USC Alumni Association honors Trojans for achievements, legacy of service

Every April, the Trojan Family gathers in black-tie attire for a formal dinner to honor the year’s USC Alumni Association award recipients for their professional achievements and legacy of service. This year’s gathering, like ones held in the past, was a night filled with friends, family and school spirit.

Unlike previous years, however, the 2025 gala was an opportunity for the USC Alumni Association (USCAA) to confer USC President Carol Folt with honorary alumna status to commemorate her retirement.

USCAA Board of Governors President Daniel Prince ’00, MA ’02 presented the award, noting that Folt’s dynamic leadership, passion for innovation and whole- hearted dedication to USC’s students were felt by Trojans worldwide. Prince added Folt’s return to teaching as USC faculty would allow her to “inspire new generations of Trojans.”

ALUMNI SERVICE AWARD

Antonio “Tony” Alamo MD ’91 is the chief physician executive and chief medical officer for Nevada Heart and Vascular Center, the largest cardiology group in the state of Nevada, and a staunch supporter of the Keck School of Medicine of USC. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Keck School of Medicine in 2019.
For more than 30 years, Alamo has shared his expertise and experience with the Keck School of Medicine as an ambassador, committee member and mentor. He is a member of the school’s Board of Councilors. In 2022, Donna Elliott, vice dean of medical education, recruited Alamo to help develop curricula for its students.

From his private practice in Las Vegas, Alamo has organized a patient referral net- work with Keck Medicine of USC. As a university ambassador, he helped arrange a $3 million gift from Michael and Sharon Ensign to Keck School of Medicine and the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. Alamo served as the president of the Ensign Cancer Research Foundation, which has contributed more than $5 million to support cancer research and medical education at USC.

ALUMNI MERIT AWARD

Ego Nwodim ’10 is an actress, comedian, writer and producer best known for her performances on NBC’s Saturday Night Live (SNL). She received back-to-back nominations in 2024 and 2025 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series from the NAACP Image Awards for her work on SNL.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Md., Nwodim began pursuing comedy after graduating from USC. She honed her craft at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles, where she became a mainstay. More recently, The Hollywood Reporter featured her on the cover of its May 23, 2024, issue as one of “comedy’s leading ladies.”

Beyond acting, Nwodim is passionate about giving back. In 2023, she co-launched the Life Skills Improv Program in partnership with the Baltimore Curriculum Project to help local youth explore and embrace new possibilities. A USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences alumna, she delivered the school’s commencement address in 2022.

ALUMNI MERIT AWARD

Wilbur H. Smith III MRED ’99 is the founder, president and CEO of Greenlaw Partners, a California-based, full-service commercial real estate development and operating company. Smith oversees all aspects of the company’s acquisition, operations and investment development and redevelopment programs. Under his leadership, Greenlaw has completed more than $10 billion in acquisitions and dispositions across nearly 350 commercial properties.

Smith is a licensed California real estate broker, active member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and board member of YPO’s Orange County Gold Chapter. He is also a founding member of the Orange County Chapter of Tiger 21 and serves as an independent director on the boards of American Healthcare REIT, Bronco Wine and Uprite Construction.

An alumnus of the USC Price School of Public Policy, Smith currently serves as the vice chair of its Board of Councilors. He is also a member of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate Executive Committee.

YOUNG ALUMNI MERIT AWARD

Tim Ellis ’12, MS ’13 is the co-founder and former CEO of Relativity Space, an aerospace company developing manufacturing technologies, launch vehicles and rocket engines for commercial orbital launch services.

Under his leadership, Relativity successfully launched Terran 1, the world’s first 3D-printed rocket, and sold more than $2.9 billion in launch service agreements to commercial and government entities. Before co-founding Relativity, Ellis was a propulsion development engineer at Blue Origin. He was the youngest member of the National Space Council Users’ Advisory Group and directly advised the White House on space policy from 2018 to 2023.

Ellis has been included in Time magazine’s 100 Next list, MIT Technology Review’s “Innovators Under 35” list and two of Forbes’ “30 Under 30” lists. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. At USC, Ellis and Relativity co-founder Jordan Noone ’14 helped launch the first student-built rocket into space.

ASA V. CALL ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Shelly Nemirovsky ’85 upholds the university’s reputation through her work as a USC trustee, philanthropist and community leader. In 2016 — the year Nemirovsky was elected to the USC Board of Trustees — she and her husband, Ofer, made a gift to endow and name the Nemirovsky Residential College for Sustainability at USC Village.

The Nemirovskys’ generosity has touched nearly every part of USC. They established USC’s Shelly and Ofer Nemirovsky Provost’s Chair, which provides recognition and support for the leader overseeing the university’s academic enterprise, as well as USC’s NEMO Prizes, which catalyze high- potential health engineering collaborations between researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and USC’s health sciences schools. The couple also established USC Viterbi’s Shelly and Ofer Nemirovsky Chair in Convergent Bioscience.

Nemirovsky and her husband are the proud parents of three children: Genevieve ’20, Eric ’23 and Will.