Alumni Achievement Awards

Marriott School of Business

Carine Clark

Lecture: The Truth Regarding My Only True Superpower
Time: Thursday, October 13, 11 AM
Location: W408/410 TNRB

Carine Clark earned a bachelor’s degree and MBA from Brigham Young University. Her reputation as a data-driven marketing executive opened the doors necessary for her to become a three-time president and CEO of several high-growth tech companies. Carine loves helping companies learn how to enable and support growth within their business. She is an active angel and venture investor in SaaS companies, supporting entrepreneurs in the US, Latin America, Israel, and Australia. Carine currently serves as the chair of the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity and of the executive board of Silicon Slopes. She’s also the Executive Chairman for DOMO, an independent board director for Nelnet Bank, and a volunteer for Utah’s major universities helping students be prepared for tech jobs. Carine has received multiple awards for her work including the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Utah region, Utah Business Magazine’s CEO of the Year, and Outstanding Director for a Public Company from the National Association of Corporate Directors Utah.

David O. McKay School of Education

Lecture: Instructional/Spiritual Design of Church Products
Time: Friday, October 14, 11:30 AM
Location: WSC 3280/90

David C. Nielson currently serves as the Director of Process and Planning for the Correlation Department and the product manager for the Church’s General Handbook. He oversees publishing products plans and manages the Church’s global publishing plan. Prior to working for the church, Nielson spent ten years as the Managing Director of the Church’s Publishing Services Department, managing the design and production of Church products. Nielson has been involved with launching Mormon Messages, Bible Videos, Meet the Mormons, the temple films, and the Mormon Channel. Nielson has also acted as the Director of Interactive Media and Instructional Design where he helped design church websites. Before working at the Church, Nielson was Managing Director of Instructional Design at BYU where he helped pioneer the introduction of online courses, supervising over 100 e-learning courses. Nielson earned bachelor’s degree in management, a master’s in educational leadership, and a Ph.D. in instructional psychology and technology from BYU. He and his wife, Amy, reside in Eagle Mountain, Utah, and have six children and one grandchild.

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering

Michelle Burnham

Lecture: Go Boldly: The Power of Yes
Time: Thursday, October 13, 11 AM
Location: Auditorium JSB

Michelle Burnham completed her electrical engineering studies at BYU in 2006 by participating in a Mechanical Engineering Capstone project, an unconventional path at the time. Upon graduation, Burnham received on-the-job training in petroleum engineering at ExxonMobil and obtained her professional engineering license from the state of Texas in 2012 in petroleum engineering. Additionally, she received an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin in 2011. Burnham has worked many US onshore oil and gas fields at both ExxonMobil and Anadarko Petroleum. Burnham now works in engineering consulting with Netherland, Sewell, and Associates, Inc. where she currently acts as a vice president. She provides reservoir engineering services to US and international oil and gas companies, banks, and governments and has worked on oil and gas projects in South and Central America, Africa, and Australia. In 2012, Burnham started The Mechanical Engineering Capstone Assistance Endowed Fund to support humanitarian-centered BYU Capstone projects. She remains actively involved in these projects and served as the industry liaison for the project in the 2019-2020 school year.

College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Brent S. Crane

Lecture: Social Connection: The Missing Link ...
Time: Thursday, October 13, 11 AM
Location: 250 KMBL

Brent Crane graduated in 1993 with a BS degree in Family Science and has a Non-Profit Certificate from the University of Utah. He has served on many civic and community boards during his career and especially enjoys advocating for underprivileged populations. For the past several decades, Crane has worked for the Food & Care Coalition, serving as the Executive Director and CEO since 1993. His direction has helped grow the organization which now encompasses a 4.5 acre campus in Provo. It stands as a best practice service model in the homeless delivery system. Brent loves the outdoors, the stars, gardening, DIY projects, design, travel and any activities with his family. Brent proclaims himself a goofball and half introvert and half extrovert depending on circumstances and surroundings. His greatest satisfaction is knowing that individually and collectively we can greatly improve the lives of those less fortunate by engaging, teaching, and providing appropriate opportunities for personal growth. He and his wife, Shellie, reside in Mapleton, UT and have 4 children, 4 grandchildren, and a boxer named Bosco.

