AlumniNews Stories

The Distinguished Alumni Awards are presented annually by each of RIT’s nine colleges, the School of Individualized Study, and the RIT Graduate School to alumni who have performed at the highest levels of their profession or who have contributed to the advancement and leadership of civic, philanthropic, or service organizations.

NTID has named alumna Rose Lee Timm, ’00 liberal arts (social work), its 2023-2024 Distinguished Alumni Award winner. The Distinguished Alumni Awards are presented annually by each of RIT’s nine colleges, the School of Individualized Study, and the RIT Graduate School to alumni who have performed at the highest levels of their profession or who have contributed to the advancement and leadership of civic, philanthropic, or service organizations. The 2023-2024 recipients will be honored during presentations throughout the academic year.

RIT/NTID alumnus David Cardenas SVP ’07, ’11, ’15 (AAS in information and computing and BS in applied networking and systems administration) developed a passion for information technology and network security to help organizations and customers in protecting and securing their information and networks from cyberattacks.

Stephanie Nogueras ’11 (applied liberal arts) credits her lucky break to an RIT fashion competition that launched an unlikely acting career.

The NTID Alumni Association Board of Directors had a wonderful October meeting during NTID’s 55th Anniversary Reunion and RIT’s Brick City Homecoming weekend.  The weekend was filled with lots of events, touring new spaces within NTID and the RIT campus, board discussions, and then we finished it all off with a fantastic win by the RIT Men’s hockey team! 

Michael Roppolo ’14 (journalism) is an accomplished broadcast journalist and an award-winning content creator who develops engaging content to distribute across digital media platforms. Roppolo serves as a social media associate producer at CBS News, producing content related to crime and justice for 48 Hours, a documentary and news magazine that broadcasts real-life cases affecting the human experience. 

The NTID Alumni Relations team is thrilled to share information about a collaboration from this past summer. We had the privilege of working alongside three incredibly talented co-op students,Armani Moore, Bee DePrince, and Angelica Arteaga, from NTID’s Visual Communication Studies department. Together, we embarked on a creative journey that has resulted in something truly special!

Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf is partnering with the Rochester Red Wings baseball team for the fourth annual Deaf Culture Night at 6:05 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15, at Innovative Field.

RIT/NTID alumna Edie Wilson, ’21, B.S. in Business (Supply Chain Management) and ’22, M.S. in Business (Global Supply Chain Management) credits her career success in the supply chain management field to the skills, knowledge, and confidence she gained during her time at RIT. 

Rydrea Walker, ’19 (design and imaging technology) is an independent filmmaker with 14 years of experience in producing awe-inspiring films in visual media. As a Deaf filmmaker who hopes to bring Deaf culture to the big screen in Hollywood, he owns WarriorsGate Entertainment (formerly named Walker ASL Pictures), a film production company that provides video production services for clients. 

Amie Fornah-Sankoh, SVP ’09, ’14 NTID (laboratory science technology), ’17 College of Science (biochemistry), graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville with a Ph.D. in biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology. Chemistryworld.com featured her as the first deaf Black woman to earn a STEM doctorate. She addressed the graduation ceremony as a featured speaker on Saturday, May 20, 2023. 

The NTID Alumni Association Board of Directors had a wonderful spring meeting on campus jointly with the NTID Foundation Board. It was a weekend of networking with fellow alumni and NTID representatives, receiving updates on NTID initiatives and activities, focusing on committee work, and we finished off with the Imagine RIT Festival!