Recognizing University Of South Dakota Outstanding Alumni
A cornerstone Dakota Days event, the Unleash Your Legacy Alumni Achievement Awards celebrates outstanding alumni for their personal and professional achievements, service within their communities, and loyalty to USD. Honorees are recognized in the following four categories: Emerging Leader, Service to the University, Public Service and Professional Achievement.
Award Criteria
EMERGING LEADER: Recognition will honor an alum that best exemplifies leadership in public service or professional accomplishment. Eligible nominees include alumni who have graduated from USD within the past 10 years.
SERVICE TO THE UNIVERSITY: Recognition will honor an alum that best demonstrates a unique contribution and sustained service that will leave a lasting impact on the university community, whether through employment, public service, organization leadership or a combination of considerations.
PUBLIC SERVICE: Recognition will honor an alum that best exemplifies leadership in public service or community service in the spirit of volunteerism. Service is considered based on the breadth and depth of the service and in the context of the commitment to lifelong service engagement.
PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT: Recognition considers the alum’s record of professional and career service at the local, state, national or international level. The award honors the alum who has distinguished himself or herself through meritorious service to the profession itself and/or society through demonstrating the university’s liberal arts values such as critical thinking, diversity and inclusion, and communication.
Meet the 2022 Recipients
Award recipients were recognized at the Unleash Your Legacy reception and Alumni Achievement Awards ceremony on Friday, October 21, 2022, during the 108th Dakota Days.
Dawn Marie Johnso n '12, '20 - Emerging Leader
Dawn Marie Johnson is a natural leader and mentor who is able to engage and inspire the youth – and peers – she works with. She received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work from USD and continues to be an advocate for the School of Health Sciences, Department of Social Work and university. She was a 2019 30 Under 30 recipient and has a long list of accomplishments through her work with afterschool, health, family engagement and Native American youth programs.
Dawn Marie currently is Director of Leadership and Culture at the South Dakota Afterschool Network and has previously worked with the Sioux Falls School District and Summit School District in roles that support student achievement and engagement. She also volunteers with several community-based organizations.