2019 Alumni Award Honorees Announced

Carnegie Mellon University’s Alumni Association announced 11 honorees for the 2019 Alumni Awards, which will celebrate the alumni and their professional achievements and generous service to the university on Friday, May 17 during Commencement Weekend.

“Our alumni are leaders in their fields, the greatest minds in the world and dedicated volunteers, and these awards celebrate these individuals and their commitment to Carnegie Mellon,” said Alex DiClaudio (DC 2009, HNZ 2011), CMU Alumni Association Board president. “They are role models for what CMU alumni can accomplish.”

Included among the recipients are two Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences alumni: Eileen R. Heisman (DC 1976), recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award, and Farah Y. Zaman, Esq. (DC 2009), recipient of the Outstanding Young Alumni Award.

Heisman is an internationally known expert in charitable and planned giving who is president and CEO of National Philanthropic Trust, which she has grown into the nation’s largest independent provider of donor-advised funds.

Heisman has been named one of the 50 most influential executives in the philanthropic sector by NonProfit Times five times and was the 2014 Outstanding Fundraising Professional by the National Association of Fundraising Professionals. The Chinese government invited her to speak to their emerging nonprofit sector about philanthropy.

Zaman is a senior global data privacy counsel for Colgate-Palmolive, heading compliance efforts and advising on personal data use.

Passionate about women’s rights and social entrepreneurship, Zaman serves as an officer of Legal Hackers and chair of the International Women’s Rights Committee of the New York County Women’s Bar Association, among others. Zaman serves on the Board of Advisors for the Dietrich College and CMU NY Metro Alumni Network board, as well as participates in the Under Construction program and guest lectures on campus.