ASSOCIATION NEWS
ASKEW YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD A special group of this year’s Notable Noles were recognized Nov. 12 with one of the Alumni Association’s highest honors: The Reubin O’D. Askew Young Alumni Award. The recipients have made significant contributions to their profession, their community or the university.
Askew Young Alumni Award portraits by AJ Studios Photography
1. The Askew Young Alumni Award recipients, from left, are Bernard Ashby, Etienne Charles, Max Haney, Michelle Gierach, Zachary Sobeck and Joshua Tyler. 2. Donna Lou Askew (B.S. ’55), representing her late husband, Reubin O’D. Askew (B.S. ’51), speaks during the Young Alumni Awards Brunch. Reubin Askew, who served as Florida’s governor from 1971 to 1979, spent six months working as the FSU Alumni Association’s first field secretary, beginning in January 1956. Photos by Steve Chase
DR. BERNARD ASHBY (B.A. ’03)
ETIENNE CHARLES (B.A. ’06)
MICHELLE GIERACH (B.S. ’04, M.S. ’06)
Vascular Cardiologist, Mount Sinai Medical Center Miami Beach, Florida
Associate Professor of Jazz Studies, Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan
Research Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Pasadena, California
After earning his M.D. from Cornell University, Bernard Ashby completed his residency at Columbia University, where he was appointed assistant professor while pursuing a master’s degree in public policy from Princeton. Afterward, he completed a cardiology fellowship at George Washington University, where he was elected chief fellow, and a vascular medicine postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University.
Etienne Charles’ deep love for researching jazz history frames his inventive style. With a careful blending of rhythms from the French-, Spanish-, English- and Dutch-speaking Caribbean, Charles’ interpretation of jazz has been so profound, he was entered into the U.S. Congressional Record for his musical contributions to the islands of Trinidad and Tobago.
In her current role, Michelle Gierach leads a physical oceanography center investigating the condition of a large portion of the world’s coral reefs. She has received numerous recognitions for her work, including a Jet Propulsion Lab award for excellence and NASA’s Early Career Achievement medal. She has twice been chosen to represent NASA at the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
As an FSU student, Ashby flourished in and out of the classroom, serving as a student government senator and member of the Golden Key Honour Society. After graduating from FSU, he attended Cornell, where he again displayed his leadership skills, serving as president of the Cornell chapter of the Student National Medical Association. 54 Vires
In 2013 Charles released an album, “Creole Soul,” that spent three weeks at No. 1 in the Jazz Week charts, reached No. 25 in the Billboard rankings and was named No. 3 Jazz Album of the Year by Jazz Week magazine. “Creole Soul” is one of five recordings Charles has produced as a band leader. In addition to his degree from FSU, he holds a master’s degree from The Juilliard School.
Gierach received both her undergraduate and master’s degrees from FSU’s highly regarded meteorology program, where her thesis provided a technique for identifying early precursors to tropical cyclones. Since the ocean plays a vital role in weather, Gierach transitioned her studies to marine science — the discipline in which she earned a doctorate from the University of South Carolina.