SHU Honors Kate Maher with Alumni Achievement Award
Thirteen additional alums honored for exemplary careers and accomplishments
Sacred Heart University alumna Kate Maher ’04 has received SHU’s highest honor, the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, which recognizes her as a person of exceptional achievement in her career and service to society.
Maher is an architect, lecturer, retired semiprofessional basketball player and senior executive for Nike. Her résumé includes designing and developing brand flagship stores for Nike, Adidas and Asics. She has earned awards for projects including the Adidas Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York City and Gensler’s Microsoft London store in the United Kingdom. She is described as an inspiring lecturer, and her prolific volunteer work has made a global impact.
Maher’s time at SHU was the springboard to her success. Coming from Ireland to SHU with a “suitcase full of dreams,” she graduated as a four-year, division-one scholar athlete, having served as captain of the women’s basketball team her senior year. She graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in international business and marketing, and she has long been dedicated to making a difference in the world and eradicating social injustices.
“What an amazing example of the impact Sacred Heart has on our students,” said SHU President John J. Petillo, who presented Maher with her award. “It’s not surprising that they leave this University and go on to accomplish such wonderful things.”
Paul J. Sutera, senior vice president of University advancement, described Maher as an “extraordinary example of a SHU pioneer” deserving of SHU’s highest honor.
Other honorees who have made a difference
In addition to Maher, 13 other alumni were honored at the annual award ceremony. These graduates were chosen for their contributions and service to the community, personifying SHU’s mission and values and being influencers or leaders in their professions.
“The purpose of this ceremony is to recognize the exemplary influence SHU alumni have on the greater community,” said Sutera. “Recipients represent the values and mission of Sacred Heart as they move on and continue to make an impact in the world around them. We are extremely proud of our distinguished alumni and all they go on to achieve.”
Robert Capasso ’76
Capasso received the 60th Anniversary Celebration Alumni Achievement Award, which was established to mark the University’s founding and which recognizes the significant contributions to their chosen profession, outstanding leadership in their community and dedication to SHU. Capasso has served as a financial leader in the concrete industry for nearly 40 years. Helping others succeed has been a driving force in his professional and personal life since graduating from SHU.
Christine (DeMarchis) Martinello ’85
Martinello received the Pioneer Award, which is rooted in SHU’s mission to educate the whole person while preparing students to lead and serve in the world. Martinello is the founder and CEO of The Love Box Foundation, a nonprofit movement that spreads the message of love and kindness through education, events and experiences. She also has authored five books that educate and empower others to live lives they love.
Shelley (Valentine) Lyford ’97
Lyford received the Silver Pioneer Outstanding Alumni Award, which recognizes graduates who have reached their 25th reunion year and whose lives have been exemplary. Lyford is chief executive officer of West Health, which comprises three nonprofit organizations aimed at lowering health-care costs to enable senior citizens to age in place. Lyford’s vision has led to the development of several innovative health-care programs that now serve as national models of excellence.
Andrew Billinghurst ’06
Billinghurst received the Rising Alumni Award, which honors mid-career SHU graduates who are leaders in their profession and champions for equality. Billinghurst is a senior vice president and wealth management advisor with the Erdmann Group, a 35-person team in Greenwich and provides customized advice to senior executives of public and private companies, entrepreneurs, venture capital partners, athletes and families. He started the SHU men’s hockey mentorship program, which pairs current and former players based on their geographic location and major.
Stephen Brown and Katherine (Newell) Sallaku ’10
Brown and Sallaku received the Distinguished Faculty & Staff Award for their extraordinary contributions to the University. Brown came to SHU as the founding dean of SHU’s former University College and is a former dean of the Jack Welch College of Business & Technology. He established SHU Online and helped found SHU’s Center for Nonprofits and corporate campuses at three major companies.
Sallaku, an active contributor to the social work profession and to SHU’s School of Social Work, has served on the University’s graduate advisory council, providing field supervision to social work students. She joined SHU as an adjunct professor to share her wealth of knowledge in clinical practice while developing one of the first online master’s degree courses in social work and a social work elective. She quickly rose to director of field education.
Allison Keck ’01, Kaitlin Scherer ’10 and Meghan Scherer ’10
Keck and the Scherers received the Volunteer Service Award for their significant contributions to the community.
Keck transferred to SHU as a junior to be closer to home as she cared for her father, who had terminal cancer. Looking for a way to honor her father, a 26-year U.S. Navy veteran, Keck joined Team Red, White & Blue (RWB) in 2014, identifying with the nationwide, nonprofit agency’s mission “to enrich the lives of America’s veterans.” In January of 2022, she was appointed a state coordinator, the highest volunteer position with Team RWB, and now she serves that role for Connecticut and Rhode Island.
During the summer of 2007, Kaitlin and Meghan Scherer suffered an unimaginable loss. Their older brother, Christopher, was killed while serving as a Marine in Iraq. Together, they created the Cpl. Christopher G. Scherer Semper Fi Fund and the Annual Cpl. Christopher G. Scherer “I Did the Grid” 4 Mile Run/Walk, which has taken place for the past 15 years. They also have organized a fundraising team for the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., and they have run collections to send more than 1,500 care packages to men and women serving overseas.
Emma Chilelli ’20, Ashton Ogle ’20, Daniel Santini ’17 and Anthony Telesco ’21, MPA ’23
Chilelli, Ogle, Santini and Telesco received the Pioneer 30 Young Alumni Award, which recognizes the accomplishments of rising young alumni who are living out the University’s mission by using their education to impact their professions and communities.
After graduating from SHU, Chilelli took a job in the emergency department at St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury. She is currently a neonatal intensive care nurse at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
Ogle is an emergency medicine physician assistant at the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center. She epitomizes SHU’s mission as she represents her profession on the board of directors of the Connecticut Academy of Physician Assistants.
Since graduating from SHU, Santini has exemplified the University’s core values and has been a true Pioneer ambassador. He recently was promoted to senior manager of acquisition marketing at Audible, an Amazon company. He created a SHU scholarship for incoming business students to provide an undergraduate with the same opportunities he had during his years at Sacred Heart.
Telesco received the Police Commissioners Association of Connecticut Meritorious Service Award in 2021 for rescuing a man and his dog after they fell into an ice-covered pond. Telesco has worked as a police officer in Easton since 2018 and taken on many roles within that time. He demonstrates professionalism and courage as he serves his community, and credits the University for giving him the tools to advance his career.
Pictured above, from left, are SHU President John Petillo, Kate Maher, Stephen Brown, Christine Martinello, Katherine Sallaku, Allison Keck, Daniel Santini, Kaitlin Scherer, Anthony Telesco, Andrew Billinghurst, Ashton Ogle, Emma Chilelli and Alumni Association President Richard Kuroghlian.