Linwood Alford says his mission in life is to be of service to those who served. A Gulf War Veteran and now busy entrepreneur, Alford left his job with the Dept. of Veteran’s Affairs to open his non-profit organization, Open Door Resource Center, Inc. The Center is a place where Veterans can get help navigating the complex system of VA benefits so they can get the services they need. The master’s degree allows him to offer more to the Veterans at his center, and work toward his dream of expanding opportunities for mental health support through his other company Camwood Corporation, LLC. He is especially interested in supporting Veterans experiencing PTSD and has begun his 3,000 residency hours so he can sit for the exam to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Dr. Courchaine has spent the last 16 years as a very successful software developer working for large organizations including Nike. His research and dissertation focused on the emerging field of e-discovery and how technology-assisted review can play an important role in the legal system during the discovery process which now relies on digitized assets. His work involved testing the algorithms of a neural network model called ARTMAP that uses machine learning to mimic the way the human brain processes information, as opposed to the AI-generated large language models that were not interpretable to all but a few experts, and difficult to defend in court. His dissertation “Empirical Characterization of the Fuzzy ARTMAP Algorithm For E-Discovery: Towards Explainable Technology Assisted-Review,” was the basis for an international presentation on his research at the IEEE BigData conference in Japan. He is continuing his research in collaboration with other students and his committee chair.

Dr. Dandy Fralick had a successful clinical practice prior to starting her doctorate program. She was a licensed marriage and family therapist and a licensed alcohol and drug therapist. She saw the doctoral program as a way to advance her career as an author, and a chance to explore her research to shift subconscious responses to racial anxiety, especially in the context of management and leadership. In addition to her expertise on race in mental health settings, she also has leadership roles in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion training and workshops. One of her career goals in addition to authoring additional books, is to help ensure all people, and especially people of color, feel supported as therapists so they can bring their authentic selves.

Mr. Davis came to the counseling profession later in life after first building a successful career in banking after graduating with his bachelor’s degree. Living in Charlotte, NC, he worked with large banks in client-facing roles all week and then did volunteer work, as well as paid speaking engagements, and workshops on weekends. He found he wanted to have longer interaction and greater long-term impact than his short-term seminars allowed. After his wife completed her medical residency, it was his turn to return to college. At the advice of a therapist friend, he decided to pursue a graduate degree in counseling. Two of the goals he has as a professional counselor are to attract more black males to the therapy profession and to encourage more people to seek therapy and understand that it can give them resources in a judgment-free zone that can improve their lives.

Dr. Teresa Duncan spent 30 years in the U.S. Army in various leadership roles including Command Sergeant Major, 8th Military Police Brigade; Commandant for the Noncommissioned Officer Academy for the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence; and Senior Advisor to the Provost at Army University. Today she is the Director of Military Programs for External Education at Cornell University and works part-time as an Exam Administrator in the Resilience-Building Leader Program. As a systems thinker and strategic planner, Duncan is connecting a lot of dots at Cornell to help integrate analytics, workforce insights, coursework, and curriculum mapping, to create programs that will bring active-duty Soldiers and Veterans valuable knowledge to build upon their valuable experience as they continue in their careers.

As CEO and owner of Creative Computing, Jeffrey Gorman has spent decades as a successful business owner working with 12 school districts building administrative software and database systems. Over the years he pivoted his company as Internet technologies emerged. He also was one of a small group of official Apple™ distributors. Seeking an in-demand field with less personal demands than owning and operating his own business, Gorman leaned into his logic and system thinking skills and pursued a cybersecurity degree. In his first role immediately upon graduation, he was able to protect his higher education client from harm during a ransomware attack. Today he continues to harden the system, increase efficiencies, and reduce the college’s risk profile while making continuous improvements to the infrastructure.

