COLLEGE OF

Education and Human Development

Rising Alumni Award

The CEHD Alumni Society Board is currently accepting nominations for the 2025 Rising Alumni Award to encourage individuals as they progress in their careers. The Rising Alumni Award recognizes young professionals who earned their degree from CEHD within the last ten years, have made a significant impact in their profession or community at large and have achieved early distinction as leaders.

If you would like to nominate a CEHD graduate, please complete this nomination form. Self nominations will not be accepted, and current CEHD staff & faculty are ineligible for nomination. Nominations are due on Monday, February 10, 2025. Recipients will be honored at the CEHD Exceptional Alumni Awards Celebration on Tuesday, April 29 at McNamara Alumni Center. 

Please note, this award recognizes CEHD alumni early in their career. If you would like to nominate an alum who is in mid to late career, please nominate them for an Alumni Award of Excellence.

If you have any questions, please contact us at cehdas@umn.edu or 612-625-5963.

2024 Rising Alumni Award Recipients

Lekie Dwanyen (BS' 14, PhD '20, Family Social Science)


Lekie Dwanyen (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Michigan State University. Her research involves the study of traumatic stress and relational health in families affected by war and political violence. She is interested in culturally and contextually relevant strategies to reduce mental health disparities in marginalized communities. Dr. Dwayen is invested in advancing systemic family therapy and global mental health research and practice with immigrant and refugee families, as well as families in post-conflict settings. Along these lines, she has engaged Liberian refugees in the U.S. and stakeholders in the national mental health system in Uganda to examine culturally relevant strategies to address family- and community-level mental health concerns.

Read the full profile for Lekie Dwanyen

Sreytom Tim (BS '20, Family Social Science)


Sreytom Tim graduated from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities with a degree in Family Social Science and a minor in Management. Upon graduation, she landed an internship at Worldview Studio in the Bay Area. Afterwards, Sreytom was hired as a Business Analyst for Emerging Markets Consulting (EMC) in Cambodia and was then promoted to Senior Business Analyst. She is now Monitoring and Evaluation Manager at Skills Development Fund Cambodia. She is also a Cambodian Leadership Advisor for LEAPS for PEACE. Ultimately, she wants to empower girls and women in Cambodia through economic development, education, gender equality, and human rights advancement.

Read the full profile for Sreytom Tim

Previous rising alumni award recipients

    2023 recipients
    2022 recipients
    2021 recipients
    2019 recipients
    2018 recipients