Alumnus George Farag traveled from Beirut to Washington, D.C., recently to accept a Maxwell School award—the journey a testament to what this community means to those who are part of it.

“I left my wife and colleagues in a warzone with the risk of not being able to get back,” Farag told the crowd gathered April 30 at the Syracuse University Washington, D.C., Center. “Over the last six days I’ve stayed at different hotels in different countries to make sure I’m standing here tonight. That should tell you something about what this moment means to me.”

Farag was one of five Maxwell School alumni honored at the fifth annual Awards of Excellence, the school’s signature alumni recognition event. Held in the heart of Dupont Circle, the evening brought together members of the Maxwell community—alumni, faculty, advisory board members and friends of the school—for a lively, standing-room only celebration of careers that have spanned climate finance, diplomacy, food security, public administration and the law.

Dean David M. Van Slyke welcomed guests and set the tone for the evening with remarks that acknowledged both the weight of the current moment and the enduring relevance of Maxwell’s mission.

“We are gathering tonight at a moment when the ideals that animate this school—free inquiry, rigorous evidence, the willingness to engage across differences—remain under considerable pressure,” Van Slyke said. “Taken together, these five careers span climate, diplomacy, food security, equity and the law, but they share something more fundamental: a willingness to engage the hardest problems of our time with rigor, integrity and a genuine sense of public responsibility. That is what Maxwell prepares people to do, and these honorees have done it at the highest levels.”

Emily Fredenberg | Compass Award

The evening’s first honoree was Emily Fredenberg ’16 M.P.A./M.A. (IR), recipient of the Maxwell Compass Award, which recognizes an early-career alumna for professional accomplishments and impact. As senior officer of programs and advocacy at the Global Child Nutrition Foundation, Fredenberg has spent the decade since earning her Maxwell degrees working to ensure that the world’s most vulnerable children have access to school meals—serving with the World Food Programme in Lebanon and Rwanda before moving to her current global role.

Reflecting on her time at Maxwell, Fredenberg credited not only her education but the community it gave her. She also offered a personal note: her husband, Sean Mills, a Syracuse University College of Law graduate, was at home in Alaska caring for their five-month-old son, Rhys.

“Becoming a new mom, this past year has made my work feel even more urgent,” Fredenberg said. “Holding my infant son, I feel the weight—and the hope—of the world he will grow up in which continues to motivate me. Maxwell helped shape my compass. It’s the place that taught me that service is not just a career path. It's a lifelong journey.”

Susan T. Gooden | Charles V. Willie Advocate Award

Susan T. Gooden ’95 M.A. (PSc)/’96 Ph.D. (PSc) received the Charles V. Willie Advocate Award, named for the late Maxwell scholar and community activist. The award honors individuals whose contributions reflect Maxwell’s commitment to an environment that is welcoming to all and oriented toward engaged citizenship. Gooden is dean of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, a founding editor of the Journal of Social Equity and Public Administration, and a past president of the American Society for Public Administration.

Accepting the award, Gooden spoke movingly of what the honor meant in the context of its namesake’s legacy—and of what citizenship demands.

“Maxwell instilled in me the belief that scholarship must engage the world it seeks to improve, and that it must inform policy, strengthen institutions and expand opportunity,” she said. “I accept this award with gratitude and with a continued commitment to advancing a public service that is thoughtful, engaged, grounded in equity and worthy of the communities it serves.”

Jeff Eckel | Bridge Award

Jeff Eckel ’82 M.P.A., founder and longtime CEO of HASI, received the Maxwell Bridge Award, which honors outstanding, transformative leadership in business with a commitment to advancing the public good. Eckel pioneered the use of finance as a tool for accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy, including overseeing HASI’s 2013 public offering as the first dedicated climate solutions investor and developing CarbonCount, a tool for measuring how efficiently capital investments reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In his remarks, Eckel drew a direct line from his Maxwell education to the investment philosophy that has guided his career.

“The Maxwell School instilled in me the idea that the public and private sectors do not have to be opposing forces,” he said. “Our investment thesis is that in a world increasingly defined by climate change, we will make superior returns investing in climate solutions—that you can do well by doing good, and that capital can be a powerful tool in the transition to a low-carbon economy.”

George Farag | Spirit of Public Service Award

Farag ’02 M.A. (PA)/’02 M.A. (IR)/’07 Ph.D. (Anth) received the Maxwell Spirit of Public Service Award, which honors individuals whose contributions have brought widespread impact and reflect the school’s ideals. After being inspired by the Sept. 11 attacks—which he experienced while studying at Maxwell—Farag joined the State Department, served in some of the world’s most volatile environments, and helped lead the evacuation of 15,000 Americans from Lebanon during the 2006 war. He later founded Silverline Strategies, a consulting firm whose operations now reach more than 3 million visa applicants annually across 15 countries.

In a deeply personal address, Farag reframed what the award meant to him and used his platform to call attention to an urgent present-day concern.

“I consider this award not a reflection of the public service I've offered, but the public service I’ve received,” he said, recounting his family’s arrival in America from Egypt in 1986 with nothing, and the volunteers, teachers and Maxwell scholarship administrators who helped them survive and thrive.

Roslyn Mazer | Maxwell 1924 Award

The evening’s final honor, the Maxwell 1924 Award—established to recognize an alumna for distinguished, sustained professional and civic leadership—went to Roslyn Mazer ’71 B.A. (PSc). Mazer served as inspector general of the Federal Trade Commission, inspector general of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and special investigative counsel in the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General. Before entering public service, she was in private law practice, where she represented the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists in Hustler Magazine Inc. v. Falwell, the landmark Supreme Court ruling affirming First Amendment protection of satire.

In her remarks, Mazer recalled the energy of Maxwell in the late 1960s, when she was a student writing for the Daily Orange and attending seminars in Eggers Hall amid the turmoil of a transformative era. She closed with a reflection on the school’s founding and the stakes of the present.

“When he established the Maxwell School 100 years ago, George Maxwell wrote about preserving ‘our value and distinctiveness as United States citizens,’” she said. “In 2026, the values that distinguish us as a country—the separation of powers, the right to vote, an independent judiciary, free speech, the rule of law—we can take none of them for granted. Citizenship must be reimagined, and the ethos of Maxwell must continue to infuse our graduates and energize our alumni.”