Brigadier General James A. Benson was sworn in as the Adjutant General of the Delaware National Guard in January 2025, becoming the first African American to hold this position. General Benson joined the Delaware Army National Guard through Officer Commissioning School in 1992 and has served in multiple deployments, including Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

A dedicated Blue Hen, General Benson has championed scholarship opportunities at UD. He led efforts to create the Kappa Alpha Psi Scholarship in memory of Keith Richards 01AS, which has raised over $90,000 since its establishment in 2016. He also served as a key peer solicitor and champion for the James E. Newton Scholarship Fund, which was fully endowed in 2024 with over $60,000 in gifts to support undergraduate scholarships in Africana studies.

As an undergraduate, Benson was instrumental in founding the Kappa Alpha Psi chapter (Nu Xi) at UD and was a member of the Men's Track and Field team. In addition to his military service, he currently works as an Emergency Management Consultant with the United States Department of Transportation and the United States Department of Agriculture.

Karl Lieberman serves as the global chief creative officer of Wieden+Kennedy and oversees the New York office as well as seven other offices and more than 1,300 employees worldwide. Since graduating from UD with a BFA in visual communication in 1999, Lieberman has made a remarkable impact on the advertising industry.

In 2006, Lieberman co-created "The Most Interesting Man in the World" campaign for Dos Equis that ran for a decade and helped triple the brand's business. He also penned and later directed the P&G "Thank You, Mom" Olympics campaign that won an Emmy in 2012. His work bringing back "The Colonel" for Kentucky Fried Chicken in 2015 helped spark a turnaround for the brand, leading to over 13 consecutive quarters of business growth.

Lieberman has stayed deeply connected with UD's Department of Art and Design and the College of Arts and Sciences. He was instrumental in establishing a four-year Wieden+Kennedy scholarship for underrepresented students in the visual communications program. He has created numerous internship opportunities for UD students at W+K and hired multiple UD alumni. Lieberman and his family have also established a $75,000 Student Enrichment Program in the Department of Art and Design to support experiential learning opportunities for students.

Following the tragic loss of his 14-year-old son Andrew to leukemia in 2007, Joe McDonough transformed his grief into purpose by founding The Andrew McDonough B+ (Be Positive) Foundation, now one of the largest childhood cancer charities in the world. After watching his son fight childhood cancer for 167 days, McDonough never returned to his senior vice president role at JPMorgan Chase, instead dedicating his life to fighting childhood cancer.

Today, The B+ Foundation is the largest provider of financial assistance to families of children with cancer in the United States. In 2024, the organization financially assisted over 4,000 families with nearly $6 million. The foundation has funded more than 250 childhood cancer research grants and provides psychosocial support to families through virtual support groups and resources like its School Re-entry eBook.

McDonough has been an invited guest at President Obama's State of the Union address, featured on The Today Show, and received numerous recognitions for his work, including induction into the International Blood Bank Hall of Fame. He maintains strong ties to UD, where he met his wife in Rodney dormitory. He is a consistent donor to the University and a loyal Blue Hen athletics fan. The B+ Foundation partners with UDance, UD's largest student-run philanthropic organization, which has grown from raising $25,000 in its early years to breaking $1.8 million in 2025.

Mary Ellen Payne has maintained a deep connection to her alma mater since earning her bachelor's degree in 1978 and MBA in 1980 from the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics. After a distinguished 35-year career that concluded with her retirement as senior vice president of sales and marketing at Verizon Communications, Payne has dedicated herself to mentoring and supporting UD students and programs. Payne’s contributions to the Blue Hen community have had a truly transformative impact.

Since 2012, Payne has served as an executive mentor in the Lerner Executive Mentoring Program, providing invaluable guidance to countless students transitioning from academia to the professional world. Her mentees praise her dedication, noting that she "goes above and beyond" to help them succeed, offering everything from resume advice to networking opportunities. In recognition of her mentorship, she received the Brad Scott Excellence in Mentoring Award in 2023.

Payne's service to UD is extensive. She has been a member of the Lerner College Dean's Advisory Board since 2015 and the President's Leadership Council since 2018. She played a pivotal role in establishing and growing the Lerner Women's Leadership Initiative, serving as the first member of its steering committee and being honored with the inaugural Lerner Women's Leadership Initiative Catalyst Award in 2019.

Her commitment to the University also includes serving as a Lerner College Undergraduate Convocation Speaker, Graduate Speaker in 2023, Hen Hatch Judge in 2021, and a participant in the Lerner Edge Program. Payne regularly attends UD events on campus and regionally, often in Philadelphia or around Washington, D.C., continuing to strengthen her ties to the Blue Hen community.

The Alumni Award recipients will be recognized along with the recipients of the 2025 UDAA Warner and Taylor Awards for Outstanding Seniors during Alumni Weekend festivities. If you are interested in attending the event, please register online, or contact alumni-association@udel.edu for more information.

To learn more about the UD Alumni Association Awards, visit the Scholarships and Awards page or email alumni-association@udel.edu.