McDaniel College Alumni Association celebrates 2026 award winners

Chuck Sullivan '72

Chuck Sullivan '72, who graduated with a double major in Psychology and Sociology, served more than 40 years in the food industry providing and supplying seasonings, spices, and ingredients as well as creating menus for food chains through his work at Fuchs North America, which was originally known as Baltimore Spice, Inc. He started as a sales manager with the company, retiring in 2017 as the director of sales, and won multiple sales contests, including Mustard Salesman of the Year. During his time with the company, he served the largest account Kellogg’s, spending half of his time working in Battle Creek, Michigan. Sullivan was also a member of the National Institute of Food Technologists and a marketing committee member for the National Snack Food Association for five years.

He has volunteered with the Boy Scouts of America Heart of Virginia Council and St. Peter’s United Methodist Church, receiving McDaniel’s Alumni Community Service Award in 2010. 

Sullivan has also remained an active volunteer at McDaniel as a member of McDaniel’s WMC Heritage Society since 2016. In 2017, he served as an at-large-member on the Alumni Awards Committee and was previously on class reunion committees in 2007 and 2017. A member of the McDaniel College Alumni Council, he assumed the presidency of the council in 2019. He has also been an alumni visitor to the McDaniel College Board of Trustees.

Tasha Cramer '12 

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

Tasha Cramer '12, who graduated from McDaniel with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology, went on to earn a master’s degree in Public Health from Columbia Southern University in 2021. She is expected to complete a doctorate in Transformative Social Change from Saybrook University in summer 2026.

Currently an adjunct lecturer at McDaniel College, Cramer teaches Introduction to Sociology, helping mentor students, adapting curriculum to meet classroom needs, emphasizing inclusion, critical thinking, and student engagement. Within her classroom, she covers topics such as race, gender, culture, families, inequality, and crime. 

Within the community, Cramer serves as a mental health and wellness program instructor and is certified to work with several mental health first aid groups. She is the recipient of the 2023 Light of Carroll Award: Cultural Literacy for BaFa BaFa; the 2022 Program of the Year Award: CARE (Carroll Anti-Stigma Resilience Effort) from the Rural Maryland Council; and the 2022 Community Champion of the Year Award from Children’s Mental Health Matters.

Jessica Watson '05

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.

Jessica Watson '05, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Communication and minors in Art and Business Administration, is the founder and creative director of Points North, a Baltimore-based creative consultancy that helps mission-driven organizations clarify their brand, tell their stories, and strengthen their connection to the communities they serve. Since founding the studio in 2010, Watson has led branding, digital storytelling, and creative strategy initiatives for organizations including GivingTuesday, Maryland Nonprofits, AARP, and UpSurge Baltimore.

She is also deeply committed to strengthening Baltimore’s creative and civic community through mentorship, community programming, and creative leadership. As the founder of the Have A Nice Day Project, she hosts social gatherings to decorate coffee cup sleeves that are distributed at local cafés to spread positivity and kindness throughout the city. She has also contributed to organizations such as Baltimore Womxn in Tech, B’More Creatives, the Baltimore Design Conference, and AIGA, and regularly creates opportunities that bring artists, designers, and neighbors together.

In 2013, she was named one of 10 people under 30 to watch by The Baltimore Sun, and in 2011, she received the Spirited Women Rising award for her professional work and volunteer efforts.

Liz Clark '99 

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.

Liz Clark '99 graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and was a member of the college’s Green Terror Battalion Army ROTC program. She spent nine years in the Army as an officer in the Ordnance Corps and Adjutant General Corps. After leaving active duty, she pursued a master’s degree in human resources management from Georgetown University in 2015, and a doctorate of Education in Leadership and Learning in Organizations from Vanderbilt University in 2021.

Currently, Clark works as the director of Support Services Center (Senior Executive Service) in the Undersecretary of Personnel and Readiness in the Department of War. In this role, she manages a multitude of mission-critical programs that focus on delivering essential support services to the department’s military and civilian workforce, strengthening national security, mission readiness, and successful reintegration. Her team leads large-scale education and training initiatives, supports service members in educational advancement, supports language and cultural missions, and helps hundreds of thousands of people transitioning from military to civilian status each year.

Previously, she led the Defense Suicide Prevention Office, served as the deputy executive director for the President’s Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide (PREVENTS) Task Force, and was a contributing author to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. She also served on the board for the nonprofit HopeLink Behavioral Health and volunteered as a crisis worker answering the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

As an active volunteer at McDaniel, Clark is an advisory council member of the McDaniel Women’s Leadership Network and served on her class reunion committee in 2024. She also has been involved as a career networking volunteer with the Center for Experience and Opportunity.

James Edward Proctor III '84 

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. 

James Edward Proctor III '84, who earned a bachelor’s degree in History from the college, was a member of the Green Terror football team and Alpha Gamma Tau fraternity. He was also involved with the Minority Student Union and as a student member of the faculty board. He went on to receive a master’s degree in organizational communication from Bowie State University in 1993.  

Proctor built a career in leading large-scale information technology, communications, and digital transformation initiatives across the federal government. As a certified project manager, his career focused on enterprise systems, information security, e-commerce, and organizational change management. Proctor has been recognized for leadership in digital commerce innovation, notably directing the U.S. Treasury Department’s first e-commerce initiative, which enabled the world’s first smart-card transaction made over the internet.

As an alum, Proctor was a member-at-large on the McDaniel College Alumni Council from 2015 to 2018 and sat on the college’s name change committee from 2001-2002. He has regularly returned to campus to serve as a mentor to current students, sharing knowledge and fostering alumni connections, including as an alumni mentor for the Green Terror football team.

He also has been involved as the education committee chair for the 100 Black Men of Greater Washington from 2006 to 2015 and has sponsored and mentored high school football programs in Prince George’s, Charles, Calvert, and St. Mary’s counties in Maryland for the past 40 years.

Steven Johnson '87, M.S. '95 

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.

Steven Johnson, who is currently assistant dean of Graduate and Professional Studies operations, lecturer, and program coordinator of the M.S. in Elementary Education and the M.S. in Secondary Education programs at McDaniel, graduated in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and minors in French and Secondary Education. He later received a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the college in 1995. 

He previously spent 33 years in PreK-12 education, with 29 of those years in Carroll County Public Schools. He served as a world languages teacher, supervisor of English and world languages, director of curriculum and instruction, principal, and assistant superintendent of instruction. In 2019, he was the recipient of the Carroll County Public Schools Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also a four-time Carroll County Outstanding Teacher nominee and the recipient of the Best of State Presentation on Reading Strategies in the Foreign Language Classroom from the Maryland Foreign Language Association.

Johnson gives back to the community by donating and volunteering at McDaniel College events, speaking to the student leadership coalition at Westminster High School, and being an annual donor to both Stop Soldier Suicide and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He also previously served as a member of the board of directors for the Boys & Girls Club in Westminster.