Written by Imani Harris, CAS communications intern

While American athletes were off in Rio earning gold medals in the Olympics, Miami began celebrating its own "gold medalists" in the form of successful alum. On Friday, October 28, 18 Miami alumni are being honored on campus with the "18 of the Last 9" Young Alumni Award.

Half of the alumni awarded the "18 of the Last 9" Young Alumni Award came from the College of Arts and Science.

The group of 18 honorees are composed of alumni from the past nine graduating classes of Miamians. Now in its fourth year, this program is designed to honor Miami graduates who are out there making Miami proud exhibiting the core values they were taught as students.

Coming from a wide variety of fields, from medicine to government to entrepreneurship, over 100 alumni were nominated this year for the award. During their visit, the 18 winners will speak in classrooms, meet with student organizations, and attend a special dinner.

"I couldn’t be more proud of all that these CAS alumni have achieved after Miami," said Chris Makaroff, dean of the College of Arts and Science. "By returning to campus to meet with our students, they serve as great role models and examples of what is possible for them after graduation."

This year's CAS alumni honorees are:

• Leonard Buller (Class of 2007, B.A. in Microbiology): Originally from Solon, Ohio, Leonard is currently working as an orthopaedic surgery resident physician at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital, which is the largest provider of charity health care in the state.
• Wilson Cardwell (Class of 2008, B.A. in Psychology): Wilson, from Sandusky, Ohio, is currently working as a PUSH High School Program Manager of the Freedom House in Boston. The program serves over 900 students every year and has a 95% college acceptance rate.
• Kyle Cuthbert (Class of 2008, B.S. in Marketing, B.A. in Spanish): After working for Spain's Ministry of Education teaching art, science and english in a public school, Kyle now works in San Francisco as the senior analytical lead for Google.
• Mia DeNardi (Class of 2010, B.A. in Urban & Regional Planning and Geography): Mia is currently working as a geographer for the United States Government, where she provides advanced geospatial analysis for government customers and policy makers.
• Matt Dopkiss (Class of 2007, B.A. in Physics, B.S. Engineering Physics): Matt is a founder and managing partner of Dynamit, a software company based in Columbus. Some of the company's clients include Victoria's Secret, Panda Express, and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
• Marni Goldberg (Class of 2007, B.A. in Journalism and Political Science): Originally from Buffalo Grove, Illinois, Marni now works in Washington, D.C. serving as the director of public affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where she provides strategic counsel to the 38th Secretary of Commerce and numerous undersecretaries.
• Emily Siedlak Hennell (Class of 2008, B.A. in Spanish and Diplomacy & Foreign Affairs): A long way from her hometown of Westerville, Ohio, Emily is a foreign service officer at the U.S. Department of State. She is currently a vice consul at the U.S. Consulate General in Monterrey, Mexico.
• Alyssa Hopun (Class of 2013, A.B. in International Studies, B.A. in Latin American Studies and Spanish): Alyssa, originally from Dayton, currently lives in León, Nicaragua where she works as a social innovation leader for Community Empowerment Solutions, a student intern program.
• Taylor Robinson (Class of 2009, B.A. in American Studies): Working as a PR Manager for an independent ad agency called Heat, Dayton native Taylor has helped lead the agency win a multitude of awards, including AdWeek's 2015 Breakthrough Agency of the Year.

To learn more about these alums and their cohorts from across Miami, visit the 18 of the Last 9 website.