McDaniel College Alumni Association celebrates 2025 award winners

Nupur Parekh Flynn, who earned a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the college in 1994, is a businesswoman and entrepreneur. Her career has spanned international development, marketing, and community service, including serving as partner and director of marketing at Brown Capital Management, marketing executive at global law firm DLA Piper, and political appointee in the Bureau of Legislative and Public Affairs at the U.S. Agency for International Development. She has additional experience in international policy research in Brussels, Belgium, earning a master’s degree in European Policy from l’Institut d’Etudes Européennes de l’Université Libre de Bruxelles in 1997.

She is currently the founding owner and CEO of Nupur LLC and the inventor of BAGCEIT®, a portable, antimicrobial seat for personal items, such as purses, briefcases, and bags of all types.

Her dedication to Baltimore City and longstanding commitment to philanthropy and volunteerism has led to her active involvement in community service for numerous organizations. She is on the Board of Trustees at LifeBridge Health where she serves as treasurer and a member of the compensation committee, and on the Board of Trustees of The Baltimore Museum of Art, where she is on the governance committee. Both Flynn and her husband, Guy, are co-chairs for the United Way of Central Maryland’s “United For Our Futures” 100th year anniversary campaign.

In 2020, she was honored with McDaniel’s Alumni Community Service Award as a graduate who has performed outstanding voluntary service to their community beyond normal business or professional obligations. She remains an active volunteer of the college, serving as an alumni mentor for McDaniel’s annual Innovation and Entrepreneurship Challenge and visiting classrooms to offer mentorship throughout the year. She was a member of the McDaniel College Board of Trustees from 2007 to 2011.

The Young Alumni Award recognizes graduates of the last 15 years who exemplify the McDaniel spirit through their professional, community and college service achievements.   

Alexaundria D. Leonard graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and minor in Religious Studies from McDaniel in 2017. She went on to earn a master’s degree in Political Management from George Washington University in 2019. Currently, she serves as a project manager in the Marketing and Communications Division for the Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW). 

Since joining DPW, she has led an agency rebranding by developing a new mission and vision, creating an agency style guide, and launching the DPW Welcome Experience to ensure brand continuity. She was named the 2022-23 DPW Employee of the Year. 

In addition, she is the principal and founder of The BeMore Lab, a political consulting and strategic communications firm dedicated to expanding Black political power in Baltimore and beyond.

While at McDaniel, Leonard chartered McDaniel’s Upsilon Gamma chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., assisted in the development of The EDGE Experience Program for first-year, first-generation students, served as a student visitor to the Board of Trustees and as president of the Student Government Association, and was a member of the Black Student Union and multiple honors societies. She was a recipient of the Ralph Chandler and Dorothy Prince John Award for Academic Excellence and Service to the College Community and received the Alumni Citizenship Award for displaying a steadying loyalty to classmates and the college through active participation in campus life and contributions to the betterment of the college upon graduation. She has remained an active alumni volunteer at the college, including with the Alumni Council.

The Alumni Community Service Award is given to a graduate who has performed outstanding voluntary service to their community beyond normal business or professional obligations.

Jacob Raymond McCurry, who graduated from McDaniel with a bachelor’s degree in English in 2009 and a master’s degree in Counselor Education (now School Counseling) in 2013, has worked in a variety of settings related to behavioral and mental health. Currently, he is a mobile therapist at TrueNorth Wellness Services with the Community Outreach Recovery Essentials (CORE) program, helping patients move toward recovery by developing treatment goals, leading therapy groups, and tailoring individual treatment plans to meet individual needs. He is currently pursuing licensure as a professional counselor in Pennsylvania, having already passed the National Counseling Exam.

As an active member in the community, he achieved Eagle Scout and was actively involved until 2013 with the Boy Scouts of America, where he taught leadership, community engagement, confidence, and independence. McCurry also received the District Award of Merit, the highest honor awarded by the district to an Adult Scouter, and served on the Advancement Committee and the Eagle Board of Review. For 20 years, he also organized an annual drive to collect and donate new toys for a children’s hospital in Washington, D.C.

He continues to give back to McDaniel and has returned to the college as a guest lecturer, speaking to students on topics such as suicide prevention and the importance of human connection.

The Alumni Professional Achievement Award is presented to a graduate who has gained distinction in their chosen field or profession and whose accomplishments reflect admirably on McDaniel College.

Robert W. Butler graduated in 1957 with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and was a member of the college’s football and track teams. He was inducted into the college’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.

He was also a member of the Green Terror Battalion ROTC program, serving as battalion commander, and commissioned as a second lieutenant into the U.S. Army. He served two tours of duty in Vietnam, earning the Bronze Star with five Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Vietnam Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Legion of Merit, National Defense Service Medal, Air Medal, Civil Actions Honor Medal, a Ranger Tab, Senior Parachutist Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, and Combat Infantryman Badge, three Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry, and the Silver Star, which is the third highest military decoration for valor in combat. He retired from the Army as a colonel and is a member of the college’s ROTC Hall of Fame. 

In 1998, he received a Master of Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

The Alumni College Service Award is given to a graduate who has demonstrated exceptional leadership, devotion, and service for the betterment of the McDaniel College Alumni Association. 

Kittie DeLuca Pain earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the college in 2000 and a Master of Letters from Drew University in 2004. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration at Saint Peter’s University. 

She has worked for more than two decades in graduate admissions, enrollment management, and strategic marketing. Currently, she serves as the director of graduate enrollment management at Kutztown University, where she leads recruitment strategy and marketing and is involved in cross-campus collaboration. She is also an active member of NAGAP, the Association for Graduate Enrollment Management.

Pain is an active volunteer for the college and the Alumni Association, including co-founding and chairing regional alumni chapters with her husband, Jameson Pain, a 1999 alum, and co-chairing the Outreach Committee of the McDaniel College Alumni Council.

The Joseph R. Bailer Award was established by the family of Dr. Bailer, one of the college’s most highly respected career educators, and is presented annually to a McDaniel College master’s degree recipient who has made a significant contribution to the field of education.

Patricia S. Dorsey, who was a student in Carroll County Public Schools (CCPS) from sixth through 12th grade, began teaching in CCPS in 1972 after completing a bachelor’s degree from Morgan State University. She graduated with a Master of Education degree from McDaniel (formerly Western Maryland) College in 1983. She went on to earn a Doctor of Education from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1999, and continued to work for CCPS until 2011 as an elementary classroom teacher, Title I resource teacher, assistant principal, and principal.

After retiring from the public school system, she was a field assessment coordinator and field assessment administrator for National Assessment of Educational Progress Westat, which provided data collection and assessment services in support of the Education Department’s efforts to track student achievement. 

Since 2018, she has served as a member of the Carroll County Board of Education and has actively contributed to various committees with the Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE), including Legislative, Budget, Resolutions, Awards, Equity, Nominating, and Conference Program. She was previously a member of the MABE Board of Directors and is currently co-chair of the Conference Program committee.