Arts & Sciences honors 2025 distinguished alumni

The 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients pose with Feng Sheng Hu (center), the Richard G. Engelsmann Dean of Arts & Sciences, at the award ceremony. They are: David Conner (left), Chelsea Hirschhorn, Ruth DeFries, Henry Warshaw and Michael Kumar. (Photo: Arts & Sciences)

David Conner, AB ’74, an international businessman, committed philanthropist, alumnus and leader for Washington University in St. Louis, received the 2025 Dean’s Medal from Feng Sheng Hu, the Richard G. Engelsmann Dean of Arts & Sciences, at an awards ceremony March 27.

At the ceremony, Hu also presented the school’s early career achievement and distinguished alumni awards, which recognize the honorees’ commitment to the ideals of a liberal arts education through their life, work and service.

Chelsea Hirschhorn, AB ’06, CEO and founder of Frida, the parent company of Frida Baby, Frida Mom and Frida Fertility, received the school’s early-career achievement award.

The distinguished alumni awards went to Ruth DeFries, AB ’76, the Denning Family Professor of Sustainable Development at Columbia University and chief academic officer and co-founding dean emerita of the Columbia Climate School; Michael Kumar, AB ’89, deputy chairman and interim group chief financial officer for the Klesch Group; and Henry Warshaw, AB ’76, MBA ’79, co-founder and president of Virtual Realty Enterprises LLC, a nationwide real estate development firm.

Read more about the recipients on the Arts & Sciences website.

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