Johns Hopkins Alumni Association Awards Series: Excellence In Action

2025 Recipient of the Johns Hopkins Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award

Katrina Armstrong, MD, leads Columbia University's medical campus as Chief Executive Officer of Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences. She is Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences for Columbia University and the Harold and Margaret Hatch Professor. The first woman to lead Columbia's medical school and medical center, she previously served as Interim President of Columbia University.

Dr. Armstrong earned her BA in architecture from Yale University and her MD from Johns Hopkins University, where she completed her residency during the height of the HIV epidemic. She holds an MS in clinical epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania.

An internationally recognized investigator in medical decision-making, quality of care, and cancer prevention, Dr. Armstrong's research focuses on eliminating health inequities, particularly in cancer care for Black and Latinx patients. Previously, she served as the first woman Physician-in-Chief at Massachusetts General Hospital and Jackson Professor at Harvard Medical School.

Her accomplishments include election to the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and numerous prestigious awards for her contributions to medicine and health equity.

2024 Recipient of the Johns Hopkins Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award

Dr. Elizabeth K. Cherot, M.D., M.B.A., is the President of Lucina and Chief Medical Officer at Unified Women’s Healthcare, driving innovation and transformation in maternal and infant health. A distinguished obstetrician-gynecologist with over two decades of experience in maternal and infant health, she earned her bachelor's degree from Johns Hopkins Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, her medical degree from the University of Rochester, and an Executive MBA from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.

Dr. Cherot made history at March of Dimes, joining as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical and Health Officer in January 2023 and becoming the organization's first physician President and CEO by July 2023. Previously, she served as Chief Medical Officer for Axia Women's Health, overseeing extensive multi-state operations.

A Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Dr. Cherot has been instrumental in advancing initiatives to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies nationwide. She resides in New Jersey with her husband and two children.

2023 Recipient of the Johns Hopkins Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award

Linda Cureton made history as the first African-American Chief Information Officer of NASA, where she led IT strategy and infrastructure for all NASA centers, serving as principal advisor to the Administrator and providing technology leadership to some of the world's most brilliant scientists and engineers. She previously held executive IT positions at the Department of Energy and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

A Washington, DC native and Duke Ellington School of the Arts alumna, Cureton earned her BS in Mathematics from Howard University, followed by a Master of Science and post-Masters certificate in Applied Mathematics from Johns Hopkins University. She later earned a PhD in Organizational Leadership from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

In 2013, she founded Muse Technologies, Inc., a leadership and IT transformation firm. Her numerous accolades include the 50 Women of Influence and Power Award, Government Computer News Civilian Executive of the Year, and recognition as one of Washingtonian Magazine's Tech Titans and Business Insider's 25 Most Powerful Women Engineers.

2025 Recipient of the John Hopkins Alumni Association Outstanding Recent Graduate Award

Michael Repper made history in 2023 as the youngest North American conductor—and second youngest of all time—to win a Grammy® Award for Best Orchestral Performance. His groundbreaking album with the New York Youth Symphony, featuring debut recordings by Florence Price, Jessie Montgomery, and Valerie Coleman, reached #1 on the Billboard Chart and marked the first time a youth orchestra achieved this milestone.

Currently Music Director of the Ashland Symphony Orchestra, Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, and Northern Neck Orchestra of Virginia, Repper recently concluded tenures with the New York Youth Symphony at Carnegie Hall and as Principal Conductor of Sinfonía por el Perú. A four-time recipient of the Solti Foundation US Career Assistance Award, he previously served as Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Conducting Fellow.

Repper's work spans six continents, with performances at Carnegie Hall, São Paulo Symphony, and Barcelona's Palau de la Musica. Passionate about education and promoting diverse talent, he regularly conducts masterclasses and educational concerts with major orchestras. A Peabody Institute alumnus, Repper studied under Marin Alsop and Gustav Meier.

2025 Recipient of the Johns Hopkins Alumni Association Heritage Award

Mary Ann Dickson is a Managing Director and co-head of the Global Markets Client Experience team recently established to enhance the front-to-back client experience Bank of America’s Global Markets’ client, from client on-boarding and day-to-day relationship management through the overall governance process.  In this capacity, Mary Ann works closely with partners across Client Services, Operations, Onboarding, Technology, Agreements & Documentation, AML and Credit, as well as enterprise support functions to improve how the firm engages and does business with its clients. She is based in New York.

Mary Ann joined Bank of America thirteen years ago where prior to assuming the GM Client Experience responsibilities she most recently served as the head of Global Agreements & Documentation team overseeing all aspects of the end-to-end negotiation of trading documentation across the Global Banking and Markets businesses. Her other roles have included driving Client Connectivity within the FICC eTrading team and serving as the head of FICC Client Prioritization in the Americas where Mary Ann focused on building strong relationships with top-tier clients by solving issues arising from legal documentation and onboarding processes to optimize the client experience.

Mary Ann came to Bank of Amercia from Citigroup, N.A. where she was an associate general counsel covering the Prime Finance business.  Prior to that, she spent almost a decade with the international law firm, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP (f/k/a Hunton & Williams, LLP), with a practice focusing on general corporate law and finance, representing clients in connection with financings to support leveraged buyouts and other highly leveraged acquisition financings.

Mary Ann holds a BA from Johns Hopkins University and a JD from Fordham University School of Law. She is a Co-Chair of Bank of America’s LEAD for Women, NYC Chapter and a member of the Women’s Leadership Council.  Mary Ann is a member of the Board of Trustees for Johns Hopkins University and also serves as President for the JHU Alumni Council.  She is a member of the New York State Bar.  Mary Ann lives in New Jersey with her husband, Jefferson, and their three children, Annie, Faye and Smith.