Courtney Johnson is a Ph.D. candidate and Clark Doctoral Fellow studying bioengineering at Maryland. He received the 2023 Mike Shinn NSBE Distinguished Member award, having served in leadership roles with NSBE since 2013. “It’s amazing to be recognized for the love I pour into the organization that poured so much into me,” he said.

Serving on the national board, Johnson helped devise the organization’s strategic plan, Game Change 2025, to drive STEM excellence and social justice forward. He sees positive change happening in his communities, including increasing diversity in his Maryland cohort. “It’s been inspiring,” he said.

Avery Layne ’19 is a Clark School graduate student studying mechanical engineering. While an undergraduate, he served as president of UMD’s BES chapter before taking on regional and national roles. At this year’s NSBE convention, Layne was named incoming national chair.

As an alum and mentor, Layne speaks at CMSE leadership retreats and engages with the next generation of NSBE leaders. “I want to make sure students have as transformative an experience as I had,” he said.

With NSBE’s 50th anniversary approaching, Layne looks forward to making a positive impact on a larger scale. “We want to empower NSBE members to engage with their communities to make sure we’re not leaving people behind,” he said.

Favour Nerrise ’21 traces her history with NSBE to age 10, when she joined a pre-collegiate chapter of the organization. As outgoing national chair, she is most proud of the support the organization provided Black engineers and communities over the last two years, including initiatives for more equitable K-12 STEM education.

At Maryland, Nerrise earned a B.S., as well as minors in global engineering leadership and Arabic. She’s currently pursuing her Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Stanford University, researching experimental neuroengineering. She credits her time as president of BES for strengthening her resolve to use engineering and technology for “social good.” Her mentors, including Parker, primed her for success in leadership. “BES will forever remain family,” she said.

Nicole Vaughn ’99, M.S. ’01 is vice president of ExxonMobil Catalysts & Licensing, LLC, leading the global commercial team responsible for catalysts and licensing sales for ExxonMobil’s refining and chemical technology.

The proud Terp alum, who later went on to earn a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Purdue University, first learned about NSBE in 1995 as a student in CMSE’s LSAMP Bridge Program, which invites incoming first-year students to campus for academic and personal support. “We still refer to ourselves as Bridge 95,” she said of the cohort.

Vaughn earned NSBE’s 2023 Outstanding Woman in Technology award. In her acceptance speech she referred to the African proverb that says it takes a village to raise a child. “To raise successful Black engineers,” she said, “NSBE is our village.”