Maxwell School News and Commentary

Five Maxwell students and alumni are among the 14 Syracuse University students and alumni who have been named as 2024 recipients.

Jim Boeheim ’66, G’73, former Syracuse men’s basketball coach and special assistant to the director of athletics; and William “Bill” Brodsky ’65, L’68, chairman of a specialized investment firm and an investment management firm, will be recognized with honorary degrees from Syracuse University at the 2024 Commencement on Sunday, May 12.

The scholarships, now in their 35th year, were founded as a tribute to—and means of remembering—the students studying in London and Florence through Syracuse University who were killed in the Dec. 21, 1988, bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. 

Christian Bevilacqua ’24, a geography major, and Ciara Young ’24, an international relations and anthropology major, are among the five Syracuse University students who were selected. 

The student-driven award acknowledges faculty who have had a significant impact and positive influence on graduate education because of their superior graduate-level teaching, dedication to departmental and community presence and excellence in research and creative activities. 

Katherine McDonald, professor of public health, will be honored with the Faculty Excellence and Scholarly Distinction Award at this year's One University Awards ceremony.

The One University Awards Ceremony, an annual event to honor members of the Syracuse University community who are making a difference through academics, scholarship, creative work and dedicated service, will be held Friday, April 19, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel.

Alana Coffman (international relations, citizenship and civic engagement) and Iona Volynets (international relations, history) were among those named 2024 Syracuse University Scholars, the highest undergraduate honor the University bestows.

A research team that includes Public Health professors Bryce Hruska and David Larsen is studying how place-based community factors contribute to, or protect against, an elevated risk of firearm violence in certain ethnic neighborhoods. The team’s findings may help shape Syracuse’s I-81 Viaduct Project.

The awards are funded by a 2022 MetLife Foundation grant that supports research and community programming over three years to examine the racial wealth gap’s root causes and ideas that may resolve its economic and social inequalities, says Kendall Phillips, Lender Center interim director.