Each spring, the College of Arts and Sciences’ Alumni Awards ceremony recognizes remarkable leaders whose achievements reflect the power of a liberal arts education and the bold momentum driving our college forward. Their contributions and achievements in their chosen fields, communities, country and university are creating a lasting impact locally and globally. 

The ceremony features the following honors:

• The Emerging Leader Award, which recognizes alumni who have demonstrated distinctive and outstanding achievement in their profession and through civic involvement.
• The Distinguished Achievement Award, which recognizes the outstanding career achievements and contributions of our alumni in fields that encompass disciplines across the arts and sciences.
• The Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes exemplary service to the College of Arts and Sciences, its faculty, students and programs.

This year, the April 17 ceremony will celebrate five individuals for their extraordinary successes and service. Their backgrounds and careers reflect the interdisciplinary pathways provided by an Arts and Sciences education, but also what it means to be a lifelong Buckeye.

Emerging Leader Award

This award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated distinctive and outstanding achievement in their profession and through civic involvement.

Frank A. Blazich, Jr.

PhD, history, 2013

A native of Raleigh, N.C., Frank Blazich, Jr. specializes in the American military experience in the twentieth century. A veteran of the U.S. Air Force, he holds a doctorate in modern American history from The Ohio State University (2013). Following his doctoral studies, Blazich served as the historian at the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum in Port Hueneme, Calif. before moving to Washington, D.C. to serve as a historian in the History and Archives Division of Naval History and Heritage Command. From June to December 2016, Blazich served as the historian on Task Force Netted Navy working for the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.

In January 2017, he assumed his current position as curator of modern military history at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. His first edited book, Bataan Survivor: A POW’s Account of Japanese Captivity in World War II, was published by the University of Missouri Press in February 2017. His second book, “An Honorable Place in American Air Power”: Civil Air Patrol Coastal Patrol Operations, 1943-1943, was published by Air University Press in December 2020. His second edited (and first translated) book, Un Américain dans la Légion: Mémoires Inédits d’un Copagnon de la Libération, was published by Les Belles Lettres in May 2025.

He has published articles, essays, blog posts, book reviews and delivered public talks on numerous topics relating to modern American military history. His work has appeared in the Journal of Military History, Naval War College Review, The Northern Mariner, North Carolina Historical Review, Army History, Naval History, Air Power History/Journal of the Air Force Historical Foundation, Marine Corps History, War on the Rocks, Volunteer Magazine, Center for International Maritime History, The Sextant, Seabee Magazine Online, Smithsonian Magazine Online and the Washington Post.

He has received several awards for his research and writings. In 2020, he received the Air Force Historical Foundation’s Best Article Award in 2019 for his article, “‘Definitely Damaged or Destroyed’ Reexamining Civil Air Patrol’s Wartime Claims.” In 2022, he received the Keith Matthews Award for Best Article from the Canadian Nautical Research Society for his piece, “Inventors and Innovators: Naval Lighterage and Anglo-American Success in the Amphibious Invasions of German-Occupied Europe.” In December 2022, his article “Notre Cher Ami: The Enduring Myth and Memory of a Humble Pigeon,” received a 2022 Smithsonian Secretary’s Research Prize awarded for recognizing and promoting excellence in scholarship across the institution. In 2024, he received the Literary Award from the Orders and Medals Society of America for his article, “The American Expeditionary Forces and the Order of Prince Danilo I.” That same year the French government awarded him the Médaille de la Défense nationale in bronze with “ARMY” and “FOREIGN LEGION” clasps.

He currently holds several positions in and outside of the Smithsonian. In December 2023, he founded and currently chairs the Smithsonian Institution Veterans Council. He is the Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator for the Society for Military History and the National Curator and National Historian Emeritus of the Civil Air Patrol at the rank of colonel. He serves as the Secretary of the Air Force Historical Foundation and is on the board of directors for the National Museum of Civil Defense. Blazich is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and currently a Knight Grand Officer in the Order of Prince Danilo I of the House of Petrović-Njegoš, and a Knight Commander in the Equestrian, Secular and Chapterial Order of Saint Joachim (serving as Grand Registrar), and in the Order of the Royal Crown of Hawai’i. He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife Nicole, son William, and rescue dogs Nelson and George. In February 2026, he commissioned as a major in the U.S. Army Reserve and will commence training to become a civil affairs heritage and preservation officer.

