our campus, we have created access to an outstanding education for talented students of all backgrounds.  Our history is steeped in commitments to social justice and community engagement, as well as discovery and innovation.