Four Alumni Honored With 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award

Each year, The Chicago School honors alumni for outstanding contributions to the profession of psychology with the Distinguished Alumni Award.

This year, we were delighted to honor Michelle Y. Blakely, PhD (2015 PhD Organizational Leadership, Chicago Campus) Hillary Cauthen, PsyD (2013 PsyD Clinical Psychology, Southern California Campuses), Nancy Ejuma, PhD (2019 PhD International Psychology, Washington, D.C. Campus) and Marlon Moore, PhD (2019 PhD Organizational Leadership, Online.)

Michelle Y. Blakely, PhD
Dr. Michelle Y. Blakely is the President of Advocate Aurora Health’s Aurora Medical Center, Grafton Wisconsin, which is a 132-bed tertiary care hospital. Dr. Blakely retired as a senior executive from the Department of Veterans Affairs and has served over 20 years in C-suite healthcare leadership roles. She is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Dr. Blakely received the following honors: 2018 Crain’s Chicago Notable Women in Healthcare, 2015 Omega Psi Phi Women of Excellence Award, 2012 Distinguished Service Award by the Illinois Department of Disabled American Veterans, 2011 Chicago Defender’s Chicago Women of Excellence.

Hillary Cauthen, PsyD
Based in Austin, Texas, Dr. Hillary Cauthen’s career focuses on the mental health and mental performance dimensions of athletes and sport organizations. Dr. Cauthen is a Clinical Sport Psychologist for Texas Optimal Performance & Psychological Services, and serves as the performance psychologist for the San Antonio Spurs and Austin FC, developing their mental performance and wellness programs.

Dr. Cauthen has developed private businesses that bring mental wellness curriculum to school districts across the nation, as well as an analytics company that helps predict the behavioral risk factors in players for teams in the NFL, NBA NHL, MLB, and Premier League.

Nancy Ejuma, PhD
Dr. Nancy Ejuma is currently serving as the Deputy Director and Chief of Operations for the Williamson County and Cities Health District (WCCHD) in Texas. She believes that public service is one of the most extraordinary callings there is and previously served as the Deputy Associate Commissioner for Regional and Local Health Operations within the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), the Immunization Unit Director within Texas DSHS, and the Immunization Program Manager for the DC Department of Health.

Additionally, Nancy holds an MBA focused on healthcare from Yale University. Her doctoral dissertation at The Chicago School focused on the psychology behind vaccine hesitancy across cultures.

Marlon Moore, PhD
Dr. Marlon Moore is the President of Marlon Moore Consulting, LLC, a strategy development firm for organizations interested in accelerating their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Dr. Moore is the former Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for Huntington National Bank. A nationally recognized DEI consultant, Dr. Moore has worked with organizations across multiple industries and has trained thousands of business professionals on the principles of DEI throughout Virginia, Illinois, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Ohio.

He has authored several articles for Savoy and Kaleidoscope magazines and received recognition from Black Enterprise Magazine, National Diversity Council, Forbes magazine, and Fortune 100 magazine. He is the author of Diversity Starts with You: A strategy development guide for DEI and host of Moore DEI Discussions, a podcast series that addresses DEI topics with C-Suite executives.