National University is proud to name these 2023 Graduating students to this prestigious group celebrating academic excellence and the student’s potential for positive impact. These future professionals will be leading in healthcare, education, military, mental health, public service, business and innovation, and IT sectors.
See below for the full list of our 2023 President’s Circle Inductees and you can read their inspiring stories here or in the accordion below.
President’s Circle Inductees
The 2023 President Circle inaugural graduates are all inspirations. Many are first-generation, many are earning and learning, balancing multiple priorities. The students come from all walks of life and are walking into a myriad of professions.
These future professionals will be leading in healthcare, education, military, mental health, public service, business and innovation, and IT sectors
Dr. Mark Milliron, National University President and CEO
Linwood Alford, MSW, QMHP A/C
Master of Social Work
Linwood Alford says his mission in life is to be of service to those who served. A Gulf War Veteran and now busy entrepreneur, Alford left his job with the Dept. of Veteran’s Affairs to open his non-profit organization, Open Door Resource Center, Inc. The Center is a place where Veterans can get…
Linwood Alford, MSW, QMHP A/C
Master of Social Work
“As the parent of a young man I knew what legacy I wanted to leave behind for him. I wanted to leave him knowing that caring for people – that’s where the real wealth is. I’m not talking about financial wealth. I’m talking about the real wealth of knowing the fullness of success within yourself that comes when you are in service to others.”
Linwood Alford says his mission in life is to be of service to those who served. A Gulf War Veteran and now busy entrepreneur, Alford left his job with the Dept. of Veteran’s Affairs to open his non-profit organization, Open Door Resource Center, Inc. The Center is a place where Veterans can get help navigating the complex system of VA benefits so they can get the services they need. The master’s degree allows him to offer more to the Veterans at his center, and work toward his dream of expanding opportunities for mental health support through his other company Camwood Corporation, LLC. He is especially interested in supporting Veterans experiencing PTSD and has begun his 3,000 residency hours so he can sit for the exam to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
Dr. Charles Courchaine
Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science
Dr. Courchaine has spent the last 16 years as a very successful software developer working for large organizations including Nike. His research and dissertation focused on the emerging field of e-discovery and how technology-assisted review can play…
Dr. Charles Courchaine
Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science
“Education was highly valued in my family. My parents did not have college degrees, except my stepfather who earned his MBA while I was growing up, but the discussion was always about the importance of education. I also loved the idea of taking my education as far as I could and earning a terminal degree. And it opens up the possibility for an entirely new career pathway for me if I choose to go that route in 10-15 years.”
Dr. Courchaine has spent the last 16 years as a very successful software developer working for large organizations including Nike. His research and dissertation focused on the emerging field of e-discovery and how technology-assisted review can play an important role in the legal system during the discovery process which now relies on digitized assets. His work involved testing the algorithms of a neural network model called ARTMAP that uses machine learning to mimic the way the human brain processes information, as opposed to the AI-generated large language models that were not interpretable to all but a few experts, and difficult to defend in court. His dissertation “Empirical Characterization of the Fuzzy ARTMAP Algorithm For E-Discovery: Towards Explainable Technology Assisted-Review,” was the basis for an international presentation on his research at the IEEE BigData conference in Japan. He is continuing his research in collaboration with other students and his committee chair.
Dr. Courtney Dandy-Fralick, DMFT, LMFT, LCADC, CAMS-I
Doctor of Marriage and Family Therapy, concentration in Mental Health Administration
Dr. Dandy Fralick had a successful clinical practice prior to starting her doctorate program. She was a licensed marriage and family therapist…
Dr. Courtney Dandy-Fralick, DMFT, LMFT, LCADC, CAMS-I
Doctor of Marriage and Family Therapy, concentration in Mental Health Administration
“Every day I was in my doctoral program I kept pushing forward so that I could make my family story one of incredible social mobility that goes from sharecropper to doctoral degree in just three generations! What I appreciate is that throughout this learning journey in my doctoral program, I had black female therapists on the instruction staff. I saw women who looked like me in leadership and instructor positions with their doctorate degrees.”
