The 2020 Awardees
Following its relocation from Hong Kong to Bermuda, the 68th John Carroll Weekend and Awards was cancelled given the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus in March 2020 and its effects upon international travel. The 2020 awardees were recognized at the John Carroll Awards in 2022.
Emily Chen Carrera
BSBA 1988New York, NY
Emily Chen Carrera, a New York based real estate executive, received the John Carroll Award in ceremonies held at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Nashville, TN on April 2, 2022.
The awards release on Ms. Carrera noted the following: "Emily Chen Carrera is chief of research at Olshan Realty and manages the Private Wealth Real Estate Services, providing brokerage expertise along with research and consulting capabilities. She co-founded the Olshan Luxury Market Report, a weekly real-time snapshot of the New York City residential real estate market, which became the industry standard and revolutionized how the market is analyzed and evaluated in real-time. Chen was previously a vice president in Institutional Sales at Goldman Sachs and a senior consultant in the Capital Markets Group at PwC.
President Biden appointed Chen as a commissioner to the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. The Commission will advise the President on ways the public, private, and nonprofit sectors can work together to advance equity and opportunity for every Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community.
A former National Big Sister of the Year, Chen serves on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. She also sits on the Board of Directors of the Beau Biden Foundation. Chen is on the Women & Science Committee at Rockefeller University, the Creative Council at The Shed and the Advisory Board of The Imagine Society. She was named a Tiffany & Co. Hometown Hero for her work supporting health care professionals and first responders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chen is the past president of the American Friends of The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Chen served on Georgetown's Board of Regents and the Advisory Board of the McDonough School of Business. The Emily Chen Carrera John Carroll Scholarship and the Emily Chen Carrera Third Century Scholarship were created to attract the best students to Georgetown. Chen is also the co-founder and executive producer of Stand Up for Georgetown.
Judith A. Donahue Lafranchi
BSFS 1978New York, NY
Judith Donahue Lafranchi, a New York based investment advisor, received the John Carroll Award in ceremonies held at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Nashville, TN on April 2, 2022.
The awards release on Ms. Lafranchi noted the following: "A graduate of the School of Foreign Service, Judith went on to get her MBA from Cornell University's Graduate School of Management, then headed to Wall Street, where she spent 30 years as one of the early women on a trading floor. Her Wall Street career continued with 15 years at Lehman Brothers, Inc., followed by 15 years at Goldman Sachs & Co., Inc. She currently works as a consultant to Cohen and Company, the investment advisory firm.
Lafranchi credits Georgetown University with instilling the core Jesuit ethos of people for others. She served as president of Catholic Big Sisters and Big Brothers of New York for more than 10 years. She also served three terms on Georgetown's Board of Regents. She was a member of the Executive Committee, chaired the Career Committee, and has served on the committees of Student Affairs, Mission & Ministry, Global Initiatives, and the Kennedy Institute of Ethics. Lafranchi is an emerita member of the Regents and a class ambassador. She was also one of the original supporters of the Georgetown Scholars Program, in which she remains active."
Lisa Christiansen Gentil
BSLA 1974Greenwich, CT
Lisa Christiansen Gentil, a New York based international banking official, received the John Carroll Award in ceremonies held at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Nashville, TN on April 2, 2022.
The awards release on Ms. Gentil noted the following: "Lisa enjoyed a 17-year career in international banking, as one of the first female officers of Chase in Latin America, and later the first female senior vice president (Latin America) of American Express Bank. Gentil chaired the first capital campaign for Escola Graduated de Sao Paulo. She has been a member of a private sector board, school boards, and philanthropic boards. Most recently, she serves as a trustee of Empowers Africa, which funds projects for health, education, and welfare as well as conservation efforts in several African countries.
Gentil has been a member of the Georgetown University Library Board, AAP Advisory Board, and the Board of Regents. She currently serves as an emerita member of the Parents Leadership Council, an AAP chair, and a member of the advisory board of the Georgetown Scholars Program, for which she was the first co-chair."
Dr. Stephen R. Mitchell M.D.
MBA 2013Washington, DC
Stephen Ray Mitchell, dean of the Georgetown University School of Medicine from 2000 through 2020, received the John Carroll Award in ceremonies held at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Nashville, TN on April 2, 2022.
The awards release on Dr. Mitchell noted the following: "[He] has held leadership roles at Georgetown since 1989. He served as program director in Internal Medicine and founding program director of a Pew-funded Medicine-Pediatrics Residency, now in its 22nd year. Having won every teaching award in the Department of Medicine, Mitchell moved first to the dean's office in 1998 and assumed the leadership of the School of Medicine concurrent with the inauguration of the Georgetown MedStar partnership in 2000. He became senior associate dean of academic affairs in charge of the medical school in 2000, and dean for medical education in 2002. Mitchell was elected into the Magis Hall of Fame for teachers.
At Georgetown, Mitchell has nearly tripled endowed scholarships, including one funded by Mitchell and his wife, Ellen, and a second legacy scholarship in honor of his mother. His efforts led to the endowment of the W. Proctor Harvey Center for Excellence in Clinical Teaching, and with the help of 650 donors, the full funding of the W. Proctor Harvey Clinical Teaching Amphitheater. Mitchell served for six years as chair to the committee in charge of North American medical school accreditation. He was elected as a master of the American College of Physicians, and this year has been inducted as an international fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London."
Stephen M. Wolfe
BSFS 1967Chicago, IL
Stephen Wolfe, a retired finance executive and former treasurer of the Georgetown University Alumni Association, received the John Carroll Award in ceremonies held at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Nashville, TN on April 2, 2022.
The awards release on Mr. Wolfe noted the following: "Stephen M. Wolfe graduated from the Walsh School of Foreign Service in 1967. While obtaining his MBA from Loyola University Chicago, he began a 30-year career at The Northern Trust Company, which took Wolfe and his family to Hong Kong in the 1970s and then London in the 1980s. After returning to Chicago in 1990, he was instrumental in establishing Northern's Wealth Management Group before retiring in 2000. Wolfe has since been an active board member of several not-for-profit cultural organizations, an executive in residence at DePaul University's Institute for Business and Professional Ethics, and board chair of the Thayer Brook Fund.
Prior to being elected to the Board of Governors of the Georgetown University Alumni Association in 2001, Wolfe was an alumni interviewer in Hong Kong, London, and Chicago. He served on the committee for the 2006 John Carroll Weekend Chicago. Wolfe was actively involved with Georgetown's last two capital campaigns as a volunteer, and more recently, with the Office of Advancement. As treasurer of GUAA, he focused on strategic financial planning and the renovation of the Alumni House."