Ashley Berk, J98, received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching. A fifth-grade teacher at Travell Elementary School in Ridgewood, New Jersey, Berk was one of 95 elementary and middle school teachers honored at a ceremony in Washington, DC. The award is the nation’s highest honor for teachers of mathematics.

Lisa Busch, J88, was chosen as one of three 2005 Volvo for Life Awards heroes. The honors recognize ordinary people who go above and beyond the call of duty to help others in the areas of safety, quality of life, and environment. Busch was selected for the environment category for her creation of Sitka Trail Works, an environmental organization that helped provide retraining money for people in her home town of Sitka, Alaska, who found themselves out of work after the town’s pulp mill closed down.

Dr. Thomas Fekete, M78, received the 2005 Temple University Great Teacher Award. A professor in the department of medicine’s section of infectious diseases at Temple, he was honored for his two decades of bringing medicine to life for medical students, residents, and fellows.

Jim MacMillan, A88, was a member of an Associate Press team of photographers who won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography. They received the award for a series of graphic and heartbreaking pictures of bloody combat in Iraq. MacMillan, a Philadelphia Daily News photographer, just wrapped up a year in Iraq, where he was embedded with U.S. forces and involved in editing the work of Iraqi photographers from the field.

Joseph Neubauer, A65, was given the Corporate Citizenship Award from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars for his contributions to the growth and expansion of the Philadelphia community. Neubauer is CEO and chairman of ARAMARK, headquartered in Philadelphia. As a member of nonprofit and corporate boards, including Verizon Communications, Cigna Corporation, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and Tufts University, Neubauer has contributed to the growth and expansion of his hometown and the region.

Bonnie Steinbock, J68, received the Award for Excellence in Research at the University of Albany, State University of New York, where she is professor of philosophy. An internationally recognized expert on biomedical ethics, she is the author of some 60 articles on the topic as well as a book, Life Before Birth: The Moral and Legal Status of Embryos. The award is given for outstanding research and scholarship by members of the university faculty over a sustained number of years.

Bruce Stronach, F76, F80, F80, assumed the presidency of Yokohama City University (YCU), the first foreigner to become president at a Japanese public university. Stronach, who has a background in higher education in both the United States and Japan, was previously the acting president of Becker College in Massachusetts.