The Young Alumnus Award is presented annually to an individual who was a Blue Key member while a student at UGA, and whose early professional and personal contributions indicate a special level of service to the state and nation. Past recipients are shown here along with their titles at the time of their selection.
Past Recipients
| Recipient | Affiliation | Year Awarded |
|---|---|---|
| Robert L. Izlar | Executive Vice President, Mississippi Forestry Association | 1986 |
| C. Randall Nuckolls | Counsel to Kilpatrick & Cody, Washington Office | 1987 |
| Deborah Norville | Anchor, NBC News at Sunrise | 1988 |
| Lewis A. Massey | Chief of Staff & Campaign Manager for Lt. Gov. Pierre Howard | 1989 |
| Diane Brown Vaughn | Executive Director, Children’s Miracle Network Television | 1990 |
| Keith Mason | Executive Secretary to Georgia Governor Zell Miller | 1991 |
| Tammy Tate Gilland | Coordinator of Alumni Relations and Development, UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Georgia | 1992 |
| James B. Ellington | Law Partner, Hull, Towill, Norman and Barrett | 1993 |
| Kathy Rogers Pharr | Director of Communications and Public Relations, School of Law, University of Georgia | 1996 |
| Mark Lewis | Vice President and General Counsel for Meridian Management | 1997 |
| Stacy Bishop Jones | Director of Public Affairs, Communications and Tourism, City of Commerce, Georgia | 1998 |
| Robert Ray, Jr. | Assistant Secretary of State | 1999 |
| Anne Proffit Depree | UGA Associate Professor of Law, University of Georgia | 2000 |
| Frank J. Hanna, III | CEO, HBR Capital, Ltd. | 2001 |
| Heath Garrett | Chief of Staff to U.S. Representative Johnny Isakson | 2002 |
| Robyn Andree Painter | Senior Writing Fellow for the Georgetown Law Writing Center, and Former Peace Corps Volunteer | 2003 |
| Andrew DeVooght | Visiting Professor, University of Illinois College of Law | 2004 |
| Christopher Carr | Deputy Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson | 2005 |
| Natalie D. Schweers | Group Vice President, SunTrust Bank | 2006 |
| Bart Newman | Associate, Law Firm of Arnall Golden Gregory | 2007 |
| Scott Hershovitz | Assistant Professor, University of Michigan Law School | 2008 |
| Amy Mulkey McGowan | Senior Associate, McKinsey & Company | 2009 |
| Beth A. Shapiro | Shaffer Career Development Assistant Professor, Penn State University | 2010 |
| Charles J. Bethel | Senator, State of Georgia, District 54 | 2011 |
| Tobin R. Carr | Director of Planning, Georgia Department of Transportation | 2012 |
| Jessica Langston McClellan | Aviation and Admiralty Litigation and Deepwater Horizon Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice | 2013 |
| Holly C. Gooding | Specialist in Adolescent Medicine and Instructor in Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School | 2014 |
| Tricia L. Chastain | President, Georgia Student Finance Commission | 2015 |
| Jane Okpala | Lead Product Specialist on Social Good and Goodwill Products, Facebook | 2016 |
| Matt Crim | Cardiologist, Piedmont Heart Institute and Assistant Professor of Medicine, AU/UGA Medical Partnership | 2017 |
| Latham Saddler, III | U.S. Navy SEAL Officer - Director of Intelligence Programs on the National Security Council | 2018 |
| Chloe Kelley | Senior Vice President and Account Manager, PIMCO | 2019 |
| Award Not Given | 2020 | |
| David B. Dove | Executive Counsel to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp | 2021 |
| Grant R. Thomas | Director, Georgia Governor's Office of Health Strategy and Coordination | 2022 |
| J. Wells Ellenberg | Director, Governmental Affairs for Southern Company | 2023 |