Alumni

UNC Charlotte is gearing up for the biggest celebration of the year with gatherings, performances, spirit contests and more, all culminating with the signature Homecoming events.

By the time Marianne Lieberman ’75 came to UNC Charlotte to pursue a Bachelor of Creative Arts, she had already faced enough challenges, had enough adventures and endured enough traumas for three lifetimes. And not just because she was a student in her 40s among a cohort of 20-somethings.

Lieberman, who graduated in 1975, started life in 1927 in Vienna, Austria, as the daughter of a Jewish doctor, enjoying the opportunities of the educated upper middle class. But in 1938, that world was destroyed.

Alumna Pooja Nair has been named “Rookie Teacher of the Year” by the North Carolina Art Educators Association, the state’s largest advocacy group dedicated to supporting visual arts education. The NCAEA honors one beginning teacher each year who has made “an exemplary initial contribution” and “demonstrates the potential for development.”

The UNC Charlotte Alumni Association bestowed its 2023 Alumni Awards to six outstanding individuals for their service to the University Thursday, May 4, at the UNC Charlotte Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.

Hanna Huffman ’09 was appointed senior vice president of marketing and e-commerce for Positec, a manufacturer of power tools and lawn and garden equipment.

Allison Petrauskas ’16 is the 2023 recipient of the New Professional Art Educator Award from the National Art Education Association, the leading professional membership organization for visual arts educators.

Sterling Bowen has worked in the field of sustainability for the last two decades. An honors student, he graduated from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in 1996. 
Currently, Bowen works for a private equity firm that is focused on carbon-free asset classes. He is also head of origination for the firm’s energy trading business which buys and sells the rights to energy efficiency, thereby decreasing demand for fossil-fuel-based generation and demand charges for business and homeowners.

The Charlotte Business Journal recently honored 26 outstanding individuals at the 27th annual Women in Business Awards. Among the honorees were UNC Charlotte alumni Donna Council ’85, Virginia Luther ’18, Tracy Montross ’10 and Melanie Reddrick ’01 and Charlotte MBA program director Janaki Gooty.

To learn more about the honorees, view the Women in Business feature.

Garet Beane ’03 is the new chief development officer for the Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County. In this role, he will oversee a $2.5 million fundraising goal. 

Deepika Dave ’15, recently conquered Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest peak, which rises to 19,241 feet and is located in Tanzania.

Dave, an engineering graduate and founder of RAYS Global Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is an advocate for youth and female empowerment in the U.S. and India.

She loves to inspire youth, and rather than simply advising them — wanted to set an example.