Dr. Dandy Fralick had a successful clinical practice prior to starting her doctorate program. She was a licensed marriage and family therapist and a licensed alcohol and drug therapist. She saw the doctoral program as a way to advance her career as an author, and a chance to explore her research to shift subconscious responses to racial anxiety, especially in the context of management and leadership. In addition to her expertise on race in mental health settings, she also has leadership roles in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion training and workshops. One of her career goals in addition to authoring additional books, is to help ensure all people, and especially people of color, feel supported as therapists so they can bring their authentic selves.
Saladin Davis
Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy, concentration in General Family Therapy
Mr. Davis came to the counseling profession later in life after first building a successful career in banking after graduating with his bachelor’s degree…
Saladin Davis
Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy, concentration in General Family Therapy
“I knew I wanted to have an impact on people’s lives. I enjoyed these short seminars I would do, but it’s hard to gauge impact, if any, in such a short exposure to a person. It’s hard to know if I moved the needle. But with counseling, my actual job is to gauge whether something changed and improved for that person.”
Mr. Davis came to the counseling profession later in life after first building a successful career in banking after graduating with his bachelor’s degree. Living in Charlotte, NC, he worked with large banks in client-facing roles all week and then did volunteer work, as well as paid speaking engagements, and workshops on weekends. He found he wanted to have longer interaction and greater long-term impact than his short-term seminars allowed. After his wife completed her medical residency, it was his turn to return to college. At the advice of a therapist friend, he decided to pursue a graduate degree in counseling. Two of the goals he has as a professional counselor are to attract more black males to the therapy profession and to encourage more people to seek therapy and understand that it can give them resources in a judgment-free zone that can improve their lives.
Dr. Teresa Duncan
Doctor of Philosophy in Education, concentration in Leadership in Higher Education
Dr. Teresa Duncan spent 30 years in the U.S. Army in various leadership roles including Command Sergeant Major, 8th…
Dr. Teresa Duncan
Doctor of Philosophy in Education, concentration in Leadership in Higher Education
“One of many things I appreciate about the Army is you know you will always be working on your weaknesses while sharing your strengths. For me, that translates to a commitment to lifelong learning. I really believe we all need to continue learning regardless of our gifts and abilities.”
Dr. Teresa Duncan spent 30 years in the U.S. Army in various leadership roles including Command Sergeant Major, 8th Military Police Brigade; Commandant for the Noncommissioned Officer Academy for the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence; and Senior Advisor to the Provost at Army University. Today she is the Director of Military Programs for External Education at Cornell University and works part-time as an Exam Administrator in the Resilience-Building Leader Program. As a systems thinker and strategic planner, Duncan is connecting a lot of dots at Cornell to help integrate analytics, workforce insights, coursework, and curriculum mapping, to create programs that will bring active-duty Soldiers and Veterans valuable knowledge to build upon their valuable experience as they continue in their careers.
Jeffrey R Gorman
Master of Science in Cybersecurity
As CEO and owner of Creative Computing, Jeffrey Gorman has spent decades as a successful business owner working with 12 school districts building administrative software and database systems…
Jeffrey R Gorman
Master of Science in Cybersecurity
“Cybersecurity is not a technical degree, and a lot of people think it is,” says Gorman. “It’s about seeing all of the parts and processes of something and assessing and mitigating risk. Cybersecurity is about risk assessment over and over, in a never-ending loop, and then prioritizing which risks and gaps to prioritize first. It’s a complex and ongoing process and involves more than the programs that are running.”
As CEO and owner of Creative Computing, Jeffrey Gorman has spent decades as a successful business owner working with 12 school districts building administrative software and database systems. Over the years he pivoted his company as Internet technologies emerged. He also was one of a small group of official Apple™ distributors. Seeking an in-demand field with less personal demands than owning and operating his own business, Gorman leaned into his logic and system thinking skills and pursued a cybersecurity degree. In his first role immediately upon graduation, he was able to protect his higher education client from harm during a ransomware attack. Today he continues to harden the system, increase efficiencies, and reduce the college’s risk profile while making continuous improvements to the infrastructure.