Like many students at the most recent National University commencement, Lei Huang had a successful career before enrolling in his degree program. He is also now an active-duty service member. Huang had previously earned an MBA but decided to enroll in the university to make a career switch after a traumatic life experience. A few years ago, he and his wife had their first child who was born prematurely with many serious conditions and complications. The team at the neonatal intensive care unit where their baby girl stayed for 12 consecutive days provided stellar medical support, and today their daughter is one of three healthy children in the family. But the experience changed Huang. He decided to pursue medicine, setting his career ambitions on becoming a nurse and future officer in the military so he could spend his career helping others. Recently graduating with an associate degree in human biology, he has now met the pre-requisites for the nursing program and has begun study in that bachelor’s degree at National University.

Marc Lessard is an engineer, an exceptional student and STEM scholar, a spouse, a father, a former Marine, a former business owner, a maker, and now an inventor. He recently fulfilled a lifelong dream and graduated at 32 years old with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering during which he invented and produced a smart apparel for sports product he is going to patent and market. His other innovations included working on a radio frequency jammer project with his employer, a project he was passionate about after having IEDs explode next to him during his service in Afghanistan. Growing up in severe poverty, Lessard deeply values education and graduated Summa Cum Laude with one of the highest GPAs in his college. He is excited about the doors his degree will help him open.

Frank Roh graduated high school and went immediately to work in his father’s trucking business as a dispatcher. In his 20’s he was more focused on making money than on getting more education so after he took the dispatcher job as far as he could, he went to work in an MRI facility where he worked his way from receptionist to manager of the site. But when the owners of the facility talked about a relocation, Roh realized he needed to rethink, and possibly retool his career. He began working in a local Emergency Room while planning to pursue a radiology degree, but colleagues and friends kept suggesting he would make a great nurse. Looking for meaningful work that helped others while providing solid career stability, Roh finally decided to pursue nursing and found his bliss as well as a great job at Kaiser Permanente.

Dr. Stevens is a senior technologist at the prestigious Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where he co-creates digital solutions to help improve cancer research and care. His Ph.D. work earned him the Dissertation of the Year and Poster of the Year award. He is publishing a paper on his dissertation work called TrAAIT – A Theory of Trust and Acceptance of Artificial Intelligence – a model to assess clinician trust in AI technology and is presenting that work for the American Medical Informatics Association. He holds a Master of Arts in Education – Adult Education and Training, and formerly served as a university professor. His goal is to share knowledge and bring value to others wherever he takes his career.

While other 19-year-old college peers were spending evenings at pubs in the Sacramento area, Mike Severi was spending time at homicide scenes. Starting a career track early, Severi, now in his mid-30s, has been with the Sacramento Police for 18 years and currently serves as Sergeant of the Violent Crime Reduction Team. He recently built upon his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice with his master’s degree. He says one of the high points in his graduate journey was getting the full 360º view of human behavior which brought him to new depths in empathy and tolerance. He thinks the ability to look at life and people through many, often differing lenses, can be a tremendous boost to his role as supervisor in the Police Department, and in his deeply committed service to his community.

Recently earning a Bachelor of Arts in Management with a concentration in Human Resource Management, Samantha Valenzuela originally thought she was going into HR to help people build better careers and stronger organizations. Upon graduation, she realized she wanted to help people on a more individual level and is pursuing a master’s degree in counseling. Her original plans to attend college were delayed when as a high school honor student she found herself graduating as a single mom of a six-month-old girl. She worked many jobs but then met her husband who encouraged her to pursue her dream of education. She enrolled in National University for the work/life balance, and was one of ten students selected to receive the Horatio Alger-Denny Sandford Scholarship, graduating with a 3.9 GPA. She wants to use her career to help other young mothers reach their goals and aspirations.

Jessica Ward’s first exposure to the legal system came at just 20 years old when the single mom found herself in a custody dispute with her child’s father. Unable to afford a lawyer, Ward dove deep into research and paperwork and ultimately proved successful. This lit a spark in her for the law and she began a journey that included working as a transcriptionist and later office manager for a law firm. The more exposure to the legal system, the more her interest grew culminating in her deciding to pursue a law degree so she could practice law. While in school she served as a teaching assistant to other law students and excelled in her studies. She plans to specialize in estate planning and probate and offer pro-bono services to economically challenged mothers and fathers with their custody cases.