Alumni Awards

Ted Fetterman (MSIA 1974)
Tepper Alumni Lifetime Service Award

For his lifelong service and philanthropic support to his alma mater, Ted Fetterman received the 2024 Tepper Alumni Lifetime Service Award. An undergraduate engineering graduate at Carnegie Mellon in 1968, he went on to earn his Master of Science degree in business from GSIA in 1974. He has been an exemplary alumni advocate for the business school and Carnegie Mellon University over his impressive career as a senior finance executive with United Technologies, serving as vice president and worldwide CFO of Otis Elevator, and vice president of Acquisition Integration at Carrier Corporate.

He was instrumental in the corporate sponsorship at UTC of the innovative and highly successful Flex-Mode MBA program launched in 1996 which laid the groundwork for the current top-ranked Online Hybrid MBA Program. In addition to his corporate leadership, Fetterman has been actively engaged as a passionate reunion volunteer serving as a leader on his class reunion committees, participating in alumni events and panels, and generously supporting the mission of the school.

Mark Zacur (MSIA 1997)
Tepper Alumni Achievement Award

For his impressive career achievements and leadership in the healthcare industry as well as for his volunteer service to the Tepper School, Mark Zacur received the Alumni Achievement Award. He currently serves as CEO of Avantik, an integrated medical product and services company serving laboratories. He joined Avantik in 2023 after holding senior leadership roles in healthcare distribution and manufacturing as executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Owens & Minor, and at Thermo Fisher Scientific as vice president and general manager at Fisher Healthcare.

He has also served as a board member of The Health Industry Distributors Association (HIDA) as well as HIDA’s board chairman. Prior to Fisher Scientific, Mark held various roles at Bayer Material Science, Reichhold Chemicals, Monsanto Company, and Raytheon. An active alumnus and generous donor, Zacur has been a speaker, Management Game board member, recruiting volunteer, and Reunion Giving Committee chair.

Laurie Barkman (MSIA 1999)
Tepper Alumni Service Award

Laurie Barkman was honored with a Tepper Alumni Service Award for her outstanding volunteer leadership and passionate service to the Tepper School alumni community. She has served the Tepper School as a class reunion volunteer, an admissions volunteer, speaker, and member of the Tepper School Alumni Board from 2010 to 2016, where she also served as president. Barkman was the inaugural recipient of the Tepper Women in Business “Alumna of the Year” award. A consistent philanthropic supporter of the university, she serves as an adjunct professor at the Tepper School teaching a course titled, “The Corporate Startup Lab.”

She is also an advisor, author, award-winning podcaster, and keynote speaker through her firm, the Business Transition Sherpa where she provides C-Level strategy, go to market expertise, and exit planning services.

Bruce Gebhardt (MSIA 1984) Posthumously
Tepper Alumni Service Award

For his outstanding volunteer leadership and service to the Tepper School and the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Bruce Gerbhardt was honored with the Alumni Service Award. He was a passionate alumnus, attending alumni events in NYC, championing his class reunions, generously supporting the school, including donor challenges for Tepper’s giving campaigns, and serving on the Tepper School Alumni Board.

He loved investing his time and energy in numerous startups coming out of the Swartz Center, having been the most active alumni angel investor in its startups as well as a leader in 99 Tartans. Additionally, he was active as a board member for CMU Swartz startups and always opened his vast network to startup founders. Bruce left us with a legacy of service that has inspired countless students and alumni.

Michelle Crottier (MBA 2014)
Tepper Recent Masters Alumni Award

Michelle Crottier was recognized for her dedicated service to the Tepper School community. As an alumna, she has been an active volunteer and leader impacting potential students, current alumni, and future alumni. Whether it is through volunteering with admissions, corporate recruiting, reunion, or alumni philanthropy, her dedicated service in supporting the growth and success of students and alumni is deeply appreciated by all.

She has been a member of both the New York and San Francisco Bay Area Alumni chapters and served on the Tepper Alumni Board. She regularly supports the Tepper School Annual Fund. Crottier currently is the Regulatory Affairs Senior Manager for Google where she is also an active leader of the Tepper Alumni Group, arranging student treks to and connecting alumni at Google.

Todd Medema (B.S. 2014)
Tepper Recent Undergraduate Alumni Award

Todd was recognized for his career success and his ongoing support of his alma mater. As a winner of the prestigious 5th Year Scholarship while at Carnegie Mellon, he can be described with words such as founder, entrepreneur, and innovator as he pursues his many endeavors such as co-authoring a bestselling book, co-founding Fabricate.IO, or pursuing his interest in clean energy. Todd has stayed connected with the Tepper School through volunteering for Tartan Talks, Take a Tartan to Work Day, and the Student Giving Committee.

Since graduation, he has held product management and software roles at Uber and Tesla as well in startups. He is currently a Fellow at Climatebase where upon completion he plans to continue pursuing his passion in clean energy.