Lei Huang
Associate of Science, Human Biology
Like many students at the most recent National University commencement, Lei Huang had a successful career before enrolling in his degree program. He is also now an active-duty…
Lei Huang
Associate of Science, Human Biology
“It’s an interesting change in my life,” he says reflecting on the career switch. “When I was in my 20s everything was about advancing my career. Now, after the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) experience, it’s about being of service to others and finding ways to help people.”
Like many students at the most recent National University commencement, Lei Huang had a successful career before enrolling in his degree program. He is also now an active-duty service member. Huang had previously earned an MBA but decided to enroll in the university to make a career switch after a traumatic life experience. A few years ago, he and his wife had their first child who was born prematurely with many serious conditions and complications. The team at the neonatal intensive care unit where their baby girl stayed for 12 consecutive days provided stellar medical support, and today their daughter is one of three healthy children in the family. But the experience changed Huang. He decided to pursue medicine, setting his career ambitions on becoming a nurse and future officer in the military so he could spend his career helping others. Recently graduating with an associate degree in human biology, he has now met the pre-requisites for the nursing program and has begun study in that bachelor’s degree at National University.
Marc Lessard
Bachelor of Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Marc Lessard is an engineer, an exceptional student and STEM scholar, a spouse, a father, a former Marine, a former business owner, a maker, and now an inventor…
Marc Lessard
Bachelor of Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering
“The sacrifice the instructors at NU make to their students is amazing,” he said. “To be that responsive, and that involved takes huge commitment. I am so grateful for their work and their sacrifice to make sure all of us students get whatever we need when we need it. Having a degree in engineering really helps me. What we studied is relevant to the workplace. But it’s also important to me to have the degree because when I seek out investors it gives me so much more credibility as an inventor.”
Marc Lessard is an engineer, an exceptional student and STEM scholar, a spouse, a father, a former Marine, a former business owner, a maker, and now an inventor. He recently fulfilled a lifelong dream and graduated at 32 years old with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering during which he invented and produced a smart apparel for sports product he is going to patent and market. His other innovations included working on a radio frequency jammer project with his employer, a project he was passionate about after having IEDs explode next to him during his service in Afghanistan. Growing up in severe poverty, Lessard deeply values education and graduated Summa Cum Laude with one of the highest GPAs in his college. He is excited about the doors his degree will help him open.
Frank Roh
Bachelor of Science, Nursing
Frank Roh graduated high school and went immediately to work in his father’s trucking business as a dispatcher. In his 20’s he was more focused on making money than on getting more education so after he…
Frank Roh
Bachelor of Science, Nursing
“I love my work. I feel needed. I come home from a 12-hour shift and tell my wife how great my day was. I wake up in the morning and as I’m heading into work, I tell her how excited and happy I am to be qualified to do this work. I love being a nurse.”
Frank Roh graduated high school and went immediately to work in his father’s trucking business as a dispatcher. In his 20’s he was more focused on making money than on getting more education so after he took the dispatcher job as far as he could, he went to work in an MRI facility where he worked his way from receptionist to manager of the site. But when the owners of the facility talked about a relocation, Roh realized he needed to rethink, and possibly retool his career. He began working in a local Emergency Room while planning to pursue a radiology degree, but colleagues and friends kept suggesting he would make a great nurse. Looking for meaningful work that helped others while providing solid career stability, Roh finally decided to pursue nursing and found his bliss as well as a great job at Kaiser Permanente.
Dr. Alexander Stevens
Doctor of Philosophy in Technology and Innovation Management, concentration in Data Science
Dr. Stevens is a senior technologist at the prestigious Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where he co-creates digital solutions to help improve cancer research…
Dr. Alexander Stevens
Doctor of Philosophy in Technology and Innovation Management, concentration in Data Science
“When I think about my 30+ years of professional experience, 18 in healthcare and eight at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK), the most transformative period was the last few years because of my NU program, committee, professors, administration, and immersive MSK research experience.”
Dr. Stevens is a senior technologist at the prestigious Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where he co-creates digital solutions to help improve cancer research and care. His Ph.D. work earned him the Dissertation of the Year and Poster of the Year award. He is publishing a paper on his dissertation work called TrAAIT – A Theory of Trust and Acceptance of Artificial Intelligence – a model to assess clinician trust in AI technology and is presenting that work for the American Medical Informatics Association. He holds a Master of Arts in Education – Adult Education and Training, and formerly served as a university professor. His goal is to share knowledge and bring value to others wherever he takes his career.
