Presenting the 2022 Baylor Alumni Award winners
Baylor graduates make an impact in virtually any field you can think of; this year’s Baylor Alumni Award winners are no different, with recipients leading the charge in everything from business and technology to medicine and the arts.
Congratulations to this year’s honorees:
Alumna of the Year: Thasunda Brown Duckett (MBA ’01), president and CEO of TIAA, a Fortune 100 financial services organization. Widely recognized as a leading executive in the financial industry, she was named to both Forbes‘ and Fortune’s 2021 lists of the world’s most powerful women. After graduating from Baylor, Duckett held leadership roles at Chase Consumer Banking, Chase Auto Finance, Chase Mortgage Banking and Fannie Mae before moving to TIAA.
Young Alumnus of the Year: Alex Le Roux (BS ’15), co-founder and chief technology officer at ICON, a cutting-edge homebuilder. As a senior at Baylor, Le Roux designed and built a concrete 3D printer that would later successfully print America’s first livable 3D structure. Today, ICON produces 3D-printed concrete houses — earning the company recognition among TIME’s Best Inventions and landing Le Roux on entrepreneurial lists such as Forbes‘ 30 Under 30.
Pro Ecclesia Medal of Service: Dr. Rebekah Naylor (BA ’64), a retired Baptist medical missionary. Naylor spent more than 35 years as a general surgeon, evangelist and church planter in India, including serving in leadership at Bangalore Baptist Hospital. Since returning to the U.S., Naylor has been a global health care consultant for Baptist Global Response and the International Mission Board and taught at UT Southwestern Medical School and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Pro Texana Medal of Service: Susan Peters (BA ’86), founder and executive director of Unbound Global, an international anti-human trafficking organization. Launched in 2012 and headquartered in Waco, Unbound equips local communities and churches to fight trafficking. Locally, the Heart of Texas Human Trafficking Coalition (which she co-founded) serves as a model for other communities in how to bring together law enforcement, attorneys, social service providers, and others together to serve human trafficking survivors.
Medal of Service for Contributions to the Professions: Giancarlo Guerrero (BM ’91), Grammy Award-winning conductor and music director for the Nashville Symphony. Guerrero is also music director for Poland’s NFM Wrocław Philharmonic, principal guest conductor of the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon, and a frequent guest conductor in such cities as Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Seattle and Toronto. He has won six Grammys since 2010.
Medal of Service for Contributions to the Professions: Christopher Scott (BA ’04), an award-winning documentary director. Scott’s series The Shape of Shreveport was named 2016 Documentary of the Year by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities; a year later, his series What About Waco earned the Grand Jury Prize at the Deep in The Heart of Texas Film Festival. Most recently, his critically acclaimed Class Action Park was awarded the Hollywood Film Critics Award for Best Documentary in 2021.
Merrie Beckham Alumni By Choice of the Year: Fran George, a tireless parent, volunteer and advocate. Since before her daughters even took a class on campus, Fran and her husband, Craig, have been hosting events for North Carolina Baylor families. In 2018, the Georges were named Parents of the Year for their continuous commitment to Baylor. In multiple roles, she has helped coordinate and connect Baylor parents and alumni in North Carolina and beyond.
Sic ’em, Bears!