Distinguished Alumni Achievement Awards

1 Abraham S. Fischler College of Education Sue Russell , M.S. (’84), is the executive director of the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood ® National Center, which helps states implement effective workforce strategies to address the education, compensation, and retention of their early care and education workforce. She is an advocate for better public policies, systems, and investments for children and educators. Her work has included developing successful national initiatives; building effective policies and systems to improve access to quality early childhood programs for all children; and researching the workforce, the early care and education system, and access issues for children in low-income families. She has served on numerous state and national boards and committees, including terms as president and treasurer of the NAEYC Governing Board. Russell has more than 40 years of experience in the early childhood profession, most recently as the president of Child Care Services Association. Her work in this field has garnered numerous awards and honors, including the Razor Walker Award from Watson College of Education, Karen W. Ponder Leadership Award from North Carolina Partnership for Children, Women in Business Award from the Triangle Business Journal , Order of the Long Leaf Pine presented by James B. Hunt, Smart Start Champion Award, Tar Heel of the Week, and Nancy Susan Reynolds Award from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. “The education I received at NSU prepared me for growing and leading a multimillion dollar, not-for-profit, early childhood organization; understanding strategy development and implementation; developing and strengthening my organizational and field leadership skills; and having the confidence to be outcome-focused and bold in my thinking and actions,” said Russell. “My degree in child care administration provided the foundational coursework in financial and human resources management, early childhood content, leadership, policy, and advocacy, as well as the impetus to continually seek more information to grow my knowledge and skills in these important areas.” College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Sherika Hornes , M.S. (’14), is pursuing a career in civil service in the field of national security. Hornes began her career while a second-year graduate student at NSU, where she earned a Master of Science degree in National Security Affairs. In the spring of 2014, she was selected as a Pathways Intern by the U.S. Department of State Office of Foreign Missions in San Francisco. There, she worked closely with diplomatic consulates throughout the northwestern United States. Upon graduation, she was named an administrative officer assigned to the Office of Foreign Missions in Los Angeles. Hornes’s job responsibilities have included ensuring compliance of diplomatic privileges and immunities for foreign officials residing in the United States and working closely with diplomatic consulates based across the country and at embassies in Washington, D.C. Starting in November 2015, Hornes will adjudicate passport and visa cases as a passport specialist at the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs in Miami, Florida. “My NSU experience helped launch my career with the federal government and enhanced my knowledge of national security and political science. It also helped me continue my passion for community outreach,” said Hornes, whose concentration was international relations and emergency management. In 2014 and 2015, she was a semi-finalist for the federal government’s Presidential Management Fellows Program. At NSU, she was the national security representative at the Student Government Association, a member of Alpha Phi Sigma Honor Society, and a scholarship recipient of the Horvitz Presidential Fund and the American Association of University Women. Hornes earned a B.A. in Humanities at Florida Atlantic University. She serves as a volunteer and in leadership positions at nonprofit organizations, including mentoring young women at the PACE Center for Girls. Her future goals include accepting assignments at U.S. embassies abroad and furthering her career opportunities at the Department of State. Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award Winners