Marymount University will recognize three alumni, one faculty member and one community member for their professional achievements and service to others at the 2023 Halo Awards Dinner and Ceremony.
Recipients will be celebrated at Washington Golf & Country Club on Thursday, February 23, 2023 from 6-8:30 pm. The program will include a cocktail hour, dinner and Halo Awards program. To register and purchase tickets, please click here. Proceeds from the event will support student scholarships, and sponsors will receive prominent recognition and exposure with Marymount alumni, students, parents, friends and community members. To make a difference as a Halo Awards sponsor, please click here.
The recipients of the Halo Awards include:
Michael D. Smith, Class of 2001, is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Sciences and Humanities. This award honors an alum who demonstrates significant accomplishments in their professional life as well as distinguished service to their community, state or nation.
Smith was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December 2021 as the eighth Chief Executive Officer of AmeriCorps, the only federal organization leading community service and volunteerism across the nation. He is guiding the organization during a time of significant growth and impact, marked by a historic $1 billion investment through the American Rescue Plan for community-based pandemic response efforts.
The 2001 Marymount Communication graduate has a long history of dedication to service, highlighted by his roles as Executive Director of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance and Director of Youth Opportunity Programs at the Obama Foundation. In these roles, Smith led the Foundation’s efforts to reduce barriers and expand opportunities for boys and young men of color, their families and other underserved youth.
David Evinger, Class of 1994 and 1998, is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Business, Innovation, Leadership and Technology. The award honors an alum who demonstrates significant accomplishments in their professional life as well as distinguished service to their community, state or nation.
Evinger is currently the President, Chief Credit Officer, Director and Secretary of Chain Bridge Bank, N.A., as well as President, Director and Corporate Secretary of Chain Bridge Bancorp, Inc. With over 25 years of commercial banking and risk management experience, he has focused his efforts during his career on credit, lending and risk management strategies for private investment funds, institutional lenders and commercial banks. He serves on the Advisory Board at Marymount, where he received both his B.A. and M.B.A. degrees.
Dr. Joseph Vorbach, III, Class of 2013, is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Health and Education. The award honors an alum who demonstrates significant accomplishments in their professional life as well as distinguished service to their community, state or nation.
Since July 2019, Dr. Vorbach has served as the Superintendent of Schools for the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, working on behalf of Bishop Burbidge to support principals and pastors in 41 Diocesan schools that enroll 18,000 students. He previously was Head of School, and Principal before that, at his alma mater of Bishop O’Connell High School.
Dr. Vorbach retired from the Coast Guard as a Commander in 2008, after serving as a faculty member at the Coast Guard Academy from 1995 to 2007. He was also a Department of Homeland Security Chair at National Defense University in Washington, D.C. He earned his M.A. in Education from Marymount in 2013.
Dr. Rita Wong is the recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Award (Faculty Member of the Year). The award honors a faculty member who demonstrates a combination of excellence in teaching, research and service. They enhance and advance the University through innovation and leadership, and champion student success.
Dr. Wong is the Associate Vice President for Research at Marymount, overseeing both external and internal research funding, strategic initiatives related to research and faculty growth and development as researchers. She previously was the founding director of Marymount’s Physical Therapy program and served in a leadership role from 1995 to 2013, before transitioning into academic affairs.
A longstanding champion for research growth at Marymount, she led recent efforts to establish three interdisciplinary research centers on campus, and also served as the principal investigator for two grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to embed evidence-based falls prevention programs in Northern Virginia communities. As a physical therapist, Dr. Wong has over 40 years of academic and clinical experience in physical rehabilitation and health promotion for older adults.
Dr. Edward Bersoff is the recipient of the Saint of Service Award (Outstanding Community Member). The award honors outstanding community members, alumni members or organizations that have displayed exemplary service to Marymount University or the Catholic community as a whole. They epitomize what it means to be a Marymount Saint.
Dr. Bersoff is the Chairman of Marymount’s Board of Trustees, the Bethesda-based business advisory firm Greenwich Associates, LLC, and the Northern Virginia business finance company Parabilis, LLC. A retired military officer who previously worked at NASA, he has been a leader in the government contracting world for more than 50 years. In 2020, he was named a Laureate of the Washington Business Hall of Fame for his lasting and significant impact on the greater Washington region through the private sector economy and his service as a role model for the next generation of leaders. He’s also an inducted member of the Greater Washington Government Contractor Hall of Fame.