Mallory Kenny

BA, journalism, 2011

Mallory Kenny is the Director of Programming & Acquisitions for ESPN, a role she assumed in September 2024. In this position, Kenny leads ESPN’s comprehensive portfolio of collegiate Olympic sports, overseeing strategy, scheduling, rights acquisitions and long-term planning for a broad range of championships and regular‑season events. 

Her main responsibilities include managing ESPN’s relationship with the NCAA, guiding the network’s strategy and coverage for all associated Olympic NCAA Championships and serving as the primary liaison for the day‑to‑day partnership with Conference USA. She also directs the network’s acquisition efforts for all non‑FBS conferences, ensuring ESPN continues to deliver industry‑leading coverage across the collegiate landscape. 

A lifelong college sports fan and advocate of women’s sports, Kenny joined ESPN in March 2015 and has spent her entire tenure within the programming department. For more than a decade, she has held key roles supporting ESPNU, SEC Network and ESPN’s expansive college football properties.

A 2011 journalism graduate of The Ohio State University, Kenny started her career interning at the Big Ten Network before joining the Communications and Media team at the Arena Football League from 2012-2015. 

Kenny resides in Chicago, Ill. with her husband Kerry and their children Harper and Noah. 

Distinguished Achievement Award

This award recognizes the outstanding career achievements and contributions of our alumni in fields that encompass disciplines across the arts and sciences.

Sailesh Chittipeddi 

MS, physics, 1987; PhD, physics, 1988

Sailesh Chittipeddi is a global technology leader with over 30 years of experience driving growth, innovation and operational excellence across the semiconductor, systems and infrastructure markets. Based in San Jose, Calif., he has established a proven track record of managing multi-billion-dollar P&Ls and leading global teams of over 10,000 employees through complex market cycles and corporate transformations. He currently is a Venture Partner at Novo Tellus Capital, a Private Equity Fund headquartered in Singapore.

Most recently, Dr. Chittipeddi served as President of Renesas Americas and Executive Vice President at Renesas Electronics from 2019 to 2025. In this capacity, he held simultaneous responsibility for regional strategy, global operations and the IoT, infrastructure and Industrial business units. Under his leadership, these units exceeded $7 billion in annual revenue, doubling their size while expanding margins and integrating major acquisitions such as Intersil, IDT, Dialog and Reality AI. His operational oversight included managing 14 worldwide manufacturing facilities and spearheading strategic joint ventures in India to bolster supply-chain resilience

Prior to Renesas, Dr. Chittipeddi was the Executive Vice President of Global Operations and CTO at Integrated Device Technology (IDT), where he led the company's most profitable P&L and played a central role in its successful acquisition by Renesas. His career also includes a tenure as President and CEO of Conexant Systems, where he navigated a complex transition from a public entity to private-equity ownership and executed a rapid Chapter 11 restructuring that eliminated $800 million in debt in just 95 days. Earlier in his career, he held key leadership roles at Agere Systems and Lucent Technologies.

Beyond his executive mandates, Dr. Chittipeddi is an experienced board director, having served on the boards of public and private companies including Lantronix (NASDAQ: LTRX), Tessolve and Sequans Communications (NYSE:SQNS). A prolific innovator, he holds 83 U.S. patents and has authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications.

Dr. Chittipeddi earned his PhD and MS in physics from The Ohio State University. He also holds an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. He also has a mini-MBA in Finance Certificate from Wharton.

Distinguished Service Award 

This award recognizes exemplary service to the College of Arts and Sciences, its faculty, students and programs.

Linda Thomas Brooks

BA, journalism, 1985

Linda Thomas Brooks has operated at the intersection of marketing, media, communications, technology and non-profit leadership in her multi-faceted career.  

She is currently a consultant helping leading national advertisers, early-stage marketing tech companies, AI creators and non-profits to make sense of the rapidly-evolving media ecosystem. 

Previously, Thomas Brooks led two industry associations. She was the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). In her four years at PRSA, Thomas Brooks created and built initiatives focused on identifying and addressing mis- and disinformation and launched an industry effort focusing on the ethical use of AI in the communications industry. In 2024, she led the PRSA team to recognition as the Global Public Relations Association of the Year. She was also named to the PR News Top Women in PR awards in the category of Industry Champion. 