College of Fine Arts and Communications

Kristen Applebee

Lecture: The Impossible Calling of Being an Artist
Time: Thursday, October 13, 11AM
Location: Madsen Recital Hall HFAC

Kristen Ellsworth Applebee grew up in Lancaster County (Amish Country), Pennsylvania. She earned a BFA from BYU, an MFA from The Ohio State University, and an Early Childhood Educator’s Certificate from Wesleyan College. She has exhibited her work across the country and taught Art on five college campuses in three states. Applebee is in her tenth year of teaching art at Georgia Academy for the Blind, grades K-12. She is also the co-director for Wesleyan College’s Center for the Arts Summer Intensive. She has won the national Outstanding Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments and was a finalist for Georgia Teacher of the Year. She serves on the state superintendent Teacher Advisory Council and is a member of the Teacher of the Year Association. She and her husband Dennis, who acts as head of the Art Department at Wesleyan College, share a passion for art. The pair have three children and currently reside in Macon, Georgia.

College of Humanities

David Elkington

Lecture: Unlocking Divergent Thinking through Humanities
Time: Thursday, October 13, 11AM
Location: B092 JFSB

David Elkington (BA ’99) is highly active in the business community. He founded InsideSales.com to revolutionize the sales industry by empowering sales with intelligent tools, insights, and technology. Recently, he founded Elkington Electric (EE), an electric vehicle automaker and automotive technology company. Dave is also a founder and board member of Silicon Slopes and a member of Utah Tech University’s board of trustees. Additionally, he teaches entrepreneurship at and sits on the computer science and CVLC advisory boards at BYU. He is an active investor, advisor, and board member of several other technology and healthcare start-ups. Dave was recognized as Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year, AA-ISP’s 25 Most Influential Inside Sales Professionals, and Utah Business Magazine’s Top 40 under 40. He has authored articles in several influential magazines and appeared on various TV networks. Dave studied at BYU and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy with minors in business, history, Japanese, and Hebrew. Dave is from Utah and is married with two children.

J. Reuben Clark Law School

Jill Marchant

Lecture: Elvis was Right: The unavoidable intersection between values and a fulfilling practice of law
Time: Thursday, October 13, 11 AM
Location: 303 JRCB

Jill Marchant holds a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in English and a juris doctorate, cum laude, from BYU. Marchant currently acts as executive vice president and chief legal officer at Hallmark. In these roles, she serves on the senior executive team while also leading the team of attorneys and legal specialists who advise Hallmark’s portfolio businesses, including Crayola and Hallmark Media, on all legal matters including intellectual property, financing, real estate, employment law and litigation, and media production and distribution. Previously, Marchant served as senior vice president and general counsel at Farm Credit Mid-America, a $22 billion agricultural lending cooperative, and as general counsel for Texas Roadhouse. She has also held leadership positions in the legal departments at Dine Equity, Applebee’s, and Honeywell. Jill recently served a 3-year term on the Executive Women’s Leadership Council of the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and currently serves on the boards of directors for the Kansas City Zoo, the Kansas City Symphony, and the Kansas City Metropolitan Crime Commission.

College of Life Sciences

Larry J. Echo Hawk

Lecture: Faith in Jesus Christ: The Foundation for Achievement in Life
Time: Thursday, October 13, 11 AM
Location: 2102 LSB

After earning a football scholarship, Elder Larry J. Echo Hawk graduated from BYU with a bachelor’s degree and later earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Utah. In 1977, Elder Echo Hawk began serving as the senior attorney for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. Eight years later he was elected to Idaho’s House of Representatives, and after serving two terms was elected as the prosecuting attorney for Bannock County. In 1990, Elder Echo Hawk became the first American Indian in US history to be elected as a state attorney general. After four years as Idaho’s attorney general, Elder Echo Hawk taught at BYU’s Law School for fifteen years. Following his professorship, Elder Echo Hawk was appointed to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs in the United States Department of the Interior. In 2012, Elder Echo Hawk was sustained as a General Authority Seventy, a calling he served in for six years before he was released and assumed Emeritus General Authority status. He and his wife, Terry, have six children, thirty grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

College of Nursing

Marie Thorup Lewis

Lecture: The Utility Player
Time: Thursday, October 13, 11 AM
Location: 1060 HBLL

