The GSEHD Office of Alumni Relations is here for you! We are committed to providing relevant events and services to GSEHD alumni. Our strategic focus centers on industry- and department-specific programming, student-alumni interactions, and sharing meaningful news.
We need your input as we continue to build our GSEHD alumni community. We are always looking for GSEHD alumni volunteers to host a dinner with current students or be a webinar presenter or serve as a speaker for a panel discussion. Want to get involved? Have some ideas? We’d love to hear from you! Contact us at [email protected].
We look forward to helping to make your alumni experience more engaging! Make a Difference!
Being a GW graduate benefits you! A wide array of benefits are here for you - from special access to campus facilities, to GW email for life, to campus discounts, and special offers from affiliate partners.
Think to Win: Developing the Capacity of Individuals, Teams & Organizations
Making LinkedIn Truly Work for You
9 Pitfalls to Avoid in Your Military Transition
How to Build a High-Performing Nonprofit Board
Job Search Strategy for GW Military Veterans
Dr. Freund will receive the Jane Lingo Alumni Outstanding Service Award—presented to a faculty or staff member who is a GW graduate and who consistently advances the mission of the university through dedicated volunteer efforts in support of its programs. She currently serves as associate dean for research and external relations at the Graduate School of Education and Human Development, where she advances the research efforts of GSEHD faculty and students collaborating on local, national and international funding endeavors.
As an undergraduate student at GW, Laura was a scholarship varsity athlete, an officer in her sorority and served on the Colonial Inauguration Cabinet. Upon graduating, Ms. Downs immediately began working for her alma mater and continued to work at the University for the next ten years. Ms. Downs held numerous positions at GW including Executive Director of the Student Activities Center, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Director of Colonial Inauguration. In addition, she also served as the Director of New Student Orientation at George Mason University. After leaving the workforce to raise her young children, Ms. Downs joined the Board of Directors of the George Washington Alumni Association as a volunteer in 2005 and held numerous officer positions including president of the GWAA from 2009-2011. She now continues her volunteer work at GW as Chair of the Council of Chairs, overseeing and supporting school-based alumni volunteer fundraising efforts and serves on GW’s National Council of Education and Human Development.
Sylven Beck has made a career of influencing others. For the last 35 years, Dr. Beck has been a professor of elementary education at GW, instructing and mentoring some of the brightest aspiring teachers in the country. Her role at GSEHD is definitively prolific: she inspires and teaches students who then inspire and teach other—their own elementary students. And after three decades and hundreds of students, Beck's impact extends nationwide. But her influence is not confined to the classroom. "I've come to realize that it's not all about teaching our aspiring elementary teachers how to teach children reading, writing, and arithmetic—it’s about how to teach children to be kind to one another, to take care of one another. This is the most important lesson I could leave with my students." Her strategy may not be typical in its approach, but it is exponential in its effect. She continues to teach from the heart and through the Beck Endowment, continues to provide much needed scholarship funds to deserving students. The cycle of kindness endures.
