COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland announces the election of eight new at-large members joining the Alumni Association Board of Governors. In their role, the Board of Governors provides foresight, oversight and insight that guides the Association in its mission to connect, cultivate and channel the power of its 388,000+ alums around the world to enrich themselves and advance the university.
Spanning the nation, each new at-large board member is a University of Maryland graduate and holds a lifetime membership with the Alumni Association. From marketing executives and government officials to CEOs and business co-founders, the board members bring diverse and seasoned expertise to their roles while shining a light on the university’s vast and varied academic roster.
"Our new at-large board members are bringing a wealth of experience and accomplishments to the association, and I am excited to work with these distinguished individuals," said Amy Eichhorst, assistant vice president of alumni relations and executive director of the Alumni Association. "I am confident that our new members will have strong contributions to move the Association and university forward, particularly as we develop a new strategic plan."
The eight new at-large members starting their two-year term on July 1 include:
Marina H. Cooper ’03 - Cooper is the assistant vice president of integrated marketing and brand management for Johns Hopkins University and resides in Baltimore. She formerly worked at Towson University as the vice president of University Marketing and Communications, where she earned numerous awards, including the 2019 award for best rebrand at the Baltimore American Marketing Association's Marketing Excellence Awards. Cooper has served on multiple boards, including the Baltimore Education Trust, and received her MBA from the University of Maryland Global Campus. She is also a graduate of the Harvard Institute for Educational Management Program.
Patricia G. Cousins ’87 - Cousins is the vice president and assistant general counsel for Marriott International Inc. and resides in Annapolis, Md. In addition to her English degree from UMD, she earned her J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law and formerly clerked for the Honorable Robert L. Karwacki of the Maryland Court of Appeals. She has an active relationship with the university, serving as a member of the College of Arts and Humanities Dean’s Cabinet and Fearless Ideas campaign committee, and she volunteers annually with its “Access2Alumni” event.
Jazz M. Lewis ’11, MPP ’14 - Lewis has been a delegate for Maryland’s 24th Legislative District since 2017, and currently sits on the Appropriations Committee and the Joint Committee on Legislative Information Technology and Open Government. He is also a member of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland and the Maryland Legislative Transit Caucus and is an associate member of the Maryland Legislative Latino Caucus. He currently works as a senior policy advisor for U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer ’63, and previously served as executive director of Hoyer’s Maryland political organization. Lewis was the 2021 recipient of the Alumni Association’s Young Alumnus Award, the 2011 recipient of the John B. Slaughter Outstanding Senior Award from the Nyumburu Cultural Center, and The Maryland Daily Record’s “Very Important Professionals Successful by 40.”
Catherine Luzio ’97 - Luzio is the founder and CEO of Luminary, a global career and personal growth platform created to address the systemic challenges impacting women across all industries and sectors. She majored in political science at UMD then earned her Master of Arts degree from Georgetown University in international relations. She spent two decades in financial services leading global multibillion-dollar businesses and was named to American Banker's ‘Most Powerful Women in Banking' list multiple years in a row, in addition to being a three-time Financial Times Global Diversity Champion and a two-time Yahoo Finance Diversity Hero. Previously she sat on the national boards for Girls Inc. and WaterAid, among others. Luzio was recognized as one of Forbes’ Next 1000 Entrepreneurs in 2021 and a Top 100 Female Founder by Inc. in 2019. She has been active with the Alumni Association for several years, serving as the founder for the Terp Women Alumnae group in NYC Metro, is an executive sponsor for the UMD Women in Finance Mentorship Program and in 2021 she was named an EnTERPreneur of the Year.
Wilson Wang ’03 - Wang is the vice president, CFO and treasurer at MITRE, a public interest company that leverages technology, innovation, and systems engineering to tackle challenges to the nation’s safety and well-being. Wang helps enable MITRE's financial stewardship along with new initiatives, partnering with industry academia and entrepreneurial ventures in areas such as cybersecurity, healthcare, 5G, and national security. Residing in Virginia, Wang has prior experience with the Alumni Association, serving as a non-member participant in the Board of Governors Finance Committee since 2019. In addition to his business administration degree from Maryland, he earned his MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management.
Dr. Susan A. Wood ’84 - Wood is president and CEO of VIDA Diagnostics in Palo Alto, Calif., where she develops new markets using artificial intelligence solutions for early detection, diagnosis and treatment planning of patients with or at risk of pulmonary disease. Wood also serves on the board of directors for iCAD, a medical device manufacturer, and previously chaired the board of visitors for the Graduate School of Duke University, where she earned her Master of Science degree. She earned her Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Derrin A. Woodhouse ’95 - Woodhouse is the head of influencer, PR and consumer engagement for Coach in the U.S. and Canada, and resides in New Jersey. He engineers marketing and media strategies for several high-end global consumer brands, and has built a distinguished career in media and entertainment. Woodhouse was active as a Maryland student, with involvement in the Black Student Union, Omega Psi Phi, WMUC and the Maryland Medallion Society, among other groups.
Shayan G. Zadeh M.S. ’02 - Zadeh is the CEO of Leap Rail, which provides a suite of applications enabling hospital and surgery center administrators to run operating rooms with artificial intelligence and predictive analytics. Prior to this role, he acquired retail brands Pier 1 and Dressbarn out of bankruptcy and turned them into ecommerce growth engines. He was also the co-founder and CEO of Zoosk, one of the world’s largest online dating platforms and a top grossing application in the Apple App Store. A resident of Texas, he has been actively involved with the university for nearly a decade, having spoken at several alum events, received the 2019 EnTERPreneur Award from the Alumni Association and been inducted into the Department of Computer Science Alumni Hall of Fame. He received his MBA from the University of Washington - Michael G. Foster School of Business.
In addition to the at-large board members, the association welcomes Jeffrey Rivest ’75 to serve as its next president. Rivest received his bachelor of science degree from the university as well as a masters degree in hospital administration from George Washington University. He has served on numerous corporate and non-profit boards, and after 40 years in hospital administration, including senior roles at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Georgetown University Medical Center and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, he retired in 2016 after serving 11 years as President and CEO of the University of Maryland Medical Center. A Pennsylvania resident, Rivest has a deep connection with the university, serving as a member of the College Park Foundation Board of Trustees for six years and chairing a $20 million campaign for the School of Public Health, where he serves on the Dean’s Council and was recognized with the Distinguished Terrapin Award in 2019. Rivest has co-chaired annual fundraising efforts for the Phi Delta Theta fraternity at the university and has served on the Alumni Association’s board for the past three years. He and his wife established the Jeffrey and Michelle Rivest-Dean’s Council Maryland Promise Scholarship, the first through the Clark Challenge for the Maryland Promise Program to target students in the School of Public Health.