The IMSA Board of Trustees established its Alumni Awards program in 2006 to recognize Alumni who deliver outstanding contributions to IMSA, to the citizens of Illinois, our nation, and the world. We extend our heartfelt gratitude for the establishment of the Cathy Veal Endowment for Recognition of Alumni in support of the Alumni Awards Program, ensuring the continued success of this annual celebration, covering the cost of the prestigious awards, the luncheon celebration, and the travel expenses for bringing alumni back to IMSA to be recognized.
The Board is pleased to announce the 2024 Board of Trustees Alumni Awards recipients.
Titan Award
The Alumni Titan Award, an annual award, honors alumni who, through outstanding service to IMSA, advance the institution’s mission and work. The honorees are enthusiastic and energetic IMSA champions who dedicate significant time, talent, and/or treasure to endeavors that help the Academy fulfill its role in developing talent and leadership in mathematics, science, and technology for our state, nation, and world.
Brian Cudiamat ’96
Brian is the Manager of Visitor Services and Events at the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
While earning his B.S. in Computer Science at the University of Illinois, Brian volunteered at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts as an usher and tour guide. These experiences led to eventual employment as Patron Services Director in 2003. Two years later, he moved to Spurlock Museum as Coordinator of Special Events. In addition to overseeing events, Brian is also responsible for facility calendars, reception and security staffs, and building operations.
Following graduation from IMSA, Brian remained connected with students and alumni through campus visits and an online presence on IMSA’s text-based servers (imsasun, titan). As IMSA matured and engaged with growing numbers of alumni, Brian was a consistent presence during annual Alumni Day activities. He was elected the IMSA Alumni Association’s ninth president, serving three terms from 2017 to 2023.
Distinguished Leadership Award
The Alumni Distinguished Leadership Award, an annual award, goes to alumni who have made distinguished achievements or leadership contributions in their professional fields of endeavor consistent with IMSA’s mission. The awardees may also be recognized for significant civic or community contributions or extraordinary courage and selflessness under challenging circumstances.
Dr. Sara Goeking ’92
Sara is the National Program Manager for the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Inventory and Analysis program, which provides the nation’s benchmark data for major forest research and management decisions. As the first woman to fill this leadership role, Sara strives to build inclusive teams that cross disciplines to fill gaps in our knowledge of forests. She has mentored early career forest scientists around the globe through the U.S.-sponsored Women in Forest Carbon Initiative to improve gender equity in forest and climate science. She has also conducted capacity development in Asia, Africa, and South America to help countries address the forest carbon component of international climate agreements.
Sara completed a B.S. in Environmental Sciences in 1996, an M.S. in Forest Ecology in 2003, and a Ph.D. in Watershed Sciences in 2022. Her research has leveraged large datasets from field-based studies, remote sensing, hydrology, and climate science to understand how forests respond to climate and subsequently affect our environment. The dramatic effects of climate change on forests worldwide convinced her that sound forest management decisions require robust forest monitoring data. Her work helped justify the decision to list whitebark pine as a threatened species and led to current efforts to identify climate-resilient restoration sites. Sara’s dissertation research questioned a longstanding assumption that forest disturbances result in increased water supply, unexpectedly finding that disturbances in arid watersheds reduce water supply.
Sara is motivated by awe in the natural world. She believes in the power of data to translate stories into useful expectations, and she is filled with gratitude for the love of learning instilled by the IMSA community.
Alumni Trailblazer Award
The Alumni Trailblazer Award, bestowed when merited, honors alumni who personify IMSA’s philosophy statement that there will be alumni who “create new intellectual worlds, cure a dreaded human ailment or in some other way significantly influence life on our planet.” The outstanding achievements of these honorees will have earned national or international prominence for a groundbreaking or sweeping initiative that has redefined and improved the way significant numbers of citizens live, learn, or work.
Jessica Droste Yagan ’95
Jessica is the CEO of Impact Engine, an investment firm with a mission to bring more capital to a market where financial returns are linked to positive social and environmental impacts. Impact Engine manages venture capital and private equity strategies that invest in transformative for-profit, positive-impact funds and businesses.
For Jessica, investing for social good is more than just a business model; it’s a philosophy guiding the decision to invest only in companies that demonstrate a commitment to economic and social returns. This approach, she believes, is good for society and good for business.
Before Impact Engine, Jessica created McDonald’s Corporation’s global and U.S. sustainable sourcing strategies. At McDonald’s, she enabled the integration of ethical, environmental, and economic sustainability across all food and packaging sourcing. Jessica also worked in urban economic development through the City Advisory Practice at the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City.
Jessica holds a BA in Public Policy from Haverford College, an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and an MPA from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government. She has co-authored two Harvard University case studies on public-private partnerships. She also serves as a board member for the Metropolitan Planning Council, the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation at Chicago Booth, and Fixer. Crain’s Chicago Business named her to its list of 40 Under 40 in 2013, and she served as a 2014 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow.
She lives in Chicago with her husband (IMSA ’95) and three children.
