Honors Alumni
Your future starts now. The Honors Program will help you achieve your most ambitious intellectual, personal and professional goals. Here are some examples of what our graduates are doing.
Gabriel Allori ’22
At Dominican, Gabriel Allori continued to follow his passion for healthcare. As a student here, Gabriel was heavily involved with medical organizations around campus, including serving as the vice president of the American Medical Student Association. He also took part in the university’s Faith in the Vaccine initiative, which encouraged hesitant individuals to get vaccinated for COVID-19 and countered misconceptions about the shots. He’s now brought his passion for service into the real world, providing world-class patient care at Swedish Covenant Hospital.
Vincenzo Cerasuolo '22
“Grateful” is how Vincenzo Cerasuolo feels for his time in Dominican University's honors program. While here, the program challenged him in the classroom, allowing him to develop new skills and ways of thinking, he says. And it also provided pathways to high-impact on-campus leadership opportunities. "All of this has greatly prepared me for the next phases in my life,” he says.
Iyleah Hernandez ’22
Iyleah Hernandez is driven by her desire to help others. While at Dominican, Hernandez, a first-generation student, earned the 2022 Dorothy Reiner Mulroy Award, presented annually to a graduating senior who has demonstrated outstanding academic and leadership skills. Now, she’s working as a technology consultant at Ernst and Young while continuing to carry out the university’s mission.
Kat Moreno ’21
Kat Moreno never even considered joining Dominican’s honors program. But Kat entered the program her junior year after an encouraging professor recommended her. Now years later, Kat knows she “made the right decision” for herself. “My brain was constantly stimulated by the honors courses. In the honors program, learning never stops. This constant learning is what makes the Mazzuchelli Scholars a great representation of just a portion of the Caritas et Veritas that is alive at Dominican.” Kat is completing her master’s in social work at Dominican and continuing to serve as an advocate for social justice.
Emma Bond ’20
Emma Bond forever cherishes the opportunity she had to study at the University of Oxford. The experience helped her further hone her writing skills and develop an entire portfolio of work. “Without the Oxford program, I wouldn’t have the confidence I have today with my writing abilities for creative writing or academic writing." The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was made possible through her participation in Dominican’s Honors program.
Kayla Jackson '16, MSW '18
Kayla graduated in 2016 with a major in psychology and earned a Master of Social Work in 2018. But she wanted more than a master's degree. See why she was drawn to Dominican's mission. She served as the Director of Social Justice Ministries at Old St. Patrick’s Church in Chicago from 2018-2023 before returning to Dominican University as a Beloved Community university minister.
Giacomo Polinelli '19
Giacomo, an Italian international student, graduated in 2019 with Honors with Distinction, which allowed him to research and study in depth one of his passions: Dante’s Commedia. He is now pursuing a doctoral degree in Italian at Indiana University and his dream is to become a professor of Italian Studies in the United States so that he can expose his students to the culture that he deeply loves.
Alyssa Domico ’17
As an honors student, Alyssa did it all. She majored in neuroscience, played three sports and graduated in 2017 with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average. Now, she’s in dental school and on track to realize her goal of becoming an orthodontist.
Tye Turner ’16
Tye Turner, a 2016 graduate, was among the first Peace Corps volunteers to be allowed back into Liberia to help people recover from the devastating Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Now he’s studying crisis management in graduate school, working at UNICEF USA and taking steps to become a U.S. diplomat in the Foreign Service.
Jolly Grewal '16
Originally from Troy, Michigan, Jolly Grewal '16 played basketball and co-authored research on fruit flies which he presented at local and national conferences as an undergraduate at Dominican. He graduated a semester early and is currently pursing a medical degree at State University of New York Upstate Medical University.
Other Alumni
- Kelly Butler, production and stage manager, Redmoon Theater, Chicago
- Patrick Hughes '10, Clinical Assistant Professor of Neonatology at NorthShore University HealthSystem
- Sara Schwatken '08 earned her PhD in counseling psychology from Iowa State University and is a psychologist and owner at Authentic Therapy of Iowa
- Willa Skeehan '15 received a scholarship to pursue a master's degree in mathematical biology at Ohio State University.