Thomas Brooks also spent four years as President and CEO of the Association of Magazine Media, where the synthesis of her experiences created business advantage for complex media companies. In her role, she led an organization which provided business, research, marketing and government affairs support to hundreds of media client brands.

She was also one of the founding executives of the Institute for Advertising Ethics, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing training and certification for advertising practitioners. The education program provided by the IAE has been adopted by some of the country’s largest advertisers, ad agencies and university advertising programs. 

Previously, Thomas Brooks was the Executive Vice President, Managing Director of General Motors Mediaworks, a media strategy and investment unit representing all the divisions and brands within General Motors.  Thomas Brooks and her team were responsible for close to $1 billion in annual media spending. During her time in Detroit, she was elected as President of the Adcraft Club of Detroit, which was the nation’s largest advertising club at that time. 

Thomas Brooks was also the President of Ingenuity Media at The Martin Agency. She created a new marketing function at Trilogy, a business technology company, and was a founder of an ad agency bringing optimization tools and practices to the content as well as the context of advertising messages. 

Over her career, Thomas Brooks has received many industry honors including being named an Advertising Age Woman to Watch, a member of the American Advertising Federation’s Hall of Achievement for early career success, and a winner of the Advertising Women of New York’s Impact Award for Mentoring. She was also named one of the 100 Leading Women in North American Auto Industry and one of Folio Magazine’s Top 100 Execs. She has also been an advisor for start-ups and accelerator programs, bringing her expertise in brand management and communications, consumer behavior and media usage, the evolution of the media ecosystem, data science, consumer privacy and corporate social responsibility. She is passionate about using her experience, expertise, connections and passion to address meaningful problems with innovative new approaches. 

Gary Sharpe

BS, geography, 1970

Gary Sharpe’s career spans entrepreneurial success, military service and exceptional community leadership, including generous contributions that support the advancement of healthcare.

Sharpe earned a Bachelor of Arts in liberal arts from The Ohio State University in 1970 and an MBA from Xavier University in 1979. In recognition of his entrepreneurial leadership, Xavier named him its first In Residence Innovator at the Center for Innovation in 2015. The following year, he was awarded a Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa, and delivered the university’s graduate commencement address. 

In 2017, he and his wife, Connie, a graduate of Ohio State’s College of Nursing, provided funding for the Innovation Studio within Ohio State’s College of Nursing, a three-year initiative that created a dedicated maker space designed to foster prototyping, collaboration and hands-on innovation. Continuing their commitment to education, in 2019 the Sharpe family donated the Pharmacy Skills Laboratory to the Ohio State College of Pharmacy. 

Sharpe is a chapter author in Evidence-Based Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Nursing and Healthcare, named the American Journal of Nursing’s 2020 Book of the Year, and has contributed as a chapter author to academic publications at Ohio State. He is also the author of Be a Hip Pocket Innovator, offering practical guidance and inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs.

After graduating from Infantry Officers Candidate School at Ft. Benning, Ga., in 1968, Sharpe served as a First Lieutenant and Medical Service Corps Officer in the Ohio Army National Guard, where he was Medical Platoon Leader for Headquarters Company, 82nd Brigade, 166th Infantry Division.

Following his tenure as Director of Government and Contract Sales for Philips Roxane Laboratories, from 1970 to 1978, Sharpe founded Health Care Logistics®, headquartered in Circleville, Ohio. As Chairman and CEO, he grew the company into an international enterprise that now employs more than 350 people, serves more than 13,000 active accounts and supplies specialized medical products worldwide. He also serves as Chairman of Distinctive Medical Products in the United Kingdom and is a partner in Winchester Laboratories in the US and UK.

His public service includes various church leadership roles, more than 20 years of dedicated support for the Naples Therapeutic Riding Center in Florida and ongoing contributions of essential medical equipment to the Ministry of Health and the people of Anguilla. In 2023, he was honored with the prestigious Paul Harris Fellow Award for community service from The Rotary Foundation of Anguilla.

Sharpe has been married to Connie Hahn Sharpe for 54 years. Their two children, Kyle and Bethany, both serve as Presidents at Health Care Logistics®. He divides his time between Ohio, Florida and Anguilla, guided by a simple philosophy: Every day, do something to make the world a better place.