The Darla Moore School of Business recognized distinguished graduates Thursday night. Mark E. Khalil won the Distinguished Alumni Award, and Matthew P. D. Johnson and Jerrell M. Moore won the Distinguished Young Alumni Awards.
The awards were presented by Peter Brews, the newly appointed dean of the school, as part of its yearly business leadership dinner and awards ceremony, “Inspiring Leadership, Inspiring Excellence.”
The awards are meant to honor alumni who are inspirational examples of business and community leadership. The qualities taken into account for the award are professional accomplishment, personality and humanity, according to Brews.
Johnson worked multiple jobs to put himself through college. He is now a partner at KPMG, a tax and advisory services firm. Moore is the vice president and chief diversity officer of Burger King.
“To win this award means the world to me,” Moore said, saying that the recognition was a blessing. “Keep fighting the good fight, Carolina.”
Khalil, the distinguished alumnus winner, is the current executive vice president of Sony Corporation of America. Like many university students, he spent much of his time at the university working, including two restaurants in the Columbia area, Groucho’s and Andy’s Deli.
“I gotta go with Andy’s hands down; the Andy’s special is still something we talk about up North,” Khalil said.
The alumni credited the university and the business program for presenting them with the opportunities and facilitating the relationships that helped them get to where they are.
“We had a great curriculum and great professors delivering that curriculum,” Moore said. “We had professors that worked in the real world. They could bring real experience to the classroom.”