ECU Alumni Association names 2020 Robert H. Wright Alumni Leadership Award recipients
The East Carolina University Alumni Association selected five student recipients of the 2020 Robert H. Wright Alumni Leadership Award. The award recognizes students’ academic achievement as well as commitment to leadership and integrity.
The award is the most prestigious award presented by the ECU Alumni Association, given to students who live up to Robert H. Wright’s legacy of using leadership to influence positive change, just as he did as the first president of East Carolina Teachers College. The students will be honored during ECU’s spring commencement ceremony on May 8.
“The 2020 Robert Wright Award recipients are such a talented, accomplished group. It is an honor for the ECU Alumni Association to recognize these amazing students as they truly represent Pirate Nation in the best way,” said Scott Francis, associate vice chancellor for alumni relations.
The 2020 recipients:
Matthew Jennette (Contributed photos)
Matthew Jennette
Jennette of Goldsboro is an English and English secondary education major minoring in psychology. As an Honors College student, Jennette completed a signature project analyzing co-teaching methods, which he presented at the North Carolina Association of Colleges and Teacher Educators and the National Conference for Co-Teaching. Jennette also tutored and served as vice president of the Pirate After School Scholars program. He is the recipient of the Access Scholarship and ECU Alumni Association Scholarship, and lived in the Honors, Access and Residential Scholar Living and Learning Communities. After graduation, Jennette plans to pursue his Master of Business Administration at ECU and work in education.
Colin Johnson
Colin Johnson
Johnson of Greenville is an EC Scholar majoring in health services management. He currently serves as the student body president representing students on the Board of Trustees. Johnson studied abroad in Tuscany, Italy for a semester and was involved in several research projects ranging from neuroscience research to community-engaged health psychology research. After graduation, he plans to pursue his MBA at ECU with a long-term goal of becoming a hospital administrator.
Ananya Koripella
Ananya Koripella
Koripella of Cary is double majoring in public health studies and foreign languages and literatures. Koripella is an EC Scholar and serves as the vice president of the Honors College Student Council. In addition, she is a program assistant at the Women and Gender Office, an undergraduate research technician at the Diabetes and Obesity Institute and the treasurer of ECU Raas, a club sports Indian folk dance team. She has also studied abroad in Greece and Spain and completed service trips to Honduras and Puerto Rico. She will be attending medical school in the fall.
Serena Mooney
Serena Mooney
Mooney of Greenville is an Honors College student double majoring in public health studies and multidisciplinary studies. As an undergraduate, Mooney traveled to Washington, D.C. to advocate for issues including gun violence prevention research and student loan debt reduction. She also helped create an organization dedicated to fostering connections between ECU students and Greenville’s elderly population. Mooney plans to attend medical school after graduation.
Pranaya Pakala
Pranaya Pakala
Pakala of Winterville is an EC Scholar studying biology. While at ECU, Pakala started Health4PINE (Health For People In Need Everywhere), a nonprofit organization for young adults that promotes physical, social and mental wellbeing. She was also a 2018 East Carolina Heart Institute summer intern, where she shadowed several cardiothoracic surgeons as they performed both open and robotic cardiac surgery. After graduation, Pakala will attend the Brody School of Medicine. She hopes to become a primary care physician and a mental health advocate for people in rural areas.
-by Erin Ward, University Communications