Each year, several distinguished College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (CLAS) alumni are honored as Alumni Fellows and invited to campus to speak to classes, meet with small groups of faculty and students, and make a public presentation based on his or her experiences since leaving the University. The program is made possible by funds from the UI Alumni Association Dean’s Chair in the Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Dawn Ainger 
Chairman and CEO, Genova Technologies
BS 1992, MS, 1995
Department of Computer Science
Dawn Ainger is an award-winning entrepreneur and Chairman and CEO of Genova Technologies. She came to the UI Department of Computer Science as a nontraditional student, and used her UI education to propel her through significant personal and professional challenges.
Mary Bennett
Special Collections Coordinator, State Historical Society of Iowa
BA 1976, MA 1985
Department of History
Mary Bennett is Special Collections Coordinator at the State Historical Society of Iowa—Iowa City, and an expert on the work of Iowa’s earliest photographers. Ms. Bennett was a key contributor to the long-running Old Capitol Museum exhibition, “Faces of Iowa Through the Early Lens,” and is the author of the book An Iowa Album: A Photographic History, 1860-1920.
David Conley 
Executive Visual Effects Producer at Weta Digital
BA 1970
Department of Cinematic Arts
David Conley is the Executive Visual Effects Producer of Weta Digital, one of the world’s premier visual effects companies, founded by the director Peter Jackson. He is at the forefront of world-leading innovations in digital effects technology that are behind the unique fantasy worlds of major globally popular and critically acclaimed films such as Life of Pi, War for the Planet of the Apes, The BFG, Disney’s Jungle Book, Pete’s Dragon, Jurassic Park: 4, Independence Day: 2, Wonder Woman, Cloverfield, The Hobbit 2 & 3, and Pirates of the Caribbean: 4.