Blue Key awards banquet recognizes 2024 award recipients and initiates, including Rutledge

Awards and initiates were recognized at the university’s annual Tucker Dorsey Blue Key Alumni Banquet on Nov. 22 at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel. The 2024 Blue Key Service Award was presented to Andew Dill, director of U.S. government relations for Lockheed Martin; Sam Holmes, vice chairman of CBRE; and Bonney Shuman, retired CEO of Stratix Corporation. Bo Rutledge and Kathy Pharr were awarded the 2024 faculty Blue Key Service Awards. Rutledge is the dean of the UGA School of Law and holds the Talmadge Chair of Law. Pharr is the vice president for marketing and communications and chief of staff to the president of the university. The 2024 Blue Key Young Alumnus award was presented to Smitha Ganeshan, hospitalist and assistant professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. Ganeshan currently serves as the medical director of the Hospital Medicine Unit-Based Leadership Team. The AT&T Student Leadership Award was presented to Yeongseo Son and John J. Neely IV. Son is a fourth-year biochemistry and molecular biology and anthropology double-major in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Neely is a third-year finance and management information systems double-major in the Terry College of Business. The Tucker Dorsey Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Rayna J. Carter and Sean T. Manning. Carter is a third-year student studying psychology, sociology and women’s studies in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Manning is a fourth-year student double majoring in economics and international affairs in the Terry College of Business and the School of Public and International Affairs. The Richard B. Russell Student Leadership Award was given to Elizabeth C. Crossland and Tristan M. Bashara. Crossland is fourth-year communication sciences and disorders and Spanish double-major in the Mary Frances Early College of Education and the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Bashara is a fourth-year finance student in the Terry College of Business. The 70 Blue Key initiates for 2024-2025 also were recognized during the banquet. The Blue Key Honor Society is a national organization whose members are committed to leadership in student life, high scholastic achievement, service to others and citizenship. Established in 1924 at the University of Florida, the organization’s third chapter was established at the University of Georgia in 1926. Written by UGA Marketing and Communications' Averi Caldwell