Marie Thorup Lewis is a dedicated and skilled registered nurse currently working at VHC Health Outpatient Clinic in Arlington, VA—a facility that focuses on treating the uninsured, underrepresented, and Medicaid/Medicare populations. Lewis provides patient care and education in 6 clinical specialties: Endocrine, OB/GYN, General Surgery, Breast Health, Orthopedics, and Internal Medicine. Lewis graduated BYU with a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1989 and is certified in ambulatory care. Throughout her career, Lewis has gained a broad range of experience in oncology, hospice, public health, embassy, and outpatient environments. Due to her husband’s career in the foreign service, Lewis has lived in the Philippines, Morocco, Thailand, Jordan, and Kenya. She worked with the U.S. Department of State in the U.S. Embassies in Morocco and Jordan as a nurse providing clinical services including health orientation, vaccinations, on-call medical duties, and as a member of the mass casualty response team. She and her husband, Jason, currently reside in McLean, Virginia, and are the parents of 5 children.

College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences

Geremy Mustard

Lecture: Creating Worlds: Fortnite, Infinity Blade, and the Future
Time: Thursday, October 13, 11 AM
Location: 1170 TCMB

Geremy Mustard is the co-founder of ChAIR Entertainment, which was acquired by Epic Games in 2008. Geremy was the technical director and co-creator of many of the studio’s projects. ChAIR’s blockbuster Infinity Blade games have won dozens of Game of the Year and Editor’s Choice awards and remain among the most popular games ever released on the App Store. Prior to forming ChAIR, Geremy served as co-creator and technical director of Xbox game Advent Rising. Geremy also helped create and direct Fortnite, a project that changed the gaming industry, sent waves through popular culture, and has been played, seen, or experienced by over a billion people around the world. Geremy has spoken at many conferences and universities around the world, and in 2011 was recognized by Game Developer Magazine as one of the most influential people in the industry. He is currently taking a break, helping raise his three young children with his wife, Madeleine, and occasionally helping advise businesses and organizations that are trying to change the world.

College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences

Donald Mustard

BFA ’00 Industrial Design

Director, producer, writer, and game designer Donald Mustard is the creative visionary behind some of the most profitable and groundbreaking entertainment franchises in history. His BYU education has served him well throughout his videogame-creating career. He is best known for Fortnite (2017–Present), the Infinity Blade trilogy (2010–2014), and Shadow Complex (2009). As Chief Creative Officer of Epic Games, Donald’s guidance and direction has built Fortnite into a cultural phenomenon with more than 650 million players. Prior to Epic Games, Donald co-founded ChAIR Entertainment. Before the company was acquired by Epic Games, Donald and his team created the Infinity Blade series, a blockbuster saga that was monumental in the history of mobile gaming. Donald has worked closely with some of the biggest names in entertainment, including the Russo Brothers, JJ Abrams, Travis Scott, Dwayne Johnson, Lebron James, and Ariana Grande. While not interacting with celebrities or working on a new game idea, Donald enjoys spending time at home with his wife, Laura, and their four kids.

David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies

Rebecca Van Uitert

Rebecca van Uitert received a BA in International Studies from the Kennedy Center and a JD from St. John’s University. She served as a Judicial Law Clerk Intern with the U.S. Department of Justice and was the Managing Editor of the St. John’s Law Review. As an immigration attorney at Fragomen, Rebecca was the first Pro Bono Coordinator managing projects related to asylum, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and U-visa cases. She also led efforts to provide pro bono attorney representation to asylum-seeking women and children detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement along the southern U.S. border. In all of these roles, she mentored staff and students, making this her full-time vocation from 2018 to 2020 as assistant dean of Career Services at BYU Law. She later served as vice president of Human Resources at AgReserves before returning to Fragomen as a managing partner of their Salt Lake City office.

Jason Howell received a BA in International Studies from the Kennedy Center and started his career with the New York Public and International Affairs Office working with the UN and diplomatic community for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. While in New York, Jason served as the branch president and later bishop of the Queens Astoria Ward and enrolled at Columbia University to complete pre-med requirements. This paved the way for him to attend Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University where he earned a MD in 2012, focusing on primary care and global health. He was involved in service immersion experiences in Guatemala and Peru and founded a peer-led medical Spanish program at the medical school that has since trained more than 1,000 doctors. He completed residency in Chicago at Lutheran General Hospital. In 2018 he worked as a family practice physician at Intermountain Healthcare.

Jason and Rebecca married in 2002 in the Salt Lake Temple. In 2015, they adopted four children. Jason and Rebecca were killed in an automobile accident while in Hawaii on January 31, 2022.