Michael Severi
Master of Arts, Human Behavioral Psychology
While other 19-year-old college peers were spending evenings at pubs in the Sacramento area, Mike Severi was spending time at homicide scenes. Starting a career track early, Severi, now in his mid-30s, has been with the Sacramento Police for 18 years and currently…
Michael Severi
Master of Arts, Human Behavioral Psychology
“Anytime you further your education you’re going to better yourself first and foremost, but by doing so, you’re really bettering humanity. The more that we’re educated, the more we have the understanding and tools to make our world a lot better.”
While other 19-year-old college peers were spending evenings at pubs in the Sacramento area, Mike Severi was spending time at homicide scenes. Starting a career track early, Severi, now in his mid-30s, has been with the Sacramento Police for 18 years and currently serves as Sergeant of the Violent Crime Reduction Team. He recently built upon his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with his master’s degree. He says one of the high points in his graduate journey was getting the full 360º view of human behavior which brought him to new depths in empathy and tolerance. He thinks the ability to look at life and people through many, often differing lenses, can be a tremendous boost to his role as supervisor in the Police Department, and in his deeply committed service to his community.
Samantha Valenzuela
Bachelor of Arts, Management, concentration in Human Resources Management
Recently earning a Bachelor of Arts in Management with a concentration in Human Resource Management, Samantha Valenzuela originally thought she was going into HR…
Samantha Valenzuela
Bachelor of Arts, Management, concentration in Human Resources Management
“I thought I would be a statistic. I thought my dreams were shattered. I thought a degree was something I wasn’t going to get to achieve. After each course, my confidence grew and grew, and I came to realize that my past didn’t have to define my future. Now I want to be a voice of hope. I want to be part of helping people change their lives for the better.”
Recently earning a Bachelor of Arts in Management with a concentration in Human Resource Management, Samantha Valenzuela originally thought she was going into HR to help people build better careers and stronger organizations. Upon graduation, she realized she wanted to help people on a more individual level and is pursuing a master’s degree in counseling. Her original plans to attend college were delayed when as a high school honor student she found herself graduating as a single mom of a six-month-old girl. She worked many jobs but then met her husband who encouraged her to pursue her dream of education. She enrolled in National University for the work/life balance, and was one of ten students selected to receive the Horatio Alger-Denny Sandford Scholarship, graduating with a 3.9 GPA. She wants to use her career to help other young mothers reach their goals and aspirations.
Jessica Ward
Juris Doctor
Jessica Ward’s first exposure to the legal system came at just 20 years old when the single mom found herself in a custody dispute with her child’s father. Unable to…
Jessica Ward
Juris Doctor
“Earning this degree, I feel like I’m more confident. I feel like I’m where I should be, and I’m finally living up to my full potential. I think that’s what’s coming through when I’m around people now. I’m finally exactly where I’ve always really wanted to be.”
Jessica Ward’s first exposure to the legal system came at just 20 years old when the single mom found herself in a custody dispute with her child’s father. Unable to afford a lawyer, Ward dove deep into research and paperwork and ultimately proved successful. This lit a spark in her for the law and she began a journey that included working as a transcriptionist and later office manager for a law firm. The more exposure to the legal system, the more her interest grew culminating in her deciding to pursue a law degree so she could practice law. While in school she served as a teaching assistant to other law students and excelled in her studies. She plans to specialize in estate planning and probate and offer pro-bono services to economically challenged mothers and fathers with their custody cases.
Katrina Cabauatan
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Joselyn Escobal-Luea
Master of Science in Cyber Security with Specialization in Enterprise Cybersecuirty Management
Brianna Rodriguez
Master of Science in Educational Counseling
Amy Roe
Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Development
Khaled Sewidan
Master of Science in Nursing with a Specialization in Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner–Lifespan
Elwin Stanaland
Bachelor of Public Administration
John Russell Wengel
Doctor of Philosophy in Organizational Leadership
Wenting Yao
Master of Arts in Human Resource Management
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